Brussels, 22/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - At the invitation of the German minister for transport and urban planning, Wolfgang Tiefensee, the ministers responsible for spatial development in the 27 EU member states are to meet at an informal ministerial conference to be held in Leipzig on Thursday and Friday (24/25 May). They will discuss the future of territorial cohesion in Europe with the participation of Commissioner Danuta Hübner (EUROPE 9406/9418/9368). The aim of the meeting is to send out a powerful political signal so that Community policies strengthen European cities as a European economic, social and cultural model, as well as the identity and diversity of European regions, Jean-Marie Beaupuy, MEP (ALDE France), told a group of reporters. He will be attending this informal council as president and founder of the European Parliament's Urban-Housing Intergroup. The ministerial meeting will discuss the concerns of European citizens who, faced with globalisation, fear losing their local and regional identity in an increasingly integrated internal market, Mr Beaupuy stressed. Since the creation of his Intergroup in 2004, Mr Beaupuy has been actively involved in seeking to make town policy a priority within the European Union's regional and structural policy.
In Leipzig, ministers are expected to adopt two policy documents: (1) the Charter of Leipzig on sustainable European cities, which recommends an integrated urban development strategy; and (2) the Territorial Agenda of the EU on moving towards a more competitive and sustainable Europe with diverse regions, an expression of the new European policy on territorial cohesion. “The new thing about the European integration process is that it is not a question of harmonising life styles and regional economies but of taking into account the diversity of potential in European regions that will be working even more in network”, commented Jean-Marie Beaupuy, pointing out that the Charter will be adopted in a specific context, namely that “for the first time, a substantial part of structural funds, i.e. €380 billion for the period 2007-2013, will be directly or indirectly intended for towns and cities”.
What does the president of the Intergroup on urban-housing expect to come out of the Leipzig meeting? To this the answer is: “Greater commitment on the part of ministers compared to what was signed during the informal council in Rotterdam (2004) and Bristol (2005)”. In Leipzig, ministers are expected to move towards the development of an integrated policy “towards consistency in different factors that make a town or city viable”. In November 2004 in Rotterdam, EU ministers had pledged to promote an urban policy agenda (see EUROPE 8952). In December 2005 in Bristol, they had adopted the “Bristol Agreement” setting out priorities for the creation of sustainable urban areas throughout Europe (see EUROPE 9084). At a more practical level, Jean-Marie Beaupuy therefore expects the 27 ministers to undertake: (1) in their own country: a) coordination at national scale. The various ministers active in the field of urban development, or having an influence in this area, must coordinate and pool their efforts; b) promotion of the integrated approach. “Integrated urban development must be supported and governance structures essential for achieving this must be set in place”; c) the launch of a political debate on the Charter of Leipzig at national, regional and local level; and (2) at European level: a) to continue commitments with monitoring during the following EU presidencies: - with a follow-up report due for 2010, which will assess the impact of the new priority given to towns and cities in the Structural Funds. The future Slovenian EU Council presidency (first half 2008) is expected to incorporate the Territorial Agenda of the EU and the Charter of Leipzig into the preparations for the European Council in March 2008; b) to develop the exchange of best practice at local, regional, national and European levels. The president of the Intergroup will, for his part, ensure that “complementary proposals are made concerning the integrated approach, governance and the promotion of best practice”.
Charter of Leipzig on Sustainable European Cities: recommendations from ministers
In this charter, ministers make the following recommendations: (1) greater benefit should be drawn from an integrated urban development policy. In particular, ministers recommend that European cities finalise an integrated urban development scheme for all the towns and cities concerned. This would allow the development of common objectives and visions, and coordinate the way public and private funding is used for the cities. The Charter also stresses how important it is to create and safeguard quality public areas, to modernise infrastructure networks and to innovate in the field of education and training in order to strengthen the competitiveness of European cities; (2) special interest must be paid to disadvantaged urban areas with long-term investment to strengthen the local economy and the local employment policy, by promoting active teaching and training policy in favour of children and young people, and by encouraging the setting in place of an effective urban transport system accessible to all.
Territorial Agenda of the EU: ministers' priorities
Ministers have set out six priorities in their commitments on spatial development to: - promote polycentrism and innovation through cooperation of metropolitan areas and cities; - create new forms of partnership and territorial coordination between town and countryside; - promote regional “clusters” for competition and innovation in Europe; - strengthen and extend trans-European transport networks as well as secondary routes (to link urban centres with the surrounding area); - encourage trans-European management of the impact of climate change; - and strengthen environmental structures and cultural resources as an opportunity for development.
In order to ensure the agenda is implemented, ministers call: (1) on the European Commission to explicitly include a territorial component in future reports on economic and social cohesion in order to encourage towns and regions to integrate their development strategies in a European context; and (2) on the European Parliament's regional development committee, the committee on territorial cohesion at the Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee to support and implement the priorities of this agenda in their activities.
Finally, ministers urge for closer cooperation between the European Commission and member states on strategic issues relating to spatial development. Among other things, they call on the future EU presidency held by Slovenia to take the Territorial Agenda into account when preparing the Spring European summit 2008, with a view to stronger and formal recognition of the territorial dimension with regard to the development of regions and urban areas. They also call on the future Hungarian EU presidency to assess and revise the agenda during the first half of 2011. For more details, see: http://www.eu2007.de (gb)