European cities must
increase their influence on EU legislation, access to European funds and
knowledge exchange. These are the main issues to be discussed at the informal
ministerial meeting on the Urban Agenda for the EU and the Pact of Amsterdam to
be held in Amsterdam on Monday 30 May. A new feature is that the priority
themes of the Urban Agenda will be addressed in partnerships.
The Pact of Amsterdam
The pact aims to help put in place a new
and innovative working method in which the European Commission, EU
institutions, and local and regional governments work together to identify and
address bottlenecks in EU legislation. The partnerships will explore ways in
which the EU can improve its policy so that cities are better able to tackle
the most urgent and complex problems.
Participants
The meeting, chaired by Dutch Minister of
the Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk, will be attended by
ministers from the EU member states, representatives from the European
Parliament, the European Commission, European institutions – like the Committee
of the Regions – and other stakeholders, including urban organisations. The
attendees will include Maroš Šefčovič (Vice-President of the European
Commission), Corina Creţu (European Commissioner for Regional Policy), Iskra
Mihaylova (Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Regional Development
(REGI)), Markku Markkula (President of the Committee of the Regions), Eberhard
van der Laan (Mayor of Amsterdam) and Johanna Rolland (President of
EUROCITIES).
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