EU should have clearer funding for cities, says Hague mayor 01-02-2010 EU's major cities are to push for "clearer budget lines" from Brussels, as
most policies related to social inclusion, environment and public transport are
being implemented in urban areas, says the mayor of the Hague. "We represent 120
million citizens in Europe – 140 cities from 34 countries – it's important for
us to follow the many policies and budget lines coming from Brussels," Jozias
van Aartsen, the mayor of the Hague and chair of the Eurocities network stated
this on to the EUobserver website.
He was talking on the margins of an event marking the launch of a cross-party
group within the European Parliament looking at existing and upcoming
legislation from the perspective of cities and the costs entailed for local
administrations. "We are engaged full-front in environment policy, public
transport, fighting against congestion and pollution, all policies related to
social inclusion – for instance how to integrate migrants – end up in cities,"
Mr van Aartsen said.
Also, in view of the upcoming talks related to EU's next multi-annual budget,
he stressed the need for "clearer budget lines" and more focus on projects being
developed by cities. As for concrete projects developed in the Hague, Mr van
Aartsen said one district being completely renovated will be CO2-free within 10
years, while other districts used sea water or the warmth of the earth for
heating apartment buildings.
These projects were "hardly EU-funded", however, with most of the subsidies
coming from the Dutch government and the city itself. Paul Bevan, the secretary
general of Eurocities, added that projects such as the ones developed in the
Hague are "the future of cohesion policy."
"By combining social, environmental and economic measures, an area of the
city regenerates in a comprehensive way. It's also about training, upskilling
people – not just constructing buildings," he said.
The calls on the EU executive to redesign the priorities of regional funding
come from a man who up until February 2009 was on the payroll of the European
Commission, as special envoy for the Nabucco gas pipeline project. Mr van
Aartsen, a former foreign minister, took up the job in 2006 and kept it for a
year after being elected mayor, in March 2008. He recalled having "done a lot,"
especially in advancing negotiations with Turkey, the main transit country for
the project connecting gas fields in Azerbaijan to central Europe, in a bid to
lower the bloc's dependence on Russian gas. Since then, the commission has not
appointed another special envoy. But former German foreign minister Joschka
Fischer has taken up a similar job on behalf of the Nabucco consortium itself.
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