Local democracy102

Migration and inclusion: a snapshot of our upcoming activities

---

Over the past few months, the CEMR Task Force on Migration and Integration has been re-activated with a twofold mission. First, to put cities and regions at the heart of the new EU policies dealing with migration. Second, to raise awareness and share expertise on migrant integration through initiatives such as the EU Inclusion Partnership and IncluCities.

Eight member associations are currently part of the Task Force and more have expressed interest and willingness to join the group after the summer break. This shows our members’ with migration and integration topics, especially in regions and cities with significant inflows of newcomers and large immigrant background populations. All member associatiosn can take part in the two pillars’ activities on an ad hoc basis.

Preparing advocacy on the EU’s New Migration Pact

European policy in these areas is being defined in two key documents. The New Pact on Migration and Asylum issued by the European Commission in September 2020 deals with migration flows, relocation and border screening, while the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027) outlines future legislative and policy actions to be taken. Negotiations on these dossiers has been prolonged and difficult since the 2015 migration crisis.

Compared to that of 2016, , the current Action Plan covers not only third-country nationals, but also migrants and EU citizens with a migration background. CEMR contributed to the EU’s consultation on the Plan and indeed the Commission’s final version puts considerable emphasis on local needs, namely: long-term integration of migrants, knowledge exchange and cooperation between cities, increasing local governments’ capacities and stronger coordination between levels of government.

CEMR met with the EU vice-president responsible for migration, Margaritis Schinas, in February. The Greek commissioner emphasised the crucial role that local governments play on migration and integration. In the wake of this meeting, the Task Force decided to work on a a new resolution responding to the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, presenting local governments’ views and needs on these issues

Sharing knowledge through the Inclusion Partnership of the EU Urban Agenda

On a parallel track, the Task Force will work on awareness raising and sharing knowledge and best practices between local and regional governments on migration issues. This goes to the heart of the practical work of integratingnewcomers in our towns and regions.

CEMR renewed its participation to the Inclusion Partnership of the Urban Agenda – in which cities can collaborate and provide their input to EU policymakers. We are particularly interested in the EU actions on integration of LBGTQ+ migrants, the creation of a database for evidence-based integration policymaking and financial instruments for inclusion aiming to build capacities for cities.

The Task Force will exploit synergies between CEMR’s migration on advocacy and knowledge sharing, as well as with the IncluCities project. IncluCities in particular will share examples of good practices and provide input into CEMR’s recommendations on migrant integration, which will also generate visibility for project.

The EU promises more transparent and collaborative lawmaking: what does it mean for local and regional governments?

---

Today about 60% of a mayor’s political agenda is influenced by European legislation. It is therefore crucial to ensure that EU rules do not add unnecessary administrative burdens to local governments and can be effectively implemented without additional costs.

With its agenda on Better Regulation, the EU executive aims to make progress in future law-making by focussing on more transparent and evidenced-based policy processes for improved  outcomes. How? For instance, by enhancing impact assessments and introducing a “rural proofing” mechanism in EU legislation to analyse any potential impact on rural jobs, growth and sustainable development. 

To ensure the EU’s recovery, we need improved European lawmaking able to respond to tomorrow’s challenges. Last April, the European Commission made an important step forward in this direction with the adoption of a recent Communication on Better Regulation. Here are some of the issues at stake for local governments.

Better involvement of local governments and other stakeholders

The Commission created the Fit4Future platform in 2020 to receive input on how to simplify EU laws and reduce administrative costs. The platform brings together the expertise of those in charge of implementing EU legislation (public administration, social partners, businesses, technical experts, consumers and NGOs) to share their ideas on how to achieve this.

Cities and regions have a prominent role to play on the platform, notably as represented through the Committee of the Regions. The Commission promises to better distinguish the contributions of different types of stakeholders (such as local governments), to swiftly respond to feedback to consultations and to “more accurately reflect the input of local, regional and national authorities.”

More transparency on the evidence behind EU law-making

The Commission proposes the creation of a common evidence register: the Joint Legislative Portal, which would provide easy access to all the evidence underpinning every EU initiative. This new tool would allow more effective communication between policymakers at EU and national level, as well as fostering evidence-based policies. The creation of this Portal responds to previous calls by CEMR for more transparency in legislative processes to enable local and regional governments to follow more easily the preparation and amending of draft legislation.

The SDGs will guide EU policy-making

The Commission is intensifying its efforts to anticipate future challenges that Europe will face and how policymaking needs to respond to these challenges. As a result, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will become the new reference framework for assessing ‘ex-ante’ the sustainability of all legislative proposals. The Commission will identify the relevant SDGs linked to each of its proposals and examine how the initiative will support the achievement of the SDG(s) concerned. 

