News

28.12.2006
New National Focal Point for the Netherlands: The Nicis Institute
From January 2007 onwards the Dutch EUKN National Focal Point and the EUKN Secretariat will be housed at the Nicis Institute. The former National Focal Point in the Netherlands, the Dutch Knowledge centre for larger towns and cities, will be incorpor...read more

22.12.2006
Associations claim bigger role for local and regional government in decision making
EUROCITIES, together with five other associations of European local and regional government, has called on the German EU presidency to retain, and possibly strengthen the gains for regional and local government achieved in the European Constitutionread more

21.12.2006
Cities and regions invited to become partners for OPEN DAYS 2007
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) and DG Regio invite regions and cities to be partners in the OPEN DAYS 2007 – European Week of Regions and Cities. The open days will take place in Brussels between 8 and 11 October 2007. Deadline for applications i...read more

19.12.2006
Germany to take over EU Presidency
On 1 January Germany will take over the EU Presidency from Finland. Crucial issues in months to come are the European Constitution, energy, the Lisbon Strategy and enlargement. During the first half of its presidency, Germany will focus on energy and...read more

18.12.2006
Support for drawing up of Operational Programmes
Five working documents on evaluation are now available on the DG Regio website. They are intended for national and regional authorities involved in implementing cohesion policy programming. These papers are based on the experience gained during the c...read more

13.12.2006
DG Regio calls for papers for Regions for Economic Change conference
The European Commission is organising a conference on the Regions for Economic Change initiative, themed ‘Fostering competitiveness through innovative technologies, products and healthy communities’. The conference will take place in Brussels on 7 an...read more

11.12.2006
EC publishes Implementation rules for cohesion policy 2007-2013
European Commissioner for Regional policy Danuta Hübner presented the implementation regulation for the structural and cohesion funds. The regulation adopted by the Commission sets out detailed rules on how the Funds will be managed in the 2007-13 pr...read more

11.12.2006
Regions and cities commit to energy savings and renewable energy
EU regions and local governments have pledged to increase their usage of renewable energies in order to boost energy efficiency. A declaration on this topic was signed on 7 December 2006 at a round table organised in Brussels by the Committee of the ...read more

08.12.2006
FUTURE calls for applications on Culture and the City
The Future Urban Research in Europe (FUTURE) Programme calls for applications by young researchers to participate. The 2007 theme is “Culture and the City”. FUTURE aims to integrate all relevant academic disciplines in the field of urban research, by...read more

08.12.2006
EU Council to adopt rules on awarding public transport contracts
The EU Council of Ministers is getting ready to adopt its common position on the proposal for a regulation on the awarding of public service contracts for public passenger transport. The official decision will be taken at the Transport Council on 11-...read more

05.12.2006
Mayor of Melbourne wins 2006 World Mayor Award
John So, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, has been elected World Mayor 2006. Runner up in the 2006 World Mayor contest is Job Cohen, Mayor of Amsterdam. In third place is Harrisburg’s long-serving mayor Stephen Reed, while Jejomar Binay, Mayor of Makati City...read more

05.12.2006
Want to see what future European landscapes may look like? Visit the PRELUDE website
PRELUDE, an EEA scenarios study that explores future European landscapes, has been officially launched in Brussels and on the EEA website.read more

04.12.2006
OECD analyses economic role of cities, US cities still dominate ranking
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published the report ‘Cities: A Challenge for National and Global Economies’. The report studies the 78 largest metro-regions in the OECD, ranging from Tokyo with close to 35 million in...read more

29.11.2006
EEA: Europe ignores challenge of urban sprawl
The European Environment Agency (EEA) stresses that the EU needs policies to "co-ordinate and control" urban planning. The continuing expansion of urban into surrounding countryside, effected with little planning and driven by market forces, is fast ...read more

28.11.2006
New president and vice-president for EUROCITIES
Gérard Collomb, Senator-Mayor of Lyon, France, was elected as new president of EUROCITIES at the EUROCITIES conference in Manchester held on 22-25 November. Wim Deetman, Mayor of The Hague, the Netherlands, was elected as vice-president. Mr Deetman i...read more

27.11.2006
EUROCITIES rewards best city practices contributing to the knowledge economy
On 22 November in Manchester, the cities of Bristol, Dortmund and Vienna received the three EUROCITIES Awards 2006 for outstanding achievements in the field of the knowledge economy. The Awards were presented during the opening of the EUROCITIES Conf...read more

24.11.2006
EC to test regions and cities, additional information on "Regions for Economic Change"
The European Commission has adopted a new initiative "Regions For Economic Change", aiming at testing best practices for economic modernisation and increased competitiveness.read more

23.11.2006
Participate in town twinning!
In the framework of the European Commission's new programme “Europe for citizens” 2007-2013, European municipalities and cities are invited to participate in town twinning activities.read more

22.11.2006
“Local authorities to back up national innovation policies”
Ministers responsible for regional policy held an informal meeting in Brussels on 21 November. The meeting, chaired by Finnish Minister of Regional and Municipal Affairs Hannes Manninen, discussed how to promote innovation and competitiveness through...read more

21.11.2006
EU publishes list of regions and areas eligible for ERDF funding
The Commission decision of 31 October 2006, which draws up the list of regions and areas eligible for funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the cross-border and transnational strands of the European territorial cooperation ...read more