The members of Eurocities had a “positive” exchange with the European Commission on their proposal to establish a new European Pact between the Union and the cities to get out of the Covid-19 crisis, Friday 12 June, during a videoconference.
President Anna König Jerlmyr (Mayor of Stockholm) and Vice-Presidents Dario Nardella (Mayor of Florence) and Rafał Trzaskowski (Mayor of Warsaw), as well as many representatives of other cities stressed to Commissioners Johannes Hahn (Budget), Paolo Gentiloni (Economy) and Frans Timmermans (European Green Deal) the need to ensure that EU funds are channelled “where they are most needed, i.e., to the cities”.
Commission members recognised the cardinal role of cities in overcoming the health crisis and boosting the European economy and welcomed the proposal, as did European Parliament President David Sassoli (S&D, Italy), who made this clear in a pre-recorded video at the meeting. The next steps now need to be determined.
In another meeting, this time with Commissioner Nicolas Schmit (Jobs and Social Rights), the cities asked to be taken into account in the European Recovery Plan on social issues, since they were the first to be hit by the health crisis, according to a press release from the organisation. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)