Brussels, 18/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - As ever seeking to encourage a bottom-up decision-making process so dear to the Committee of the Regions (CoR), its president, Markku Markkula, launched a call on Thursday 14 April to transport ministers meeting informally in Amsterdam to make better use of urban policy and the forthcoming Amsterdam Pact in order to ensure swift transition towards smart, sustainable mobility.
Hailing the efforts of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, Markkula argued that urban policy should be made a genuine binding policy which involves cities in all the European policies that relate directly to them, and notably in the area of so-called smart mobility. In the provisional version of March, urban mobility was among the 12 priority issues of the European urban agenda (point 10). At the time, the new version of the urban agenda seemed to be to the satisfaction of the regions (see EUROPE 11505), even though some feared that the pact might turn out to be no more than a statement of good intentions (see EUROPE 11531).
Markkula also indicated that the CoR was looking to cooperate more closely with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and JASPERS (Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions) with the aim of facilitating the sharing of good practice and experience and of supporting local and regional authorities in implementing green transport projects.
On the same day, the ministers adopted the Amsterdam declaration, with a view to providing impetus for connected and autonomous vehicles.
Mobility and smart transport will feature strongly in the Forum on the EU Urban Agenda, to be held alongside the informal Council meeting on urban policies on 30 May, the probable date of adoption of the Amsterdam Pact. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)