The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, promised a three-year ‘Strasbourg, European Capital’ contract “brought to the highest level by the State “ to local and regional government leaders meeting in Strasbourg on Monday 14 December.
At the end of the day, the Strasbourg City Council, for its part, unanimously adopted a “Deliberation concerning the international, European and cross-border strategy of the City of Strasbourg” which seeks to consolidate Strasbourg’s position as the capital of European democracy and the sole seat of the European Parliament.
Negotiated between the Prefecture of Alsace and four local authorities since last October, the 15th three-year contract is intended, like its predecessors, to finance structural programmes in 2021 and 2023 to strengthen the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament. Over 20 years, €1.5 billion has been budgeted to develop the city’s accessibility and international influence.
The President of the Grand Est region, Jean Rottner, called for a “change of scale” that would make it possible to support “strategic projects with a real leverage effect on Strasbourg’s position as the European capital”, particularly in the air and rail sectors.
This question of the seat of the European Parliament, which was put on hold by the Covid-19 pandemic, was discussed in the City Council, but put in the perspective of the “ecological, democratic and social influence of the city”. The ecologically-oriented council elected last June wants to “go beyond” old communication strategies to make Strasbourg the embodiment of European values. This is based in particular on the participatory dimension of the “Agora Strasbourg, European capital” set up initially in order to bring together proposals by inhabitants.
Everyone is delighted that the tribute to Valery Giscard d'Estaing is scheduled to take place in Strasbourg on 2 February. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)