Opinion on the Draft Notice from the Commission to the Member States, laying down guidelines for operational programmes which Member States are invited to establish in the framework of a Community initiative concerning urban areas (URBAN)

(94/C 217/03)

On 15 March 1994 the European Commission decided to consult the Committee of the Regions, under Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned Draft Notice.

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Whereas in Communication COM (94) 46 final of 16 March 1994 on the Future of Community Initiatives under the Structural Funds, the Commission approved its overall approach to Community initiatives for the period 1994-1999, centred on the themes of cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation and networks; rural development and development of the outermost regions; employment and the development of human resources; and the management of industrial change;

Whereas on 2 March 1994 the Commission adopted draft notice COM(94) 61 final laying down guidelines for operational programmes which Member States are invited to establish in the framework of a Community initiative concerning urban areas (URBAN), under the terms of Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93 amending Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 and Article 3(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2083/93 amending Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88;

Whereas in the budgetary procedure for 1994 the European Parliament decided to include in the chapter on 'Community initiatives' a budget line entitled 'urban policy';

Whereas Article 198a of the Treaty on European Union enables regional and local bodies to participate, via the Committee of the Regions, in the decision-making process of the European Union;

Whereas the subsidiarity principle should enhance the potential of local authorities, inter alia by allocating them adequate resources for furthering the European integration process;

Whereas the partnership principle and the need to reduce the democratic deficit of the European Union require that the Commission should involve the local authorities in the formulation and implementation of Community structural policies;

Whereas the subsidiarity principle, which dictates that decision-taking be as close as possible to the citizen, must apply to the Community initiatives for which the Commission is responsible under the Structural Funds, so that urban and local authorities can also play an active and democratic part in these initiatives, with full respect for, and maximum use of, the interinstitutional dialogue with the Committee of the Regions;

Whereas although the tasks assigned to the local authorities in the Member States differ, these tasks are extremely extensive and important; and whereas European integration has major implications for the activity and policy of the local authorities;

Whereas Agenda 21, signed at the Rio Conference, stresses the importance of sustainable development strategies for cities;

Whereas the Europe 2000 paper, the Green Paper on the Urban Environment, and the Fifth Environmental Action Programme stressed that all Community policies should be reviewed in the light of the sustainable development principle and that Commission initiatives should adhere to this principle;

Whereas many aspects of Community policies and Commission initiatives have environmental consequences on urban life and land use (energy, transport, tourism, small businesses, social policy); and whereas the Fourth RTD Framework Programme recognizes the need for a specific socio-economic research action into the increasingly rundown state of urban housing and public areas;

Having regard to the experience of the pilot projects conducted since 1989 under Article 10 of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to encourage the pooling of experience and cooperation between Community regions and cities, and more especially the Recite programme promoting economic activities in the less-favoured regions, support for the local economic partners, and economies of scale secured by a cost-sharing system for matters falling within the remit of the local authorities;

Whereas social exclusion and the consequences thereof represent a burdensome and difficult problem for local authorities, which have to provide a response in the spheres of social assistance, housing, urban renewal, regeneration of slum areas and illegal makeshift accommodation, and education and training schemes to facilitate social rehabilitation;

Having regard to the experience of programmes on social exclusion and migration to major towns and cities, notably the Poverty III programme;

Having regard to the experience of programmes for the weakest members of society, in particular the Migrants programme for the housing of migrant workers, ERGO, to combat chronic unemployment, and Helios, for the economic and social rehabilitation of the disabled,

ADOPTED

by a majority vote with two abstentions, on the first day of its third Plenary Session of 17/18 May 1994, the following Opinion drawn up by its Rapporteur-General, Mr Francesco Rutelli.

1. General comments

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

- warmly welcomes the Commission's proposal to establish an ad hoc initiative dealing specifically with the problems of urban areas and providing operational instruments to help the towns and cities which house 80 % of the EU population.

- appreciates the innovative character of the initiative, which also institutionalizes the pilot projects conducted during the previous Structural Fund period 1988-1993.

- endorses the general thrust of the Commission's proposed initiative, which is designed to form part of a long- term integrated strategy covering economic development, energy, transport, spatial planning and all other issues of relevance to the urban environment.

