EU Ministers responsible for Territorial Cohesion and Urban Matters focus on European Urban Agenda - Hoofdinhoud

On 10 June, the second session of informal meeting of Ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Urban Matters will take place in Riga under the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. During the meeting, for the first time, disscusions of Ministers responsible for Territorial Cohesion and Urban Matters regarding the EU Urban Agenda to support sustainable urban growth will take place at a political level.

The Latvian Presidency has drafted an EU Urban Agenda Declaration (hereinafter 'the Declaration') following a series of discussions and evaluations. The aim of the meeting is to confirm the Declaration, which identifies the key principles and elements of the Urban Agenda, and to recognise the important role of small and medium-sized urban areas in the context of overall regional development with a view to strengthening the competitiveness of the EU - another of the Latvian Presidency's priorities.

It is expected that this political agreement will provide guidelines to stakeholders for further work on developing the programme.

''The Latvian Presidency has actively contributed to the development of the framework for an EU Urban Agenda. In the Declaration prepared by the Presidency we have identified the key principles and elements of the Urban Agenda - to recognise the diversity of urban areas, focus on urban opportunities, improve the quality of the urban dimension in EU policies, and promote cooperation between cities. I am certain that this political agreement will contribute to the future development of the Urban Agenda during upcoming presidencies,' stressed Latvian Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards.

During the meeting, representatives from the EU institutions will share their views on the EU Urban Agenda. The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu i, will summarise the results of the public consultation on the EU Urban Agenda, and Ms Iskra Mihaylova i, the Chair of the EP Committee on Regional Development, will share the European Parliament's draft report on the urban dimension of EU policies.

The meeting will bring together Ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Urban Matters from the EU Member States, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu, representatives from other EU institutions (the European Parliament (EP), the Committee of the Regions (CoR), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB)) and representatives from EU-level partner NGOs. The meeting will be chaired by the Latvian Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Mr Kaspars Gerhards.

As the UN is also currently actively engaged in the development of an UN Urban Agenda, which it plans to adopt by 2016, the Latvian Presidency has invited a UN representative to inform the EU Ministers of this process.