Belgian presidency of the EU: Meeting of the Directors General on Urban Matters

On June 26, Perspective gathered the Directors-General for Urban Matters of each member state, Partner States, EU Institutions and partners organisations to exchange on policies related to urban matters.
This intergovernmental meeting is held every six months and aims to take decisions related to the implementation of the Urban Agenda for the European Union.

This meeting was the Presidency's final event on urban policy. It provided an opportunity to present the Presidency's conclusions on the 3 priorities put forward over the last 6 months.

Continuing the implementation of the Urban Agenda for the EU

Under this presidency, the Directors-General for Urban Matters (DGUM) agreed to launch two new partnerships on the following topics:

• “Water sensitive city”
• “Building decarbonisation: Integrated renovation programmes and local heating and cooling plans “.

The DGUM also agreed to choose the theme "compact cities" for a partnership to be launched in the future (probably in 2025).

Recognising the role of place-based approach, spatial planning and metropolitan governance as means of tackling future urban challenges

The Presidency pointed out that, although urban planning is not a European competence, European regulations and policies increasingly exert a direct influence in land use and planning in cities. To ensure that new European regulations achieve their goal and are properly implemented, the Presidency emphasized the importance of considering urban challenges and specificities during the initial design stages of these regulations.

To meet these challenges, Perspective has commissioned a research on the impact of EU regulations and policies on land use in cities. This led to the identification of five main recommendations to improve the link between planning and the European level.

The Belgian presidency has decided to immediately implement the first recommendation consisting of providing adequate room for information and exchange on EU regulations with impacts on land use, spatial planning, and urban development.
The DGUM meeting was therefore an opportunity for a representative of the European Commission to present the new European soil management policy and its impact on urban planning.

Acknowledging the call from cities for an ambitious European urban policy for 2024-2029

As part as this presidency, Perspective developed the “Brussels declaration of European mayors” as a result of a co-creation process involving many European cities and urban stakeholders.

As of today, 170 mayors signed this declaration calling for an ambitious European urban policy and are presenting six recommendations to the European institutions for the EU mandate 2024-2029.

At a time when a new European Parliament is being set up, it is essential to stress the importance of systematically involving cities and mayors at European level.