During a roundtable meeting in Amsterdam on Tuesday 7 February, several mayors from major cities met the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Crețu, in an effort to get their voices heard on the question of managing migration flows at a local level.
The mayors of Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Ghent, Gdansk and Riga, as well as a representative from Berlin, held discussions with the Commissioner about the means they had at their disposal for tackling the significant influx of first arrivals and integrating them, as well as the obstacles they confront in their daily lives.
Thomas Jezequel, a policy adviser on migrant integration at Eurocities explained to Europe that cities often have to face a certain lack of cooperation from national governments on migratory questions. He said that the problem was often due to the fact that, to a certain extent, national level government has a significant influence on the management of European funds (see EUROPE 11561). He said that this situation illustrated why member states were absent from the roundtable.
DG REGIO more cooperative than DG HOME. On the basis of this observation, the cities are seeking to increase the European Commission’s awareness about their difficulties. The problem relates, however, to the fact that the European institution’s services all respond differently. Mr Jezequel argues that the dialogue with Directorate General Regional Policy (DG REGIO) is easier than with the directorate in charge of migration (DG HOME). This situation can be explained by the nature of the portfolio in question and the fact that migration policies are mainly within the scope of the member states. According to the political adviser, “cooperation with DG HOME at a technical level is excellent but we find it more difficult to create a similar dialogue at a political level”.
This was the second meeting of this kind between the cities and the European Commission. The first took place in April 2016 (see EUROPE 11525). The next meeting focusing on migration challenges is expected to take place in Athens at the end of the year. Mr Jezequel hopes that this meeting will “this time be with the member states”.
Urban policy has gained greater prominence since the adoption last May of the urban agenda for the EU (see EUROPE 11553). This new policy is still within intergovernmental control and focuses mainly on the integration of migrants and the creation of a partnership on this theme (see EUROPE 11648). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)