This is great news for local and regional governments across Europe, as many of them have already been using the SDGs for some time now as a way to support more joined-up policymaking, in pursuit of carbon neutral economies.

With this Communication, the Commission aims to take into account the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the COVID-19 recovery and the need to legislate as efficiently as possible, with an eye to the future. And the best way to do it is by ensuring that all key stakeholders “work together on high-quality EU policymaking that will translate into a stronger, more resilient Europe“, according to Maroš Šefčovič, EU Commission Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight.

Let’s hope this collaborative vision becomes a reality for Europe’s local governments and citizens!

How local governments can take part in the EU’s €95-billion research programme

---

Horizon: this evocative word summarises the hopes for the European Union’s science and innovation funding programme, the biggest in the world. All places are deeply concerned by the possibilities and transformations enabled by innovation.

That’s why EU officials and local and regional governments met yesterday (29 June) to discuss how local and regional governments can better take advantage of the Horizon Europe programme to implement innovative projects in their territories.

Horizon is armed with a whopping €95.5 billion for the 2021-2027 period, with municipalities, counties and regions being eligible for many of its projects either as a contractor or as the entity physically hosting projects on their territory.

There are however obstacles to local and regional governments’ participation, notably lack of awareness and of local capacity to engage in the projects. Associations of local and regional governments can play a crucial role in overcoming these challenges. More generally, Horizon should be adapted to every national situation and the diversity of local conditions.

The new Horizon programme: great opportunities for local governments

Magda De Carli, Head of Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), provided an overview of the many new EU funding opportunities for local innovation.
“The role of regions and local authorities is there both as direct beneficiaries or as the entity where the activity is taking place“, said De Carli. “What is next is to take on board this opportunity and make the most of it.“

The regulation stipulating how Horizon will be run includes many references to local and regional governments and has been drafted in harmony with the rules for cohesion policy, the primary EU funding programme targeting territories.

Local and regional governments are heavily involved in Horizon Europe’s new “missions”, thematic areas where research will tackle major societal challenges. Municipalities and regions are strongly implicated in the mission “adaptation to climate change” and will receive support to comply with the EU’s Climate Law. Local governments and communities will also cooperate closely in the mission “soil health and food” and municipal authorities are naturally central to the mission “climate-neutral and smart cities”.

Municipalities and regions also feature prominently in other areas. Regions are major beneficiaries of European Innovation Ecosystems, a programme promoting the scaling up and interconnection of local innovation ecosystems. Cities and local communities are also involved in the research cluster “civil security for society”, which deals with protection against cybercrime and natural or man-made disasters.

Beyond Horizon, local and regional governments will also be able to mobilise cohesion spending for innovation in their territories. For instance, SMEs that have been awarded an EU Seal of Excellence quality label will be eligible for cohesion funding without violating state-aid rules. In the previous seven-year budget period, cohesion funding provided €40 billion to research and innovation.

Good practices from Norway: advocacy and mentoring

The event was an occasion to share experiences from local and regional government associations on how to promote engagement with Horizon. While Horizon is an EU programme, it also has beneficiaries in non-EU countries.

This became clear with the intervention of Jon Anders Drøpping, Manager for Research and Development in the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), which covers all of Norway’s 356 local and 11 regional governments. The EU is a major source of innovation funding in Norway, accounting for around a third of research and innovation resources open to competition.

KS has strongly lobbied at both national and EU level to make sure local governments can compete for research funding. Municipalities and regions are now an integral part of the country’s national strategy for participating in Horizon Europe.

Applying for Horizon projects is often a challenging undertaking, particularly for smaller municipalities. That is why KS organises a mentorship programme, over a period of 18-24 months, in which local governments learn how to structure an application, get administrative and political support and participate in a consortium. The programme works like a skills and talent development scheme and as a professional network for mutual learning.

Participants in KS’ membership programme made five applications for the last batch of Horizon 2020 projects – the EU’s previous research programme – under the European Green Deal. Norwegian local and regional governments in general participated in around 50 Horizon 2020 projects.

National associations: the key to engaging municipalities and regions

Other associations also gave their perspectives on Horizon Europe. Aleksandra Vukmirovic of the Standing Conference of Town and Municipalities of Serbia (SCTM) noted that municipalities in her country are also eligible for some Horizon funds. She stressed the need to encourage local governments to participate and find partners, as well as to provide technical assistance. She also pointed out that during implementation of the Horizon Europe specific characteristics of local governments in pre-accession countries should be taken into account.

Several participants highlighted the need to provide local and regional governments with practical examples of the kinds of projects Horizon has funded. This would give local officials more concrete ideas as to what is possible and motivate their administrations to seize opportunities.

Looking to the future, CEMR hopes to establish a long-term collaboration with the European Commission’s DG RTD to organise regular exchanges with our member associations to improve local and regional governments’ access to innovation funding.