RIGA DECLARATION on strengthening the role of European Union Capital Cities for growth and unity within the Urban Agenda for the European Union by the Mayors of the EU Capital Cities on September 22, 2017 Riga PREAMBLE 1. Europe is a highly urbanised continent. As EU Capital Cities and other urban areas continue to grow, they face both opportunities and challenges. 2. Capital Cities are Europe s primary sources of economic growth and innovation. Their inhabitants are creative, talented, diverse, open-minded, tolerant and able to find innovative solutions to Europe s key challenges. 3. EU Capital Cities are at the frontline of the multiple challenges facing Europe and cities have a particular responsibility to identify quick and sustainable solutions to the issues they face. Indeed, the strength of Europe is largely dependent on the strength of its cities and citizens. 4. The Annual Direct Dialogue between the Mayors of the EU Capital Cities and the European Commission provides an excellent opportunity for a sustained exchange of views on the opportunities and challenges that our societies face. The Urban Agenda is an important opportunity for European cities, Member States and the European Commission to work together to develop solutions to the key concerns of EU citizens. It should result in improved co-ordination of policy, legislation and funding programmes at EU level and encourage greater coherence between actions at EU, national and local levels. The Urban Agenda should create a framework for better governance of policy development including urban expertise on integrated solutions. 5. It is therefore essential that the EU Urban Agenda mobilizes the right expertise from our EU Capital Cities as well as from the Member States and the European Commission in order to be able to deliver measurable results. In this respect EU Capital Cities are truly committed to contributing actively to the work within the EU Urban Agenda partnerships directly or via city associations, not least Eurocities and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). 6. Following the Amsterdam dialogue in 2016 the EU s Capital Cities confirm once again that the main societal opportunities and challenges that Europe faces are urban. As a result, Mayors must intensify their dialogue with the EU institutions.
MAYORS OF EU CAPITAL CITIES DECLARE AS FOLLOWS Concerning Brexit, the future of the EU, the Refugee crisis, and Cohesion Policy On Brexit: 7. We fully acknowledge that Britain s decision to leave the European Union has led to profound uncertainties for both British citizens resident in European cities on the continent and EU citizens living in the UK. 8. Any changes in the position of these citizens will depend on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations between the UK and the EU. However, these citizens have settled throughout Europe to pursue their ambitions and dreams and to contribute to our cities, using the core freedoms of which Europe is so rightfully proud, and we believe that their future interests should remain secured as far as possible. We urgently call for the UK and EU to provide, through the negotiation process, the necessary guarantees that the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in Europe will be protected after the UK s exit from the EU. 9. The EU Capital Cities hope that the new post-brexit agreements between the European Union and the United Kingdom will facilitate full cooperation between cities in the United Kingdom and cities in the EU as well as arrangements that will allow for the full participation of cities in the United Kingdom in future programmes of the EU. Whatever the nature of the future EU-UK relationship, the Capital Cities of the EU 27 place particular importance on maintaining their close collaboration with London. 10. The EU Capital Cities also recognize the importance of supporting the Northern Ireland peace process and the historic relationship that exists between the cities of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The EU Capital Cities will continue to support the foundation of this peace process, the Good Friday Agreement, and all its provisions, including those on citizenship and on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. On the Future of the EU: 11. We fully agree that the White Paper on the Future of Europe has initiated an important, urgent and necessary debate on the future direction of the European Union. We urge the European Commission to consult not only with the Member States at national level, but to take care to also include citizens in this debate. Since the Capital Cities are ideally placed to engage with our citizens, we kindly invite all members of the College of the European Commission to visit our Capital Cities and engage in a dialogue with our inhabitants on both the importance of Europe and the future of the European Union. On Cohesion Policy: 12. We are convinced that cohesion policy is a valuable and powerful instrument in helping urban regions and EU Capital Cities meet current and future challenges. EU objectives are implemented through concrete projects in the areas of research, innovation, education, sustainable growth, renewable energy, SME, accessibility, competitiveness, and job creation. This link between the EU and regional
levels is not only crucial for the effectiveness of the European strategies, but also strengthens the ownership of European policies on the ground by bringing them closer to citizens. This is clearly the core European added value of the Cohesion policy. 13. The EU s Capital Cities wish to be more involved in the decision-making on cohesion policy. Cohesion policy needs to be maintained going into the next European Union Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 by taking into account continuing urbanisation trends in Europe. Urbanisation creates urgent new challenges for Europe s cities, but also creates new development opportunities which should be reinforced. To allow cities to react properly, the new regulations for the ESIF should be published no later than mid-2019. In addition, the Cohesion programme for the new programming should undergo a radical review with regard to the multiple unnecessary administrative burdens that hamper the overall efficiency of Cohesion Policy. On the Refugee crisis: 14. The 2016 Amsterdam Declaration by the Mayors of the EU Capital Cities on the EU Urban Agenda and the Refugee Crisis sought to strengthen unity and solidarity in Europe. This is necessary to support the many cities across Europe which are current or potential hosts of refugees. 15. We agree that refugees often are, or seek to be, relocated to Europe s major cities, placing additional strains on urban housing, transport, cultural, educational, economic and social systems. The European institutions and national leaders should engage in a structured dialogue with Europe s major cities in order to address the strains of refugee relocation, inclusion and integration. 16. Cities are at the heart of the integration and inclusion of everyone in our societies. It is our shared responsibility to ensure that all migrants who are rightfully and legitimately in the European Union can fully participate in all dimensions and at all levels of cultural, social, economic and also political life in our societies and communities. Therefore, it is crucial to facilitate access to EU funding for local authorities. We ask that the European Commission be forward-looking, innovative and create appropriate new funding mechanisms. 17. The EU Capital Cities support the Solidarity Cities Initiative. We emphasize that this is an important framework initiative that will allow European cities to share knowledge and experience vis-à-vis the refugee crisis. The European Commission should support these activities by, for example, facilitating city-to-city technical assistance and capacity building. Europe needs to do more to empower cities to deal with the refugee crisis. 18. On the Partnership on the Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees, we welcome the progress that has been made in establishing the Action Plan and we are looking forward to the implementation-phase of the different actions. As access to European integration funds is seen as a significant challenge by cities, we much welcome the three actions that facilitate access to EU funding for local authorities: The Establishment of Financial Blending Facilities for cities and SME s as well as the Financial Blending Facility for Microfinance, and Improving access for cities to EU integration funding. Other relevant actions include Recommendations on the reform-package of the Common EU Asylum System, the Establishment of an Urban Academy on Integration strategies, the Establishment of a European Migrant Advisory Board, the improvement in Urban Indicators Facilitating evidence based integration policies in cities, as well as the Improving desegregation policies in European cities.
