The cities met in June in Georgia to discuss their role in the development of the European Neighborhood Policy, Time is on the balance
Participants representing EU and eastern ENP cities, associations of
local authorities from the region, and local NGOs gathered to discuss specifically current and future opportunities under the European Commission’s ENP and the new Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiatives.
Although there was a general consensus that cities should not wait for EU funding to begin or intensify working relations with EU cities and within regional
networks, the feeling was that less bureaucratic EU funding would provide an important boost towards not only better, but also more exchanges and joint initiatives.
Cities from the Eastern region identified the following areas where valuable learning opportunities could be gained through cooperation with western cities:
- How to build the professional capacity of city administrations
- How to develop city infrastructures and management
- How to improve the provision of social services at local level
- How to make local level and central governments work better together
This last point raised considerable interest. Institutional arrangements in the Eastern region tend to be considerably more centralised than those witnessed in the European Union 27 Member States. The Eastern based arrangement is considered by concerned cities as a major obstacle to local autonomy and development.
At the meeting, representatives from western and central European local governments also provided insights into their experiences of cooperation with cities in the target region and made some suggestions on making the most of
networks such as EUROCITIES.
European funds
