40.

proposes a list of practical recommendations for overcoming these challenges and improving the implementation of the Urban Agenda: — the membership of future partnerships must be established in a fully transparent way, with the involvement of cities and based on the size of the city as set out in the renewed Leipzig Charter. Likewise, actions should be grouped around the three pillars: better regulation, better funding and better knowledge; — the current list of cross-cutting themes is still valid and could be implemented by means of pilot actions in which a member of each partnership would be involved, striking a balance between European institutions and national, regional and local governments. It is essential here that Commission departments and Member-State ministries be more closely involved in thematic partnerships, particularly at the start of a new partnership. This would enhance the much-needed sense of ownership on the part of the Commission and Member States; — synergies need to be strengthened between the different actions of the future partnerships, with the aim of avoiding a silo approach and coordinating the implementation of the actions; — one way of strengthening political support at local level could be to organise a summit of local governments involved in the Urban Agenda, which would act as ambassadors and would be able to contribute to political discussions with the European Commission and the Member States; — under the better regulation pillar, the European Commission should undertake to consider recommendations arising from urban partnerships. In this regard, partnerships could organise workshops in which professionals address specific changes to EU directives, regulations and policies; the outcome of the partnerships should be regularly presented and discussed in the European Parliament and the Council so that it is given greater consideration in European lawmaking; — the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and the European Urban Initiative proposed by the European Commission under the future ERDF Regulation should guarantee stable funding to cover the operational costs of cities participating in the Urban Agenda for the EU; — Eurostat should be more involved in the work of partnerships which could encourage a debate on qualitative data available at regional, functional urban area and local level, as well as on the production of such data; — the Urban Agenda and partnerships should also be better integrated with the work of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and its Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies in Seville, on projects such as the ‘Future of Cities’ report, or Urban Data Platform Plus; — in addition to the Structural Funds and with a view to the post-2020 programming period, the European Commission could also consider developing a financial programme with pilot actions for the development of proposals arising within the framework of the urban partnerships; — the European Commission should launch a communication campaign to disseminate the results of the Urban Agenda for the EU, including better communication of the benefits of these partnerships on the Futurium online platform. It should also invest in knowledge production, disseminating best practices, guides, tools and roadmaps developed under the Urban Agenda for the EU;