European Commission

MEMO

Brussels, 28 February 2013

Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth: EU Capital Cities – essential partners for Europe 2020

Capital cities play a crucial role in the well-being of the EU and its Member States. Europe's capital cities are not only a major part of the EU's image abroad, its cultural identity and attractiveness, but powerful motors for competitiveness, employment and innovation. At the same time they have a concentration of Europe's problems, including increasing social and economic disparities. Capital cities are the laboratories where solutions to the EU's social and economic problems must be found.

We the Mayors of EU capital cities therefore welcome the initiative of the European Commission to open a direct dialogue with the capital cities and to give our cities a higher profile as direct partners for the EU. The objectives of Europe 2020 cannot be achieved without our active involvement. Capital cities are drivers of innovation and smart growth, and often provide the core for education and scientific networks. Capital cities are indispensable to sustainable growth since their transport, energy and environmental policies have a decisive impact. Our capital cities are at the heart of efforts for inclusive growth: as centres of social, cultural and ethnic diversity.

We will continue to play our part in promoting competitiveness, sustainable growth, innovation and inclusiveness, to overcome the current economic, financial and social crisis.

In the light of current discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, the new Structural and Investment funds Regulations and other EU programmes, we believe:

  • Urban challenges have to be addressed in an integrated way, tackling the economic, environmental, social, cultural and demographic dimensions together. We therefore welcome the European Commission's commitment to an integrated approach.
  • Future EU policies and actions in the fields of transport, environment, energy, enterprise, employment, research climate action, tackling poverty and social exclusion and the digital agenda, should bear in mind the urban dimension. Improved co-ordination of urban issues to be conducted by the DG for Regional and Urban Policy is important and we will follow this closely.
  • Concerning the legislative package on Cohesion Policy, we welcome the Commission's willingness to test new ideas and ways of working through the proposed urban innovative actions.

  • We believe that the Commission's proposals for greater delegation of management to cities, including the management of EU Structural Funds, are vital to ensure urban challenges are well understood and implementation matches real needs.
  • The priority topics targeted by the draft regulations (energy efficiency, renewable energies, youth unemployment, innovation and SMEs competitiveness) are strategic issues for our cities. We welcome new opportunities to address these in an integrated way and trust that the Commission will implement the new legislation in a spirit of flexibility respecting local specificities.
  • We look forward to a continuing dialogue with the European Commission.

Capital city mayors endorsing the declaration

Eberhard van der Laan* / Lord Mayor of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
Yiorgos Kaminis* / Mayor of Athens / Greece
Klaus Wowereit* / Governing Mayor of Berlin / Germany
Milan Ftáčnik* / Mayor of Bratislava / Slovakia
Freddy Thielemans / Mayor of Brussels / Belgium
Sorin Mircea Oprescu* / Mayor of Bucharest / Romania
István Tarlós / Mayor of Budapest / Hungary
Frank Jensen / Lord Mayor of Copenhagen / Denmark
Naoise Ó Muirí / Lord Mayor of Dublin / Republic of Ireland
Jussi Pajunen / Mayor of Helsinki / Finland
António Costa* / Mayor of Lisbon / Portugal
Zoran Janković* / Mayor of Ljubljana / Slovenia
Xavier Bettel* / Mayor of Luxembourg / Luxembourg
Boris Johnson / Mayor of London / United Kingdom
Ana Botella* / Mayor of Madrid / Spain
Constantinos Yiorkadjis* / Mayor of Nicosia / Cyprus
Bertrand Delanoë / Mayor of Paris / France
Bohuslav Svoboda / Mayor of Prague / Czech Republic
Nils Ušakovs / Mayor of Riga / Latvia
Gianni Alemanno / Mayor of Rome / Italy
Yordanka Fandakova* / Mayor of Sofia / Bulgaria
Sten Nordin* / Mayor of Stockholm / Sweden
Edgar Savisaar* / Mayor of Tallinn / Estonia
Alexiei Dingli* / Mayor of Valletta / Malta
Michael Häupl* / Mayor of Vienna / Austria
Arturas Zuokas* / Mayor of Vilnius / Lithuania
Hanna Gronkiewicz Waltz* / Mayor of Warsaw / Poland
Milan Bandić* / Mayor of Zagreb / Croatia

* mayors present at the conference

1