- asks the Commission to consider the case for adopting a specific Community initiative for smaller urban centres with less than 100,000 inhabitants.

- considers that such a strategy can only be implemented with the participation of the local authorities, economic operators and associations, by making the best possible use of any existing partnership arrangements; with cross-frontier pooling of information and experience; and with networks spanning different cities and countries, including third countries.

- trusts that the experience gained in the present Community initiative will form the cornerstone of a new urban policy when the Treaty on European Union is revised in 1996.

2. The Community's financial contribution

- considers that the proposed MECU 600 is inadequate to the scale of need, covering as it does only fifty or so cities of over 100,000 inhabitants for a four-year period.

- calls for the sum to be significantly increased and to be concentrated on a limited number of projects which form a coherent framework for the effective regeneration of urban areas.

- deems it vital that the funds for successful projects be administered directly by the authorities of the cities concerned, and not by central government.

3. Subsidiarity and partnership

- considers that the subsidiarity principle enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and the partnership principle which underpins the reform of the Structural Funds require that the local authorities play a key role in the management of the Community initiatives concerned, because these authorities are the democratically elected level of government closest to urban communities.

- considers that the present initiative offers a major opportunity for clarifying the partnership principle, which obliges the Commission to involve the local authorities in the implementation of Community structural policy wherever possible. This involvement should cover the setting of priorities, project evaluation, and the appointment of the independent panel of experts which the Commission is to set up with the assistance of the Member States.

4. National operational programmes

- has misgivings about the usefulness of the operational programmes which the Member States are to adopt, and questions the wisdom of the four-month deadline, from the date of publication of the Commission notice, for presentation of Member States' operational programmes.

- trusts that Member States' role in project selection (which according to the Commission is to be done in agreement with the local authorities) will be limited to an initial sifting-out of manifestly ineligible projects, and that the final decision on projects will rest with the Commission in tandem with the local authorities.

5. Eligible city districts and neighbourhoods

- recognizes that a significant portion of the URBAN budget is to be earmarked for cities in Objective 1 areas ('lagging regions'), given the need to heighten the impact of Community assistance and supplement the provisions adopted under the region's Community Support Framework, with a view to more rapidly closing the development gaps in these areas.

- considers, however, that the sum earmarked for cities outside Objective 1 regions should be deployed flexibly in order to assist city districts suffering serious urban decline but which, because they are in non-eligible areas, have hitherto received only modest support from minor Community programmes outside the Structural Funds.

- considers that a further justification for such flexibility is that, although the Structural Fund reform extended the urban areas eligible under Objective 2, serious problems may still persist in city districts faced with major industrial restructuring, even though the city as a whole may not be deemed eligible.

- considers that such flexibility is also necessary in view of the importance for all cities of Objectives 3 and 4 of the revised Social Fund Regulations, which introduced two new objectives for urban areas: integration of persons threatened with exclusion from the labour market, and adaptation of workers to industrial change.

- trusts at all events that the selection of cities not located in Objective 1 regions will take account of the availability of experience and projects through the establishment of networks and pooling of information with cities in Objective 1 regions.

- considers, however, that the number of projects outside Objective 1 areas (16 or 17 out of a total of 50) is insufficient.

- considers that among the indicators used by the Commission for defining 'difficult' city districts, particular attention should be paid to housing conditions, socio-ethnic mix, number of unemployed and social welfare benefit recipients. To these the COR would add access to basic services such as electricity, water, sewage and roads.

6. Eligible measures

- approves the list of possible measures for inclusion in an integrated programme which the Commission has appropriately based on the experience gained in the pilot projects.

7. Consultation and partnership

- considers that the target population of any project funded under the present initiative should be consulted, either directly or via its elected local representatives, in order to avoid mistakes in planning or measures which offer no scope for partnership arrangements.

8. Dissemination of results

- regrets that in the past the results of the urban pilot projects have not been widely circulated, and calls for the holding of seminars and conferences on the anticipated and actual results of the relevant Community initiatives.

Done at Brussels, 17 May 1994.

The Chairman

of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC