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TABLE OF CONTENTS (TEXT BELOW)
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¥Eurocities is a non-profit making Association of 87 Metropolitan Cities from 26 European countries. The associations' main aim is to improve the quality of life for the 8O% of Europeans living in cities and urban areas by: ¥ influencing the European agenda, ¥ increasing the transfer of knowledge, ¥ facilitating the implementation of practical projects between cities across Europe. Membership of Eurocities is open to democratically elected city governments, and to their economic and scientific partners (Chambers of Commerce and Universities), in cities which: ¥ have a minimum population of 250.000 ¥ have an international dimension ¥ are an important regional centre
¥ to influence the European agenda to ensure that the views of the major cities are taken into account in policy development ¥ to lobby for the involvement of local authorities in European Union programmes ¥ to increase the transfer of knowledge, experience and best practice between city governments ¥ to support the cities of Central and Eastern Europe and the NIS in their progress towards democratic government and a market economy
To enable Eurocities to contribute effectively to the European policy debate and develop practical co-operation projects between cities, Eurocities has established the following committees: ¥ Culture ¥ East / West ¥ Economic Development and Urban Regeneration ¥ Environment ¥ SocialWelfare ¥ Transport ¥ Policy Forum for Technology Eurocities has also initiated the networks of Car Free Cities (promoting sustainable mobility) and Telecities (defining the urban demand for telematics).
A Eurocities Committee To enable Eurocities to contribute effectively to the European policy debate and develop practical co-operation projects between cities, Eurocities established several specialised committees, one of them being the Transport Committee. The Committee has a membership of 39 cities and is currently chaired by the City of Torino. The Committee maintains close relations with sister networks such as POLlS (Advanced transport telematics) and Car Free Cities- You will find a list of its current members on the back ofthis leaflet.
Aims To further the goals set by Eurocities, the Transport Committee has set itself a number of specific aims: · The Committee's main aim is to establish itself as an important lobby in the field of European urban transport policy The rationale behind this being that, within Eurocities, a large part of the potential for technological co-operation through projects in the field of urban transport is already successfully being covered by networks such as POLlS and Car Free Cities . · While focusing on the political level, the Committee's members realise that one of the key advantages of being part of a European network lies in the potential for cooperation and sharing of know-how and experience between cities. The Committee exploits this potential through the following specific aims: ¥ to exchange information, ideas and experience in relation to urban transport and, through this, ensuring the promotion of"good practice" between European cities; ¥ to initiate and maintain co-operation at a practical level through the development and implementation of practical projects in the field of urban transport ¥ to initiate and maintain contacts with the European Institutions for and on behalf of the major cities of Europe in relation to issues affecting urban transport, i.e. policy development and drafting of positions on EU initiatives and proposals.
The Committee's Activities To be able to achieve the Committee's aims in an efficient manner the Committee organises four meetings a year one of which includes a political session.
Policy Development To establish itself as an important negotiating partner for theEuropean lnstitutions when it comes to policy making, the Committee schedules one specific meeting a year between local government politicians to enable them to discuss and give recommendations concerning high priority transport issues. Subsequently, the committee feeds these recommendations through the relevant European Institutions into the decision-making procedure of the European Union. A recent example is the Committee's work on the submission of an opinion on the Commission's Green Paper on Passenger Transport. The committee is an active member of the Commt'ssion's Task Force on Intermodality and the Auto Oil II Programme.
Technical Co-operation Currently, the Commnittee's activities at the technical level focus on the following areas: ¥ a study into the economic and social effects for cities with connection to the European High Speed Train network. ¥ in the field of transport: Urban accessibility and exchange points: distribution and collection. ¥ in the field of traffic: ringroads and sliproads, TEN's rail, Intermodal exchange points ¥ in the field of supportive measures: road pricing and traffic management.
The Committee is further closely co-operating with both POLlS and Car Free Cities through the formation of the "Urban Transport Initiative" UTI. This initiative, which emerged from the need for increased co-operation between urban networks, has as its core objectives: ¥ minimising competition and duplication among city consortia; ¥ maintaining complementarity of networks while guaranteeing their independence; simplifying and fostering co-operation and exchange of experience; ¥ providing guidance and assistance with the formation of consortia and the development and promotion of advanced technology projects for urban transport; ¥ disseminating project results widely.
Instruments The committee aims to achieve the above objectives through the initiation of working groups drawn from member cities with an interest in urban transport issues and, where relevant, in collaboration with other Eurocities committees or European networks in the field. Each working group is headed by a lead city and is responsible for a specific field of urban transport.
