SPEECH EESC HEARING ON THE FUTURE OF THE EU URBAN AGENDA
MR BAS VERKERK, MEMBER OF THE COR AND MAYOR OF DELFT
BRUSSELS, 14 DECEMBER 2015
INTRODUCTION
LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, DO WE NEED AN EU URBAN AGENDA? ABSOLUTELY! WE BETTER ASK OURSELVES WHY AFTER MORE THAN 20 YEARS OF DEBATE THERE IS STILL NOT AN URBAN AGENDA AT EU LEVEL?
THE IMPORTANCE OF CITIES FOR EUROPE
I BELIEF THIS IS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. EUROPE NEEDS ITS CITIES. TODAY, IN A KNOWLEDGE DRIVEN ECONOMY, CITIES AND TOWNS ARE THE ENGINES FOR GROWTH AND JOBS IN THE EU. INNOVATION AND NEW ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES HAVE THEIR ORIGINS IN THE CITY, AND ARE THEREFORE A MAJOR ASSET FOR THE EU IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION WITH THE OTHER CONTINENTS.
AN URBAN AGENDA AT EU LEVEL WOULD RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF CITIES AND TOWNS IN ACHIEVING EUROPEAN POLICY OBJECTIVES AND MAKING EUROPE INTERNATIONALLY MORE COMPETITIVE. IT WOULD IMPROVE THE INTEGRATION OF THE URBAN DIMENSION IN EU POLICY MAKING AND FACILITATE CITIES AND TOWNS BETTER AT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE POLICIES AND LEGISLATION. A WIN-WIN SITUATION FOR EUROPE AND ITS CITIES.
THEREFORE, IN JUNE 2014, THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, THE VOICE OF CITIES AND REGIONS IN EUROPE, ADOPTED MY OPINION TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED URBAN AGENDA FOR THE EU. IN THIS OPINION WE CALL ON THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO PRESENT A WHITE PAPER TO FINALLY ESTABLISH AN URBAN AGENDA AT EU LEVEL.
I’M HAPPY WITH THE RESOLUTION OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON THE URBAN DIMENSION IN EU POLICIES. THE PARLIAMENT ASKS THE COMMISSION TO PRESENT AN EU URBAN AGENDA TO ACCOMMODATE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AT EU LEVEL.
I’M ALSO PLEASED WITH THE INITIATIVE OF THE MEMBER STATES TO ESTABLISH THEMATIC PARTNERSHIPS TO EXPLORE THE URBAN DIMENSION AT THESE POLICY FIELDS IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM URBANPROOF.
BUT I TRULY HOPE THAT COMMISSIONER CRETU AND HER COLLEAGUES GET INSPIRED BY THESE DEMANDS AND INITIATIVES AND PRESENT AN EU URBAN AGENDA, BECAUSEALL RESOLUTIONS AND OPINIONS PROOF THE URGENCY OF URBAN MAINSTREAMING OF EU POLICY.
A CHANGING SOCIETY LEADS TO A CHANGING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY
ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF THIS URGENCY IS THE FACT THAT SOCIETY IS CHANGING, ESPECIALLY AT LOCAL LEVEL. THE EU SHOULD ADAPT ITSELF TO THIS CHANGING SITUATION, OTHERWISE EU POLICIES AND LEGISLATION WILL NOT MATCH ANYMORE WITH LOCAL POLITICS.
WHAT IS HAPPENING? WE NOTICE A CHANGING RELATION BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY. THROUGH THE DIGITALISATION OF SOCIETY, CITIZENS ARE BECOMING MORE DEMANDING, BUT ARE ALSO MORE EMPOWERED. ENTREPRENEURS ARE GETTING MORE AND MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. AND FINALLY, CITY AND TOWNS ARE WORKING INCREASINGLY TOGETHER WITH THE QUADRUPLE HELIX: BUSINESS, SCIENCE, GOVERNMENT AND NGO’S.
IN COMBINATION WITH SHRINKING BUDGETS AT GOVERNMENT LEVEL, WE SEE AT LOCAL LEVEL THAT GOVERNMENT IS RETREATING IN SOME POLICY FIELDS AND IS GIVING SCOPE FOR LOCAL INITIATIVES BY CITIZENS, BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SOCIETY. CITIES AND TOWNS ARE ACTING MORE AND MORE AS COORDINATORS AND PLATFORMS FOR LOCAL INITIATIVES WITH INCREASINGLY TAILORED SERVICES.
THIS LEADS TO A WIDE RANGE OF DIFFERING APPROACHES ACROSS EUROPE. THE IDEA OF A SINGLE MODEL FOR ADDRESSING SOCIAL CHALLENGES AT LOCAL LEVEL IS LOSING GROUND. URBAN DEVELOPMENT IS TODAY NO MORE AN EXCLUSIVE COMPETENCE OF THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES OF A CITY OR CITY REGION, BUT A SHARED COMPETENCE IN WHICH CIVIL SOCIETY HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE.
