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Belgian EU Presidency - 05.07.2010

CEMR welcomes recognition of local and regional authorities by Belgian EU Presidency

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) welcomes the programme of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU in that it notably recognises the need to involve local and regional authorities in its activities.

While the programme mainly focuses on exiting the crisis and implementing the EU 2020 strategy, it underlines the Presidency's will to 'ensure that the main stakeholders, including those at regional and local levels, are brought together in order to implement the strategy in such a way as to obtain optimum results".

The Presidency also intends to further emphasise 'the dynamic role played by towns and cities, as well as their sustainable social and economic development" in the context of economic, social and territorial cohesion.

CEMR is very pleased with the Belgian Presidency's suggestion to redirect the unused budget of the European economic recovery plan to energy efficiency and renewable energy related projects.

In their manifesto, the Associations of Belgian Cities and Municipalities, CEMR members, called upon the European institutions and member states to apply the Lisbon Treaty provisions notably relating to local and regional governments so as to establish a coherent and effective system of multi-level governance.

The Belgian EU Presidency will last from 1 July to 31 December 2010.

The Associations of Belgian Cities and Municipalities manifesto is also available in Dutch.