Activities of Kerstin WESTPHAL related to 2014/2213(INI)
Reports (1)
REPORT on the urban dimension of EU policies PDF (211 KB) DOC (142 KB)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
- having regard to the Commission´s report entitled "Cities of tomorrow: Challenges, visions, way forward", Brussels, October 2011,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas ‘functional urban areas’ in the EU are not limited only to big cities but also include a unique polycentric structure built around large, medium-sized and small towns and cities and, peri-urban areas and surrounding areas, thus going beyond the traditional administrative borders to encompass various territories linked by their economic, social, environmental and demographic challenges;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas cities, towns and the larger functional urban areas, such as metropolitan areas, are the economic pillars and drivers of jobs for the EU given that innovation and new economic activities have their origins in the city, and they are therefore a major asset for the EU in its relations with other parts of the world;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas subsidiarity, as defined in the TFEU, as well as multi-level governance, based on coordinated action by the EU, the Member States and regional and local authorities, and the partnership principle, are essential elements for the correct implementation of all EU policies, and whereas engagement of the resources and competences of local and regional authorities should be reinforced accordingly;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Asks the Commission and the Member States to propose ways to introduce an early warning mechanism, in accordance with Article 6 of the Protocol on the Application of the Principles of Subsidiarity and Proportionality; giving the subnational government the possibility to observe whether the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality have been taken into account, allowing an early stage involvement of sub-national governments in the policy processes and allowing for well-informed territorial development strategies and a more efficient implementation of future legislation;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Asks the Commission to systematically introduce a territorial impact assessment on the urban dimension of all relevant EU policy initiatives and to be receptive to input from decentralised levels of government when drawing up impact assessments and new policies ("bottom-up approach"), and to make sure that all relevant sectorial EU policies adequately address the challenges that towns, cities and larger functional urban areas are facing; calls on the Commission to concentrate these territorial impact assessments on the following elements: balanced territorial development, territorial integration and territorial governance, governance aspects, local implementation aspects, coherence with other policy objectives and regulatory aspects;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Is convinced that in order to be able to assess urban areas more accurately than just on the basis of the GDP indicator, sufficient data must be made available; believes therefore that Eurostat should provide and compile more detailed local data ant that work should continue on the Urban Audit and similar surveys; calls also on the European Commission to work on instruments that could measure the progress and impact of an integrated urban agenda at EU level;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Regrets that, although the new cohesion policy has legally binding urban- related aspects, especially regarding involvement of cities in the programming phase, the actual participation of city and urban representatives in the shaping of the policy is weak, and thinks it can be improved by an early involvement in the policy processes; calls on the Commission and the Member States to systematically apply the partnership principle (taking also into account the Code of Conduct on Partnership) when implementing programmes and projects supported by EU funding, with particular attention being given to the involvement of cities and towns in the management and governance of the programmes;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls for greater involvement of towns and cities in the new Structural Funds Programmes; believes that the lessons drawn from this could feed into an important policy recommendation for the development of cohesion policy after 2020;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that the European Urban Agenda should be based on a new multi- level governance method, involving the local level more closely at all stages of the policy cycle, thus bringing the policies closer to the realities and making them more consistent with and responsive to the constant transformations in functional urban areas; takes the view, in that connection, that the Committee of the Regions, as the body representing regional and local authorities, should play a central role in that process;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is of the opinion that urban platforms and networks (such as URBACT, the Urban Development Network) and other programmes for knowledge-sharing between cities (such as Civitas, the Covenant of Mayors, Mayors Adapt, Smart Cities and Communities Imitative, Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities, Managenery) have provided an excellent opportunity for the engagement of local and regional actors in urban development and knowledge sharing between actors; urges the Commission to consolidate and ensure better coordination between these platforms in order to allow local actors to better understand them and engage with them in a more efficient way;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Believes that in order to formulate better informed and tailored policies there is a need to develop uniform basic data; encourages Eurostat and the Commission to provide and compile more detailed data, collected where policies are implemented – in many cases at local level; underlines that the collection of flow data – measuring the relationships between cities and their surrounding areas and within functional urban areas – is also becoming increasingly important in order to improve the understanding of these complex functional areas, and therefore urges the Commission to gather and analyse that data, turning it into evidence for policy developments;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Strongly believes that these challenges should respond to the following criteria: 1) are in line with the shared conceptual framework; 2) are major urban challenges with significant impact on cities and functional urban areas in Member States; 3) cannot be solved by Member States unilaterally; 4) where an EU approach has a clear added value; urges the Commission to start working on mapping such challenges, but also identify remaining bottlenecks, policy incoherencies or capacity and knowledge gaps, in close cooperation with all relevant stakeholders, particularly those at local level;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Urges the Commission and the Member States to make sure that a higher degree of cross-sector coordination of policies with an urban dimension is ensured at all levels of government to allow better mainstreaming of integrated urban development; calls on DG REGIO, responsible for the EU’s urban policies, to drive this process and to make sure that the urban dimension is taken into account in all new initiatives; calls on the President of the European Commission to appoint a political lead within the Commission to give strategic direction and to drive the Urban Agenda of European policies;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Asks the Commission to appoint a special EU urban envoycoordinator to monitor and evaluate the practical implementation of such coordination by closely following the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy and the territorial agenda of the EU in a horizontal (engaging all relevant policy sectors) and vertical (engaging all levels of government) manner; is of the opinion that the special EU urban envoycoordinator should, with the help of the Commission’s Inter- service Group on ‘Urban Development’, perform a systematic impact assessment of policy proposals, ensuring that the urban dimension of future legislation is adequately addressedestablish a "one stop shop" on urban policies within the Commission and ensure the proper collection, management and dissemination of data on urban policies within and between Commission services and with various stakeholders in a way to establish an awareness raising mechanism for early warning and early stage involvement of local and regional authorities in policy processes with an impact on functional urban areas;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Urges Member States to fully associate cities and functional urban areas with and involve them in a binding manner in strategic policy development and programming (such as national reform programmes, partnership agreements and operational programmes); calls on the Member States to strengthen their exchange of experience on national programmes for urban development, which empowers cities to deliver the Europe 2020 objectives, by setting regular informal Council meetings of ministers in charge of urban development;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Believes that there should be a clear, coherent and open engagement of the European Union and the Member States, with consultation and possible contribution of local and regional authorities, at the International Standards Organisation (ISO) regarding the development of new standards for sustainable urban development, respectful of the work on UN universal guidelines for urban and territorial planning; stresses that the new ISO standards should be seen as a supportive and not a normative tool;