News

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

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

08.12.2006
Finnish Y4 wins European Enterprise Award
The Finnish entrepreneurship initiative Y4 has won the grand prize in the European Enterprise Awards. The competition was organised by the European Commission, the Committee of Regions and the Finnish EU Presidency, with the purpose of rewarding init...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