Brussels, 08/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Belgian Presidency is organising an Urban Policy Council in Brussels on Tuesday, chaired by Charles Picqué, that will look at
- how cities are involved in and accounted for in Community policies: from one six month period to the next, various Presidencies have tried to make progress in terms of European urban policy co-operation, particularly in terms of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP). The issue of EU support for urban programmes is becoming important in debates on the future direction of regional policy. The questions that the Belgian Presidency is presenting to Tuesday's Council cover both these issues. The Ministers and Secretaries of State will be asked to give their opinions on options to be focused on to ensure the urban question is incorporated into the development of EU policy; the assessment of Community aid for cities (under Objectives 1 and 2 of the Structural Funds, and the URBAN programme) and how such aid should develop in the future; the role of the EU in this field; and how cities are associated with the EU's decision-taking procedures.
- the extension of public-private partnerships: information, developing of EU expertise in this area, promoting investment and the legal obstacles facing public-private partnerships will be discussed by the Council, which will then attempt to draw up guidelines.
Commissioner Michel Barnier will be attending the Council and a delegation from the parallel "Conference on Citizen Participation and Urban Policy" will pay a visit to the Council in the afternoon.