EMA political meeting

| Subject: International Relations

Debate on the role of metropolitan areas in European recovery funds

Image of the virtual meeting

On June 14th, 19 European metropolises from 10 countries met virtually through the EMA network to discuss the participation of metropolises in the implementation of the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Funds. Political participants emphasised the importance of metropolises in the selection of projects and the implementation of actions at the supra-local level in order to promote the recovery of the territory. At the same time, many of them expressed their disappointment with the low level of involvement of most metropolitan areas in the drafting of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans.

Ernest Maragall, Vice-president of the AMB Area for International Relations and Cooperation, opened the debate by outlining the projects proposed by the AMB to promote the transformation of the metropolitan area with a budget of € 2,717 million.

During the meeting, the preliminary political results of the ESPON METRO project about the role of metropolitan areas in cohesion policies were also presented as an example of the cooperation carried out within the framework of the EMA network.

Participants agreed to bring the European institutions' atention, specifically the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, to the lack of involvement of metropolitan areas in the preparation and implementation of recovery and national resilience plans. This exchange of ideas and knowledge will continue during the next EMA political meeting to be held in Porto on the 11th and 12th November.

The metropolitan areas that participated in the political meeting were: Bratislava, Budapest, Dublin, Katowice, Helsinki, Krakow, Lyon, Paris, Florence, Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice, Porto, Toulouse, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Barcelona and the district of Derry and Strabane (region of Northern Ireland).

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