40 major European cities unite and sign the “Brussels Declaration of European mayors”

The high-level meeting was crowned by the signing of a joint declaration by the mayors addressing the European institutions with concrete priorities and recommendations for a strong and ambitious EU urban policy during their next European mandate, following the elections in June.

At the initiative of Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels Region, and Ans Persoons, Secretary of State for Urban Planning and International Relations, the Brussels Region brought together 40 mayors and elected representatives from European cities and metropolises at the Egmont Palace, as well as European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira in charge of Cohesion and Reforms, the President of the Committee of the Regions Vasco Alves Cordeiro, the President of the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development Younous Omarjee, representatives of European and international institutions, 5 city networks and associations to discuss the future of urban policy in Europe.

“Brussels Declaration”, a joint declaration by cities on the future of the EU

The “Brussels Declaration of European mayors” is a key element of the urban policy component of the Belgian presidency of the EU.

Written following a co-construction process bringing together the main European cities and all the major city networks, this Declaration is the result of intense discussions and exchanges initiated in June 2023 at the Brussels Urban Summit organised in Brussels.

Conceived as a synopsis of the major issues facing European cities and the tools they need to act as the driving force behind European construction and policies, the Brussels Declaration sets out the political issues facing cities and formulates priorities and recommendations for the attention of the European institutions for their future mandate (2024-2029).

To date, the declaration has been signed by more than 40 cities from 19 member states across Europe. A number of city mayors came to the official signing ceremony, which took place in the prestigious and symbolic setting of the Egmont Palace, usually reserved for ministerial meetings during the Belgian presidency.

Among them were the mayor of Helsinki, Juhana Vartiainen, the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Szilveszteer Karàcsony, the mayor of Prague, Bohuslav Svoboda, the mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Strasbourg, Jeanne Barseghian, the mayor of Tallinn, Mihhail Kõlvart, the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca and the mayor of Braga, represented by Ricardo Rio. A large number of mayors from other cities across the EU, as well as city associations, have already expressed their will to join the list of signatories.

What the cities are asking the EU

With this declaration, the European mayors and urban networks call for an ambitious European urban policy and present 4 fundamental priorities for cities and 6 recommendations to the European institutions for the EU’s 2024-2029 mandate.

The 4 priorities

Promote the right to affordable, quality and sustainable housing;
Combat social and gender inequalities and promote inclusion;
Combat climate change, guarantee a healthy environment and restore biodiversity;
Develop safe, inclusive and sustainable mobility.

The 6 recommendations

Systematic dialogue and greater involvement of local governments at European level
Better integration and coordination of urban issues at European level
More city-friendly European regulations
More accessible and city-friendly European funding
Promoting metropolitan governance
A paradigm shift towards a new sustainable model for cities

This event provided an opportunity to launch an initial constructive dialogue with the European institutions on these six recommendations. This dialogue should continue throughout the Belgian presidency of the EU.

And after that?

It was important to begin the presidency in urban affairs with this event and the signing of the Brussels Declaration. The Brussels Region now has a roadmap common to many European cities, which it will be able to promote and defend throughout the Belgian presidency.

More specifically, in the coming weeks and months, Brussels will continue this momentum by encouraging more and more European cities to sign the Declaration. The priorities and recommendations will also be taken to other events organised during the presidency, such as the Summit of Cities and Regions organised by the Committee of the Regions in Mons in March, or the next conference of the European Forum for Urban Safety (EFUS) in Brussels.

Brussels will also ensure that it supports the Declaration’s priorities at the many other meetings organised under the presidency, at a more technical level, such as meetings of planning agencies, the “urban agenda laboratory”, etc.

Lastly, the signing and follow-up of this declaration is also a clear signal for the future: the cities and networks will be closely monitoring what the Commission and Parliament do with their recommendations, particularly with regard to priority no. 1 on the issue of affordable, quality and sustainable housing, a real challenge for European cities.