News

06.02.2007
Town twinning: "Europe for citizens" programme officially adopted
The European Commission has officially adopted the new "Europe for citizens" programme which aims to promote active European citizenship through different actions, including town twinning.read more

05.02.2007
“Burden of Crime” highest in Ireland, followed by the UK, Estonia, the Netherlands and Denmark
Ireland has the highest crime rate of eighteen EU countries, according to the EU International Crime & Safety Survey (EU ICS). The survey compared levels of crime and analysed the EU’s citizens’ views and concerns about crime in the EU-15 plus Estoni...read more

03.02.2007
EU Presidency reopens fight against racism and xenophobia
Germany has put the fight against racism and xenophobia high on its EU Presidency political agenda. On 29 January 2007, the EU President pledged to restart talks on the Framework Decision to combat racism and xenophobia. These talks were suspended in...read more

02.02.2007
FESU: community mediation centres play key role in urban safety
Local mediation services centres can tackle multi-facetted conflicts within Europe’s cities. Different types of mediation already exist to tackle those conflicts. This is why the European Forum for Urban Safety (FESU) promotes the creation of local “...read more

31.01.2007
Paris to supply free bicycles
The City of Light wants to soon become a city of bicycles. Paris City Hall announced it has selected French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA to operate a new free bicycle service in the capital.read more

31.01.2007
Study reveals London and Paris as key immigrant cities
What are the world’s top immigrant destinations? Answering this question was central to a study conducted by researchers at the George Washington University in the United States. With the help of national censuses, they gathered and analysed data on ...read more

31.01.2007
Urban transport: problems, solutions and responsibilities
Preparations by the European Commission and stakeholders started today on a Green Paper on urban transport. The document will be published in September of this year. The conference "Urban transport: problems, solutions and responsibilities" was organ...read more

30.01.2007
EP report: promote healthy diets and physical activity to tackle obesity
Overweight and obesity are rising dramatically in the European Union (EU). Nearly 27 percent of men and 38 per cent of women are regarded as being overweight or obese. Across the EU-25, obesity affects five million children with 300,000 new cases per...read more

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