#EUROCITIES second mayors summit - The ‘other’ summit

While national and European leaders discuss the future of Europe this week, a few metres away so will over 60 mayors and local leaders, representing more than 130 million citizens.   

It is a critical time for Europe, ahead of the European elections. The success or failure of the European project will be decided by our cities’ ability to implement EU policy locally.

If mayors ruled Europe, we would be on track to meet ambitions for carbon neutrality, take the lead in technological innovation and attractiveness to entrepreneurs and businesses, and effectively combat social inequality and poverty.

EUROCITIES ‘city leaders agenda for Europe’ sends a wake up call to European and national leaders: Work with cities, work with citizens, work with us!    Join five European mayors  (Barcelona, Glasgow, Nantes, Stockholm, Warsaw) at a press conference this Wednesday.

What: Press conference – launch of ‘city leaders agenda for Europe’
When: 15h, Wednesday 20 March
Where: Tuscany region Brussels liason office (Floor 7), Rond-Point Robert Schuman 14; 1000 Brussels, Belgium  Who: Anna König Jerlmyr, president of EUROCITIES and mayor of Stockholm 

Cities are at the heart of Europe. They are the place where the fight against climate change becomes real, where technological innovation can help boost the digital transformation, and where equal and inclusive societies are made. Stockholm has an ambitious strategy for climate action in place, and as the elected president of EUROCITIES, Anna König Jerlmyr has made ‘climate’ one of the priorities of her mandate.

Through projects, such as the Covenant of Mayors, European cities have developed over 5,900 local action climate plans. Cities are integral to ensuring that climate policy becomes real. As EUROCITIES, we are asking European and national leaders to work with us to establish a carbon neutral Europe by 2050 and drive polluting cards off our streets.

Ada Colau, mayor of Barcelona  Cities such as Barcelona are facing an urgent housing crisis, which impacts heavily on poverty and social exclusion. With her experience, coming from a background in civic action, Ada Colau knows the importance of ensuring all people have a right to affordable housing.

EUROCITIES recently launched an initiative for cities to deliver on the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights supports this. Nine out of the first 21 city pledges collected so far have been dedicated on municipal measures for provision of more affordable housing and support for the homeless. These cities pledge to build 75,000 new affordable housing units by 2024 with an investment of over €2.17 billion.

Johanna Rolland, mayor of Nantes  Johanna Rolland is the former EUROCITIES president, and current chair of our working group on creative citizenship. As mayor of Nantes, she has been at the forefront of measure to push for more engagement with people.    Over the past year, EUROCITIES ‘Cities for Europe’ campaign has seen more than 60 mayors commit to furthering citizen engagement, hosted over 20 citizens panels and 310 local events. The second mayors summit marks the conclusion of this campaign and a chance to share some of the learning from cities with national and European leaders.

Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow, and representative of UK Core cities  Europe stands at a cross roads with one of its biggest members set to leave the union, yet mayors across the UK still stand firm to international bonds and commitments. Core Cities UK campaigned to remain in the EU and represents the 10 biggest cities, outside of London. The Core Cities city regions are home to 20 million people and generate 26 per cent of the UK's economic output. They contain over 30 per cent of all the UK's jobs and are the country's most significant international centres for trade and distribution outside London, delivering 20 per cent of the UK's exports.

Rafal Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw  Rafał Trzaskowski has been an MEP, the Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs, and now he’s doing a ‘real job’, as mayor of Warsaw! Cities are the place where things get done, and where new ideas are tested. We provide the right scale for successful ideas to be easily transferred between cities, or scaled up to national and European levels. This is one of the many ways that cities provide leadership on broader societal challenges, such as the digital transformation.

EUROCITIES and its member cities work to ensure that transformations remain citizen-focused, to ensure all people gain access to better, more efficient public services that help to improve their quality of life.

Register: Please contact [email protected]    

Share this article: