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Urban Actions in EU Regional Policy: Fostering Integrated Development

Analysis of Operational Programmes co-financed by the ERDF 2007-2013, emphasizing the importance of urban development, challenges, and main findings regarding local involvement and sectoral focus.

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Urban Actions in EU Regional Policy: Fostering Integrated Development

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  1. Fostering the urban dimensionAnalysis of Operational Programmesco-financed by the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013DG REGIO Working Document Santiago García-Patrón Rivas Directorate for Policy Development Directorate-General Regional Policy Prague, 18 March 2009

  2. Urban actions in the EU Regional Policy • No Commission mandate for urban development in the Treaty • Urban development is important task within regional development aiming by Article 158 • 1980ies: Need for coordination of European policies in certain territorial fields and need for new (innovative) solutions to problems • 1989-1999 Urban Pilot-Projects (UPPs)

  3. Urban actions in the EU Regional Policy • 1994-2006: URBAN Community InitiativeEC’s instrument to support cities at the regeneration of deprived neighbourhoodsMain legacies of this Initiative: Integrated approachStrong local partnerships Instruments for networking between cities

  4. Urban actions in the EU Regional Policy • Urban dimension of Operational Programmes 2007-2013 • Urban strands of all three Cohesion Policy Objectives • Mainstreaming of the URBAN Community Initiative (Art. 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006) - No automatism for urban actions within OPs or access to funding • Challenge of including local actors into the implementation • Need for cooperation between cities and their (regional/national) Managing Authorities

  5. Urban actions in the EU Regional Policy Mainstreaming of the URBAN Community Initiative • 2007-2013: Urban actions become a part of Regional and National Operational Programmes and are no longer expressed through a single Community Initiative. • Structural Funds 2007-2013: Takes up the approach developed under the URBAN Community Initiative and suggests spreading this methodological concept to cities and regions across Europe

  6. Urban actions in the EU Regional Policy Building on the experience of the URBAN Community Initiative " Building on the experience and strengths of the URBAN Community Initiative […], sustainable urban development should be reinforced by fully integrating measures in that field into the operational programmes co-financed by the ERDF, paying particular attention to local development and employment initiatives and their potential for innovation. (Recital 9, ERDF Regulation)

  7. Urban actions in the EU Regional Policy Urban methodology • Integrated approach: targeting relatively small areas with an integrated and holistic approach • Strong local partnerships • A systematic learning cycle

  8. The Working Document • Analysis of all 316 Operational Programmes from the three Cohesion Policy Objectives 2007-2013. • Main objective was to assess how the main orientations arising from the common legal and thematic framework have been taken on-board in the programmes, and to provide with good examples from the 2007-2013 programming period. (Presented by Commissioner Hübner at the Ministerial Meeting in Marseille, on 25 November 2008).

  9. The Working Document Scope (a) Three types of Actions • « Urban-type Actions » • Actions to tackle specific (sectoral) urban challenges • Actions to promote polycentric development

  10. The Working Document Scope (b) Three Governance and Implementation topics • Involvement of cities and local authorities • Strategic planning and the application of integrated approaches • Financing of operations in cities

  11. The Working Document Main findings • Urban development is an important topic in many OPs • A dual picture, strong sectoral focus • Urban questions are often addressed without applying an integrated approach • Asymmetry between EU-15 and EU-12 • Local involvement – a major challenge • Only few signs of direct local involvement • Positive experience from URBAN widely unused

  12. Main findings 1. Urban development as an important topic in many OPs • More than half of the ERDF programmes have an identifiable urban dimension, and address challenges in urban areas • Wide scope of actions in cities • All cities are potential beneficiaries of ERDF funding • More money in Convergence regions, but higher allocation in relative terms to urban development in RCE regions

  13. Main findings 2. A dual picture, strong sectoral focus • Less emphasis on integrated urban development in new Member States • Urban development operations in new Member States show strong tendency towards sectoral investment • The necessary capacity building and guidance, necessary for sufficient know-how and skills in integrated urban development, is foreseen in only a few cases, mainly in old Member States

  14. Main findings 3.Local involvement – a major challenge • Limited role for cities in the design and implementation of programmes, in programme-related decision making processes and in governing budgets for investment on their territory • The possibility to delegate responsibilities to local authorities used in very few cases • Limited information on concentration of funding to reach critical mass (i.e. minimum threshold of € 5-10 million per operation in French and Czech OPs) • Cities should be involved more strongly and more effectively in cooperation activities

  15. The Working Document Follow-up • Spaces to be filled – Shortcomings to be eliminated (ERDF OPs, JESSICA, Regions for Economic Change, URBACT II, etc programmes • Important role of Member States • Addressing and following-up the issues raised

  16. Follow-up : Spaces to be filled, options to be used: • More than half of all Operational Programmes contain a reference to the JESSICA Initiative or mention it as an option • The connection between mainstream OPs and networking programmes (URBACT II, INTERREG IVC) through the Regions for Economic Change Initiative offers the possibility to profit from capacity building and testing best practice • Approximately one third of Cross-Border and Transnational Cooperation OPs address questions related to cross-border agglomerations, transnational urban systems and improved territorial governance

  17. Follow-up : Important role of Member States • Encourage their Managing Authorities to address the issues raised in this Working document and to consider better exploiting already existing possibilities • Considering possible adjustments of the programming documents • Filling optional provisions Ministers agreed to discuss possible shortcomings with their Managing Authorities (Marseille meeting)

  18. Working document « Fostering the Urban Dimension » http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/2007/working/urban_dimension_en.pdf Available in DE, EN, FR i http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy

  19. Thank you for your attention

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