Ministers of the EU member states responsible for urban matters adopted the Pact of Amsterdam today which will be the basis for the first Urban Agenda for the EU. Federal Building Minister Barbara Hendricks participated on behalf of Germany in the Amsterdam meeting.
Minister Hendricks stated: "Already today more than 70 per cent of Europeans live in cities, and their numbers increase further. Therefore it is high time to increase cities' say in the European Union. We need strong, lively and sustainable cities. European cities can learn a lot from each other. Take Copenhagen as an example of how to promote bicycle traffic. The Pact of Amsterdam provides a new framework for our cooperation and therefore presents a milestone in European urban development policy."
Central to the methodology behind this new Urban Agenda are "partnerships", representing a new form of voluntary cooperation between the EU Commission, member states, regions and cities. In the first triennium these partnerships will develop action plans in the fields of "Better regulation", "Better funding" and "Better knowledge (base and knowledge exchange)”. Requests will be addressed mainly to the EU Commission. There will be four pilot partnerships on the topics urban poverty, housing, inclusion of refugees and air quality to test the new methodology.
The Pact of Amsterdam provides for closer cooperation in urban development and concerning the relationship between Commission, member states and cities. The overall aim is to give European cities a stronger voice and to involve them more closely in European decision making processes in order to bolster the urban dimension of EU policies.