Urban issues
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Presidency's conclusions

Following the 6 months of the Belgian Presidency of the EU, Perspective has drawn up conclusions on the 3 priorities of the urban policy strand.
These conclusions were presented to the Directors-General responsible for urban matters in each Member State, to the partner States, to the EU institutions and to the partner organisations at the meeting of the Directors responsible for urban affairs, the last event of this Presidency.


    © yannickcoppens

    © yannickcoppens

    © yannickcoppens

    Urban Agenda

    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 General Directors also agreed to choose the theme of ‘compact cities’ for a partnership due to be launched in 2025 under the Polish Presidency.

    Tools

    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 decided to immediately implement the first recommendation of providing an appropriate framework for the exchange of information and discussion on EU regulations affecting land use, spatial planning and urban development.

    With this in mind, the Belgian Presidency had included an information and exchange session on the Soil Monitoring Law and the 9ᵉ Cohesion Policy Report on the agenda for the Directors' meeting.

    Call from cities

    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.

    Consult the Presidency's conclusions on urban matters

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