THE MAYORS DECLARE AS FOLLOWS, concerning the Urban Agenda for the EU (on Housing, Urban poverty, Energy transition, Urban mobility, Digitalization) 19. We express our hope that all parties involved in the EU Urban Agenda, as reflected in the Pact of Amsterdam, will commit themselves to rapid development of action plans and implementation of actions. This is how the EU Urban Agenda can become increasingly relevant in meeting the needs and challenges that dominate the European agenda today, not least in the EU Capital Cities. We believe that a systematic evaluation of the concrete deliverables and the new governance model that is being developed through the EU Urban Agenda could help further policy initiatives at the EU level. 20. The EU Capital Cities very much welcome the fact that all twelve Partnerships of the Urban Agenda have now been launched. Together with the European Commission and the Member States we share the desire to achieve concrete results through the development and implementation of action plans. However, we also emphasise that the process should allow for thoughtful and open-minded development of those action plans within each Partnership. 21. We invite the European Commission to use the Urban Agenda process to develop a more coordinated approach to urban policy, involving all relevant Directorate-Generals of the Commission, and also reflecting the specific concerns and priorities of the EU Capital Cities as well as ensuring their involvement in the policy making process. The EU Urban Agenda should create links between different partnership groups - for example, the work on urban mobility cannot be divorced from work on air quality, climate and energy transition. 22. We ask the European Commission to strengthen the possibilities of Capital Cities to define programmes and projects, based on needs that they themselves have identified, and to manage the funds allocated to these programmes and projects. 23. We acknowledge that the Partnership on Housing addresses one of the most crucial issues of our cities as the affordability gap in housing touches 81.5 million Europeans. The recommendations of the Partnership regarding the need for more clarity and certainty for public and private investment in affordable housing should be implemented. This will not only provide for a steady and predictable supply of homes for our citizens, it can also lead to more investment in our local economies. 24. 24. We are committed, through the Energy Transition partnership, to continued cooperation with the European Commission and Member States to deliver the EU s transition towards a low-carbon, secure and competitive energy economy. We believe that energy transition is a complex process, with barriers to progress which need to be addressed through EU, national and local cooperation. Capital cities are wholeheartedly part of this process at all stages of the energy chain, from production to final consumption according to the Paris agreement on Climate Change as setting the goals for Energy policy. We would like to see a coherent and comprehensive policy framework to facilitate the move to the new energy system, making maximum use of renewables, accompanied by the necessary financial mechanisms to support implementation across the EU. 25. We hope to see the Partnership on Urban Mobility strengthen efforts to achieve a modal shift away from private vehicles towards public transport, walking and cycling. It must also address the strains placed on the public transport systems of the EU s Capital Cities which serve not just residents but also
visitors and tourists. There is no doubt that cities can learn a great deal from each other in effectively addressing funding, environment, safety and digitalization issues. The EU has an important role to play in mobilizing resources to support these actions, including through EU funding programmes, the EU Fund for Strategic Investments and financing from the European Investment Bank. 26. All cities have to deal with the fact that a growing number of urban challenges have very local symptoms, but require a wider territorial solution. At the same time, urban solutions have the potential to create wider territorial benefits. In many cases the functions of our cities reach far beyond our administrative borders. The functional urban areas (FUAs) approach should be a cross sectoral task for all partnerships of the EU Urban Agenda. 27. We express our hope that the current pilot partnership on the Digital Transition will make still more progress and point the way towards digitalization policies that would be both cost effective and responsive to the need of Europe s urban population. 28. We acknowledge that the Partnership on Urban Poverty still needs to work on improving the alignment of policies and instruments at local, national and European level in order to counter the structural concentration of poverty in deprived neighbourhoods. Child poverty and homelessness are two dimensions of the growing income gap in our societies that must be urgently addressed. The Mayors of the Capital Cities of the European Union Riga, September 22, 2017