The Employers Organizations of the Capital Cities/Regions of Europe (OPCE) strongly support the memorandum signed by the officials of the capital cities/regions of Europe on January 29th 2003 with the title “Memorandum of Capital Cities / Regions in the context of future European regional policy - For an urban dimension post 2006.” OPCE welcomes this initiative and considers the memorandum an important guideline for the Council of Ministers when establishing a new cohesion policy within the European Union for the budget period 2007-2013.
In these countries, the capital cities and their surrounding regions should be considered the growth engines of their countries. This is to say that the development and growth in the capital cities/regions do not take place at the expense of other regions. Instead the growth will spread and lift other regions to higher economic levels. This is really a way of concluding the Lisbon Process – making Europe the most competitive region of the world.
The Lisbon process, of which the OPCE is a strong supporter, is based on the strengthening of a knowledge-based society. The highest concentration of “knowledge production” is within metropolitan areas and capital cities. Those areas provide the critical mass for efficient research and development activities, both by universities and research institutes, but also by private individuals and businesses in general.
Metropolitan areas and capital cities offer highly sophisticated services for regions, provinces and countries. This includes higher education, medical services, public utilities, administration, financial and legal services, research and development, logistics etc.
The structural funds, however, have not been targeted for metropolitan areas and capital cities. This is for two reasons:
The criteria for the allocation of those funds do not take the special situation of metropolitan areas into account
The structural policy of the European Union has not yet realized the fundamental importance metropolitan areas play for the economic development of the European Union as a whole.
The Regional Policy adopted by the European Union for the period of 2000 – 2006 has not sufficiently taken into account the fact that supporting the industrial and economic development within metropolitan areas and capital cities is the most efficient way of further economic growth within the European Union.
In view of the new goals of the European Union, especially in the follow up of the Lisbon Process, and noting that urbanization is increasing at an ever faster rate the Employers Organizations of the Capital Regions of Europe propose to the European Union the following changes for the allocation of structural funds.
European Funds should be targeted specifically towards urban areas if one or more of the following criteria are met:
Unbalanced development of different economic sectors
Most urban areas have faced a rapid decline of employment in manufacturing and become more and more dependent on services and the public sector (administration).
This is an extremely unbalanced economic development with a high element of risk, especially if automatization, rationalization or spending cuts hit the public sector or the service industry.
Cities as providers of supra regional services
Presently criteria for the allocation of Regional and Structural Funds do not take into account the high level of services provided by urban area for other regions. This includes education and health care as well as research and development.
Intra regional interaction
Commuting and mass public transport services are frequently not included in national infrastructure development projects. They have to be developed and financed by local communities.
Multicultural capital cities
Urban areas are becoming increasingly multicultural. This is one of the strongest assets of metropolitan areas. But there are also costs – unemployment, social unrest etc involved – that are a heavy burden for the communities.
The Employers Organization of the Capital cities/regions of Europe therefore invite the European Union to reformulate the criteria for the allocation of Structural and Regional Funds, and especially the Urban Initiatives in accordance with the needs and special situation of metropolitan areas. The Union should put the capital cities/regions in the center of the development process.
A new philosophy of allocating regional and structural funds of the European Union is justified, because:
- Only capital cities and metropolitan areas are able to provide the economic framework for a successful completion of the Lisbon process.
- Only metropolitan areas and capital cities can provide a concentration of resources which will serve as an effective multiplier for the whole country.
The fact that the majority of Europeans live in metropolitan areas and capital cities make these areas pivotal for the acceptance of the European Union, both as a process and as a vision. It can be expected that the enlargement of the European Union will put additional stress on urban areas.
If, however, the European Capital Cities will be strengthened in their roles as growth engines, the countries and EU as a whole will benefit greatly from this.
Resolution adopted during the
14th Congress of Employers and Business Peoples Organizations of the Capital Cities of Europe (OPCE) in Madrid, Spain, May 3 – 6, 2003
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