A Eurocities Committee To enable Eurocities to contribute effectively to the European policy debate and develop practical co-operation projects between cities, Eurocities established several specialised committees, one of them being the Social Welfare Committee. The Committee has a membership of 25 cities and is currently chaired by the City of Antwerp. Whilst offering new opportunities, the social, economic and political changes in Europe have also increased certain inequalities, in particularly in cities. The quality of life in Europe depends largely on the ability of cities to face social challenges thus guaranteeing better cohesion at the local, national and European level.
Aims The Social Welfare Committee has the following aims: ¥ to contribute to the development of social policy across Europe and to promote the role of cities as a driving force of social cohesion and social inclusion, ¥ to participate in and influence the European social agenda, ¥ to develop joint activities within Eurocities, in co-operation with European, national and academic institutions, ¥ to facilitate and promote co-operation, exchange of information and social expertise and innovative action between member cities
The Committee's Activities A series of activities have been implemented and new ideas are continually being developed, on both a political and a practical level.
Political Activities The Committee increases the awareness of local authorities on social issues and the understanding of European social policies and their impact at the local level- It develops positions on fundamental issues and communicates them to the European institutions. The Social Welfare Committee seeks to strengthen its position as partner of the European institutions in the elaboration of social policy bearing an impact on cities- This is achieved through constant dialogue with the institutions, taking a stand on social and European issues and participating in European events. To date the following documents have been published: Social Tolerance (1992): European social policy and cities (1993); Declaration on the elderly (1993); Reaction to the European Commission Green Paper on social policy (1994): Manifesto of the Cities on People with Disabilities (1995); Declaration on Refugees (1995); Document on Street Children 11996): Declaration of intent on The European Year against Racism (1997); Recommendations on the CommissioB Action Plan on Sustainable Urban Development (1998); Working document on European Citizenship 11998): Housing (1998): International Co-operation on development (1998)
Projects/lnitiatives The Committee covers the following areas of activity: ¥ Fight against poverty/social exclusion ¥ Housing ¥ Urban Security ¥ Social Employment ¥ Education and social exclusion ¥ People with disabilities - Project co-funded by DGV ¥ Integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities MLocal Integration Partnership Action" ILIA Initiative co-financed by DG Vi a consortium of Eurocities Social Welfare Committee, ECWS/ELAINE and Quartiers en Crise) The Committee has recently set up a working group on Urban Security which will be liaising with the European Forum on Urban Security.
Instruments In order to achieve its objectives the Committee uses the following instruments: ¥ regular meetings of the Social Welfare Committee (three a year) to identify areas of cooperation, present expert evaluations on specific topics, discuss current projects, inform each other of local policies and respond to the development of Europeanpolicies. ¥ communication through the EC web site ¥ contacts with other networks including the European Forum for Urban Safety, ECWS/ELAINEt Healthy Cities, Quartiers en Crise, Amsterdam Circle, Feansta, European Housing Forum and DIECEC
A Eurocities Committee To enable Eurocities to contribute effectively to the European policy debate and develop practical co-operation projects between cities, Eurocities established several specialised committees, one of them being the Environment Committee. The Committee has a membership of 48 cities and is currently chaired by the City of Stockholm.
Aims To further the goals set by Eurocities, the Environment Committee has set itself the following aims: ¥ to promote the implementation, at local level, of the EU's Environmental Action Programmes by jointly developing and undertaking practical environmental projects; ¥ to increase the environmental awareness of local governments and citizens in European metropolitan cities; ¥ to facilitate and promote the co-operation and exchange of environmental information and expertise between cities in Europe; ¥ to enhance the awareness, within the European Institutions, of the specific environmental concerns and needs of EU cities by initiating and maintaining a dialogue between its members and the European Institutions. ¥ to actively promote Local Agenda 21 and the integration of environment and sustainable development in other policy areas
The Committee's Activities To reach the aims, several activities have been initiated and further ones are constantly under development. Broadly speaking, the Committee's activities can be divided into two levels: policy development and technical co-operation.
Policy Development At political level, the Committee aims to increase environmental awareness among local authorities by creating and enhancing understanding of European Environmental Policy developments and their impact on local government in general, facilitating the development and submisSion of opinion to the European Institutions. In particular, raising the awareness among Europe's citizens on sustainable development and Local Agenda 21 and working towards the integration of environmental concerns in other local policy areas are key priorities. The Committee considers it equally important to increase awareness at EU level of the specific concerns and needs of cities and environmental issues typical to cities and has initiated and maintains close contacts with the European Institutions. To effectively communicate with the European Institutions, the Committee has organised itself along a structure of thematic Policy Working Groups comprising of several core cities per group. The Working Group structure allows the Committee to respond efficiently to developments at policy level and to ensure that a balanced approach is being taken bearing in mind the unique features of all the different Member States. In additiont it allows the committee to take a more pro-active position and to react more rapidly to the many relevant developments as they take place at European level.
