Local and regional governments as employers

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)'s Employers' Platform and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) call upon the European Council to support sustainable employment measures.at the local and regional level as a means of exiting the economic and financial crisis.

This call, launched ahead of the European Council meeting on 16 December 2010, also highlighted the need for a strong social dimension, for increased training and skills-development, and for long-term investment in local and regional sectors if Europe is ever to become truly sustainable.

Finally, CEMR and EPSU ask European heads of state and government that local and regional authorities be provided with fair-financing and low-cost loans. Such measures would allow decentralised levels of government to remain more autonomous and to maintain high quality public services, allowing them in turn to better react to the crisis and deliver or contribute to sustainable solutions.