Pact of Amsterdam to help European cities
European cities must increase their influence on EU legislation, access to European funds and knowledge exchange. These are the main issues to be discussed at the informal ministerial meeting on the Urban Agenda for the EU and the Pact of Amsterdam to be held in Amsterdam on Monday 30 May. A new feature is that the priority themes of the Urban Agenda will be addressed in partnerships.
The pact aims to help put in place a new and innovative working method in which the European Commission, EU institutions, and local and regional governments work together to identify and address bottlenecks in EU legislation. The partnerships will explore ways in which the EU can improve its policy so that cities are better able to tackle the most urgent and complex problems.
The meeting, chaired by Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk, will be attended by ministers from the EU member states, representatives from the European Parliament, the European Commission, European institutions – like the Committee of the Regions – and other stakeholders, including urban organisations. The attendees will include Maroš Šefčovič (Vice-President of the European Commission), Corina Creţu (European Commissioner for Regional Policy), Iskra Mihaylova (Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Regional Development (REGI)), Markku Markkula (President of the Committee of the Regions), Eberhard van der Laan (Mayor of Amsterdam) and Johanna Rolland (President of EUROCITIES).
