Event report

In this event organised in partnership with Friends of Europe, Eurocities President and Mayor of Florence and other city leaders debated on the future of Europe and how the Conference can strenghten the role of cities to 'Localise Europe. Questions addressed include: How can the EU governance be rewired to make more sense for people going forward and to ensure citizens are at the heart of political thinking? How can the EU institutions bring forward a stronger multi-level governance in the recovery to address the current shortcomings and achieve the ambitious green, digital and social objectives for Europe? Main takeaways from the event and proposals put forward in response to those questions include: For an inclusive and place-based recovery: The Recovery and resilience facility should facilitate the establishment of city driven pan-European projects to support the post-COVID recovery. Cities see clear opportunities to set up strategic partnerships with national governments and the Commission to contribute to one or more EU flagships initiatives for the green and digital transition and deliver EU added value. In the context of the recovery, the European Commission should also set up a structured dialogue with all relevant stakeholders at EU level - such as networks of local and regional authorities, and civil society. Through this structured dialogue cities would be able to provide relevant information to the EU such as an assessment of the implementation, its effectiveness, the identification of good approaches, challenges and gaps. For a more social Europe: Cities, national and EU leaders should work side by side to make sure recovery is about investing in people’s skills. Investing in childcare, education and training infrastructure. This is what will get Europe out of the crisis. To build stronger political ownership and momentum around this, speakers proposed a summit every year to monitor the progress on social rights and employment trends and to find joint European solutions to common challenges faced by our people. For a stronger urban dimension of Europe: The involvement of cities in the EU decision-making on policies and funding that are impacting urban areas must be reinforced because cities the best ambassadors of the Green deal on the ground and the EU needs them as partners in order to build back better the places where the majority of the European population lives. It is key that the European Commission improves the internal coordination of its actions “on and for cities” as well as its political leadership. For a stronger involvement of the Youth: The European Union of tomorrow will be built, managed and led by the young people of today. The sooner they are trained in the history and functioning of Europe, the sooner they experience Europe through mobility, through collective action, through even local participation, the sooner Europe will have meaning for them and sooner they will join it as main stakeholders. The recovery of Europe will not happen without renewal of democratic practices, and therefore without participatory methods as close as possible to citizens.