Background :
Facing the new challenges
The challenges currently facing European development are many in number. The prime issue is climate change, which is prompting the players in Europe to think about how energy consumption might be managed better. In cities the main focus is on urban sprawl and land use. The European Union has produced two basic texts, the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities and the Territorial Agenda of the European Union.
The Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities
With the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities the urban development ministers agreed the guiding principles of a policy on integrated urban development encompassing economic, social and environmental aspects. Although the European Union has no legislative powers in respect of urban development, the urban dimension is increasingly attracting attention at European level. The Leipzig Charter enables Member States to contribute to the work of the European Commission and especially the cohesion policy progress report to be published in 2010. With this in mind, the ministers have agreed to cooperate closely on a report which they will submit at the end of 2008.
The origins of the Leipzig Charter lie in the European Commission’s 1990 Green Paper on the Urban Environment and in the Urban Pilot Projects carried out during the Structural Funds period which ended in 1999. The high point of these activities was the adoption in 2006 of the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment (which allows the Structural Funds to be used to finance investments designed to improve the quality of the urban environment), and they ultimately led to the Leipzig Charter.
The Territorial Agenda of the European Union
The Territorial Agenda of the European Union on sustainable cities reflects the desire of the ministers responsible for urban development to preserve the European Union’s regional diversity whilst pursuing the goal of European integration and to use regional identity as an aid to developing the regions. The Territorial Agenda lists six priorities in the plan to develop the territory of the Community. There will be new measures aimed, for example, at further expanding multi-centre development and innovation through the networking of metropolitan areas and cities and the optimum use of new forms of partnership and regional governance between urban and rural areas. Regional clusters of competitive excellence and innovation will be promoted along with trans-European management of cities, including the impacts of climate change. The Agenda also seeks to strengthen environmental structures and cultural resources as a valuable by-product of development.
Actions of the Intergroup
Sustainable urban development is central to the Intergroup’s thinking. Indeed, the Intergroup has focused on the management of urban development issues in the context of the integrated approach. The example of urban sprawl is emblematic here. It requires the players to find global answers to the whole range of questions concerning housing, social and geographical inclusion, social and territorial cohesion and urban regeneration. To that end, rather than considering the city as an independent entity, we need to see it as an ’area of habitation’, with links to an adjacent territory.
At the informal ministerial meeting held in the Azores in November 2007 the Portuguese Presidency launched the action programme for implementation of the Territorial Agenda. This was attended by a large number of members of the Intergroup who contributed to the debate on the fifteen priorities which were established for implementing the Agenda.
In addition, on 12 February 2008 the European Parliament adopted the report of Gisela Kallenbach, vice-chairman of the Intergroup, on the follow-up of the Territorial Agenda and the Leipzig Charter. This report, in line with the Intergroup’s position, wants to see the objectives of the Territorial Agenda and the Leipzig Charter achieved by pursuing a comprehensive, cross-sector, holistic development strategy to put the integrated approach into practice. Implementation of an integrated approach might be a binding requirement for programme planning and project selection under the Structural Funds.
Good practice :
The LIFE+ programme : a financial instrument for the environment
The European Commission devised LIFE+ as a new and simplified programme of funding for the environment. Introduced in 2007, this instrument seeks to facilitate the mainstreaming of environmental considerations in other EU policies, so that sustainable development can be achieved EU-wide. LIFE+ has three components : ’Nature and biodiversity’, ’Environment policy and governance’ and ’Information and communication’.
LIFE+ will contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Community policy on the environment. It will thus help Member States to obtain better and faster outcomes as they implement Community environmental policy.
The LIFE+ programme is the biggest of the Community’s environmental programmes. It has a total budget of EUR 1.911 billion for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013.