THE EU SHOULD TAKE ACCOUNT OF THIS NEW RELATIONSHIPS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AND THE DIVERSITY OF APPROACHES TO THE SOCIAL CHALLENGES INVOLVED. TO ADAPT ITSELF TO THIS NEW SITUATION, THE EU NEEDS AN URBAN AGENDA.
WHITE PAPER FOR AN EU URBAN AGENDA
TO ENSURE THAT THIS NEW RELATIONSHIP IS INTEGRATED IN EU POLICY MAKING THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS CALLS ON THE COMMISSION TO PRESENT A WHITE PAPER FOR AN INTEGRATED EU URBAN AGENDA. THIS URBAN AGENDA SHOULD INCLUDE FOUR ELEMENTS:
-A NEW, MORE INTEGRATED APPROACH OF POLICY MAKING, WHICH SHOULD BE PART OF THE BETTER REGULATION PROGRAMME OF FIRST VICE PRESIDENT TIMMERMANS;
-SECOND, WE ASK FOR A MORE PROFOUND URBAN DIMENSION IN THE EU FUNDS;
-THREE, THE EU COULD PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR THE EXCHANGE OF BEST PRACTICES OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND SHOULD COLLECT MORE DATA AT CITY LEVEL;
-AND FINALLY, A NEW GOVERNANCE AT EU LEVEL WHICH CORRESPONDS WITH THE NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL PARTNERS.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
URBAN-RURAL LINKAGES
CIVIL SOCIETY COULD HELP WITH SETTLING THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL. UNFORTUNATELY, AND IN MY EYES TOTALLY UNNECESSARY, MANY RURAL POLITICIANS ARE AFRAID FOR THE CITY AND FEAR THAT AN EU URBAN AGENDA LEADS TO MORE MONEY AND MORE FOCUS ON CITIES AND LESS ON RURAL AREAS.
TODAY, CITIES AND THEIRS SURROUNDINGS ARE CONNECTED AND WORK AS PARTNERS IN FUNCTIONAL REGIONS. PEOPLE FROM RURAL AREAS COME TO CITIES FOR WORK, EDUCATION AND RECREATION, CITY INHABITANTS ENJOY THE COUNTRYSIDE FOR SPACE, FRESH AIR AND BUY LOCAL PRODUCTS AT FARMS AROUND THE CITY.
RAPPORTEUR OF THE EESC, MR ROMAN HAKEN, COULD IN HIS OPINION DESCRIBE FOR A VIEW OF CIVIL SOCIETY HOW URBAN AND RURAL ARE INTERCONNECTED AND THAT AN EU URBAN AGENDA CAN STRENGTHEN THIS RELATION. AS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY IS CHANGING, ALSO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT GOVERNMENTS IS CHANGING. WE WORK MORE TOGETHER ACROSS ADMINISTRATIVE BORDERS AND DEVELOP FUNCTIONAL REGIONS AS THE NEW SCALE FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT.
TO FINISH AND TO UNDERLINE MY WORDS TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO QUOTE FORMER COMMISSIONER FOR REGIONAL AND URBAN POLICY JOHANNES HAHN: THE FUTURE OF EUROPE WILL BE DESIGNED IN CITIES. IF WE DON’T GET IT RIGHT IN CITIES, WE WON’T GET IT RIGHT AT ALL.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
14.30 / Welcomeaddressandintroduction- Joost van Iersel, President of the ECO Section, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
- Nicolaas Beets, Dutch Urban Envoy, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Netherlands
14.45 / The role of civil society organisations in the EU Urban Agenda
Kick-off statement:Ivan Tosics, Principal, Metropolitan Research Institute
- Lambert van Nistelrooij, Vice-president of URBAN Intergroup, European Parliament
- Olivier Baudelet, Team leader in charge of urban policy, DG REGIO – European Commission
- Bas Verkerk,Rapporteur of the opinion "Towards an Integrated Urban Agenda for the EU", Committee of the Regions
- Barbara Steenbergen, Head of office, International Union of Tenants, member of EESC Liaison Group
Debate
16.00 / The implementation of a partnership-based EU Urban Agenda
Kick-off statement:Peter Ramsden, Pole Manager, URBACT
- Alberto Marchiori,Delegatefor EU Policies, Confcommercio, Italy
- Claude Denagtergal, Advisor, European Trade Union Confederation
- Jan Olsson, Co-President, Reves – European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy, delegate to the EESC's Consultative Commission on Industrial Change
- Christian Saublens, former Director, Eurada
- LeventePolyak, Managing Director, Eutropian
Debate
17.30 / Conclusions
- Roman Haken,Rapporteur of the opinion "Future of the EU Urban Agenda", EESC
18.00 / Small reception
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