Informal Ministerial meeting on Urban Policy took place in Rotterdam on 30th November to address EU priorities for urban policy: strengthening competitiveness, stimulating social inclusion and improving urban environment.
European Ministers, in charge of these fields, decided to put urban policy higher on European agenda, given the importance of cities regarding economic development and social climate. A European knowledge exchange network will be created to achieve effective cooperation between urban, national and European networks. This project would be part of the Urbact Program.
DG Regional Policy, which is in charge of Urbact Program, also presented last October the first results of the Urban Audit. This project consists in comparing 189 cities across EU 15 on nine items including demography, economy, transports, environment…
In 2005, 69 cities in new Members States will be added, and an extension to cities of Switzerland, Croatia, Norway and Turkey is expected in the future.