Projects At a practical level, co-operation takes place through the development of common solutions to common problems and the exchange of experience and best practice. Participation in the Environment Committee allows individual cities to increase their awareness of the ways in which environmental problems are dealt with by other partners in the network. Sharing technical knowledge and experience enables cities, jointly, to find and implement the most effective solutions. The practical approach of the Environment Committee becomes most apparent in the projects which are being developed and carried out by groups of members of the Committee. Projects carried out in the framework of the Committee cover Urban Air quality managementt waste managementt Energy management, Sustainable Cities Scenarios and the European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign. Further projects are constantly being developed.
Instruments To achieve its aims, the Committee uses the following instruments: regular meetings of the Committee and the individual Working Groups, developments, progress of projects, identification of new fields of co-operation and presentation of good local practices: the development and implementation of joint projects within the framework of the Committee: the maintenance of a home page containing information on both the Committee's policy and project activities. The Eurocities Environment committee is represented on the Co-ordinating Committee of the Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign. It also has close contacts with other organisations and networks representing local and regional authorities in the environmental field.
A Eurocities Committee To enable Eurocities to contribute effectively to the European policy debate and develop practical co-operation projects between cities, Eurocities established several specialised committees, one of them being the Culture Committee. The Committee has a membership of 24 cities and is currently chaired by the City of Helsinki. Through its activities the Culture committee aims to work closely with the main European representative bodies responsible for cultural planning and to work towards the overall development of cities within the European Union. Ultimately the Committee aims to ensure that all relevant bodies are fully informed and involved in cultural planning and development, with a view of promoting joint activities between cities.
Aims The objectives of the Committee are achieved by following 5 principles: ¥ to establish political links and working relationships with the European Commission ¥ to facilitate co-operation and exchange of experience and information between European cities, ¥ to ensure that the work of the Culture Committee is disseminated widely to all relevant local, regional/national/European bodies, ¥ to ensure that the Culture Committee participates in all meetings of the EU authorities whenever matters relating to cultural policy are raised, ¥ to maintain working relationships between the Culture Committee and other Eurocities Committees
The Committee's Activities In order to achieve its aims, several activities have been initiated and new initiatives are constantly being put forward. The committees activities can be divided into two levels
Policy Development At a political level, the committee aims to increase awareness of European Cultural Policy developments and therefore to stimulate local authorities into responding to these by presenting position papers, studies and examples of best practice. Moreover, the committee considers it fundamental to increase awareness among the European institutions of the specific concerns and potential of local authorities as a cultural breeding ground. The committee has actively contributed to the debate on the future of European Cultural Policy in particular with regard to the creation of the First Framework Programme in support of culture 2000-2004 and also to the European Commission Action Plan for Sustainable Urban Development. Moreover, the committee has developed several position papers and studies, namely on Cultural diversity (1996), Youth and Culture (1997), Cultural Planning (1997) and Cultural exclusion as Social exclusion (1998).
Projects/lnitiatives At a practical level, the committee co-operates through the exchange of experience and best practice. Through their participation in the committee meetings, cities aim to exchange information on their differing Cultural policies, but also to debate and work together on common approaches to similar challenges. The committee is currently focusing its efforts on the following areas of work Culture and Urban Regeneration, in conjunction with the Economic Development Committee ¥ cultural exclusion as social exclusion ¥ multiculturalism and youth ¥ cultural indicators ¥ City cultural policy portraits ¥ cultural industries The members of the Culture committee also work together to develop concrete projects. An example of this is the PROMISE project within the framework of Article 10 (PROMISE stands for Promoting Museums through Information-based-technology Services. Partners include Antwerp, Florence, Helsinki, Newcastle, Palermo and Porto)
Instruments In order to meet its objectives, the Culture committee uses the following instruments Regular meetings of the committee on average three times a year, Contacts with European Institutions and other organisationsworking in the cultural field such as EFAH IEuropean Forum for the Arts and Heritage), Eurocities web site containing information on the committee and relevant links
A Eurocities Committee To enable Eurocities to contribute effectively to the European policy debate and develop practical co-operation projects between cities, Eurocities established several specialist committees, one of them being the Economic Development and Urban Regeneration Committee (EDURC). The Committee, which focuses on urban development strategies has a membership of 47 cities and is currently chaired by the City of Lille.
