News

30.01.2007
Four European cities in top seven of ‘Intelligent Communities’
The top seven intelligent communities of the year provide role models for the world's best practices in creating competitive local economies and vibrant societies in today's global economy, increasingly linked by broadband communications. In its annu...read more

30.01.2007
Greening the London Olympic Games 2012
The Olympic Delivery Authority of the London 2012 Olympics has published its Sustainable Development Strategy. The organisers of the London Olympics claim that the Games will be "the greenest in history". Critics, however, have commented that the Str...read more

29.01.2007
EU cohesion policy to deal with demographic change
The EU will be able co-finance necessary investments for adaptation to demographic change. Through the European Structural Funds, the EU can support regions that struggle with for example the ageing of the population and declining birth rates resulti...read more

29.01.2007
Less paperwork to save EU businesses 150 billion euros
The Commission has adopted an action plan to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on Europe's businesses. It is estimated that this could give the European economy a 150 billion euro boost by 2012.read more

29.01.2007
Awareness of anti-discrimination laws low in the European Union
The special Eurobarometer on discrimination, published on 23 January 2007, examined the six legally prohibited forms of discrimination in the European Union (EU): discrimination on the basis of sex, ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, age, disability...read more

24.01.2007
"European communication must go local!"
European Communication must go local in order to genuinely meet the diverse needs of EU citizens in different countries and regions. This was one of Margot Wallström's main messages at the "Communicating Europe together" conference on 18-19 January 2...read more

24.01.2007
Order the highlights of the Open Days 2006
A DVD, which includes one film on the 2006 Open Days and two others, which present projects from Austria and the Baltic states, can now be ordered free of charge from the Regional Policy Directorate General of the European Commission.read more

22.01.2007
European organisations try to dismantle ‘demographic time bomb’
The Committee of the Regions (CoR), Age Concern England and AGE, the European Older People's Platform, have produced a guide to help local and regional authorities cope with the impact of demographic change and an increasingly ageing society.read more

19.01.2007
Frattini wants French missing-children system implemented throughout EU
At a meeting in Paris on 17 January discussing the fight against child abuse in Europe , Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini has called for the pan-EU implementation of an American scheme, already in use in France. It involves polic...read more

19.01.2007
UCLG underscores relation between cultural and economical development
United Cities and Local Governments’ (UCLG) Working Group on Culture and Cities organised a meeting on the role of culture in city development. At this first meeting, the working group established the Agenda 21 for culture. The agenda and the report ...read more

18.01.2007
New EP President: "cities and communities are Europe’s foundation"
On 16 January MEPs elected Hans-Gert Pöttering to be the new European Parliament President. The 61-year-old German Christian-Democrat will lead the European Parliament for two and a half years until the next European elections in June 2009.read more

18.01.2007
US cities having hard time meeting Kyoto targets
US cities that have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol appear to be struggling to put words into action. Research among ten of the largest of the 355 cities that signed up to the US Mayor’s ...read more

15.01.2007
New report: Cities hold solution to poverty, climate change
The American based Worldwatch Institute has published its annual ‘State of the World’ report. This year’s report solely focuses on cities and is titled ‘Our urban future’. The report focuses on areas where urban leadership can have huge benefits for ...read more

12.01.2007
"Europe's future must include its regional and local dimension"
European cities and regions have called on the EU heads of state and government to retain and strengthen the gains for regional and local government achieved in the European Constitution.read more

11.01.2007
New EU energy package
The European Commission today proposed a comprehensive package of measures to establish a new Energy Policy for Europe. Aim is to combat climate change and boost the EU's energy security and competitiveness. The package of proposals sets a series of ...read more

10.01.2007
Participate in the EC debate on urban transport!
The European Commission is to launch preparations for a new green paper on urban transport with a major stakeholder conference in Brussels on 31 January 2007. The event "Urban transport: problems, solutions and responsibilities" is organised in the f...read more

09.01.2007
Regions for economic change: call for papers
Through this call for papers, DG Regio invites interested individuals or institutions to send paper proposals for the conference "Regions for economic change: Fostering competitiveness through innovative technologies, products and healthy communities...read more

09.01.2007
EU citizens largely favour renewable energy sources over nuclear energy
The Eurobarometer study - published on Monday (8 January) just two days ahead of the publication of the commission's major EU energy plan - shows that 80 percent of EU citizens back solar energy while 71 percent are in favour of wind energy.read more

08.01.2007
City Mayors lists largest cities in the world, by land area, population and density
City Mayors, international network of professionals working to promote strong cities and good local government, has published statistical data on the largest urban areas in the world. The data cover land area, population and density, and provide fore...read more

05.01.2007
DG Regio publishes guide on experiments in regional innovation policy
The European Commission directorate general for Regional policy has published the study “Innovative strategies and actions: Results from 15 Years of Regional Experimentation”. The study details the results of regional experimentation supported by the...read more