European cities towards a Pact of Amsterdam

by: Lambert Van Nistelrooij, MEP on October 12, 2015 - EP Today

For years, cities in the ´Europe of regions´ played a supporting role. It has always been the regions which showed the diversity in Europe. ´Brussels´ paid less attention to the urban areas. At this time, when almost three out of four Europeans live in the cities, Europe needs to be there for the cities as well. Cities should be fully included in the mainstream policies. They should be seen as engines for economic growth and creators of jobs; cities as the frontrunners in Europe. It is about time to put forward the statement: Cities in Europe need to step out of the shadow and into the spotlights.

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We will soon launch, together with the European Commission, the first budget of 370 million euro available for ´Innovative Actions´ on city level, the so called ´City Deals´. This will not only result in just another declaration  on the Urban Agenda. We reach a new episode in the European cooperation: a ´Pact of Amsterdam’ under the Dutch Presidency. It is a future oriented agreement in which cities have the possibility to bring up their events and initiatives in the EU 2020 framework. The intention of the ´Pact´ is to create a bottom-up approach where cities are empowered. No longer in the shadow, but finally standing in the spotlights.