Aims The Committee has the following aims: ¥ to take part in the decision making process and to influence European policy in matters concerning the economic development and regeneration of cities ¥ to promote formal and informal collaboration between the cities as well as the exchange of information, experiences and "know-how" ¥ to prepare and develop innovative co-operation projects dealing with urban economic problems ¥ to promote beneficial economic exchanges between members
The Committee's Activities A series of activities have been put into action on both a political and a practical level. The major issues that have been dealt with in 1998 are; employment and local employment initiatives; European growth sectors; Urban Tourism; Urban Regeneration. For 1999-2000 EDURC has decided to work on the following issues: development strategies of major European cities, innovation and enterpreneurship, commerce and urban regeneration, employment, and culture and urban regeneration (in partnership with the Culture Committee).
Political Adivities The Committee informs local authorities of the impact of European policy on local development strategies. It increases the awareness of European institutions about the specific concerns of cities and informs them on the positions adopted by the committee regarding matters of economic development and urban regeneration. Close links have been made with European Commission, European Parliament and Committee of the Regions representatives. EDURC reinforces its position as a partner with the European institutions through discussions with the institutions and positions taken on European issues. To date the following documents have been published: ¥ "The Delors White Paper and urban employment policies" ¥ "Urban Regeneration and Economic Development" Vol.l: "Urban Regeneration: significance, sources and procedures in European cities" - "Structural changes, urban strategies and European policies" Vol.ll: "Case study of cities" ¥ "Local Employment Initiatives and monographs of case studies", a research policy paper on 'urban' has also been prepared to inform the Committee's work. ¥ Position paper on EU Urban Regeneration Policy ¥ Study on cultural business, media and telematics ¥ Manual on "Growth Sectors in European Cities" ¥ Comparative study on European growth sectors (under preparation) ¥ Comparative study on Urban Tourism (under preparation)
Practical Activities In 1998 the Committee has decided to work on the following issues: Employment and Training" IGlasgow); "Economic Growth sectors" (Munich); "Urban Tourism" (Lyon); "Urban Regeneration" (Lyon); EUPOLIS database (Birmingham, Lille); Involvement of minority communities within the local labour market; "Green Markets" (Bradford); Citystrat (Munich): working with St Petersburg on development issues; Quality of Welcome (Lyon); Cultural business/media (Cardiff) A steering group composed of the committee chairs and lead cities of the thematic working areas meets between two plenary committee meetings to assess results and propose further actions.
Projects The following projects are envisaged for 1999: presentation on development strategy of European cities, presentation on the role of Culture in Urban regeneration, functional urban areas (participation to a research activity launched by Eurocitie), stronger urban dimension in employment policies (involvement in 5th Framework programme. IMPACT), Inter urban co-operation
Instruments In order to reach these goals, the Committee has the following specific instruments: Working papers forthe meeting; organised meetings (minimum four times a year) to identify areas of co-operation, to discuss projects, to inform each other of local policies and react to the development of European policies; regular communication between meetings; specialised speakers in key areas of policy at each meeting in order to ensure success, the Committee has a steering committee which guides the Committee on both its political and practical activities.
A Eurocities Committee To enable Eurocities to contribute effectively to the European policy debate and develop practical co-operation projects between cities, Eurocities established several specialist committees, one of them being the horizontal EastlWest Committee. The Committee focuses on support of and co-operation with cities from Central and Eastern Europe and the NIS. It has a membership of 25 cities and is currently chaired by the City of Budapest. Eurocities wants to foster and consolidate the process of democracy and institution building, improving econ omic structures, and implementing Union legislation at local level for cities in eastern and central Europe. Eurocities will assist the cities of central and eastern Europe to integrate themselves into the EU and support and encourage them and the cities of the NIS in their continuing progress towards democratic government and a market economy
Aims The principal aims in intensifying EastlWest co-operation are: ¥ to foster the growth of modern urban democracies and the move towards a market economy in cities of CEEC and the NIS; ¥ to identify the mutual interests of European cities from Western, Central and Eastern European cities and cities from the NIS, and to co-operate with each other and to facilitate contacts between them and promote the exchange of best practice; ¥ to familiarise CEEC and NIS cities with the mechanisms of the EU; ¥ to take part and influence the European decision-making process on matters concerning relationswith CEEC andthe NIS; ¥ to establish effective, comprehensive dissemination mechanisms on EU programmes, project results and relevant events and activities. Return to HOME PAGE |
