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THOMAS Carol In Impact community Society, Latest, Local democracy

First Capital of Democracy

European Capital of Democracy - News 2023

Barcelona becomes the first European Capital of Democracy

There are many awards celebrating outstanding cities. One certainly missing is the European Capital for Democracy. At the heart of the EU construction, this core value definitely deserves some stage light. That’s why in January 2023, a pan-European citizen jury designated the first ever “European Capital of Democracy”: Barcelona.

At the beginning of the year, several thousand citizen jurors from the 46 Council of Europe member states assessed a range of projects by three finalist cities, Barcelona, Braga, and Brussels. Barcelona convinced the jury with innovative projects such as Decidim, a digital citizen participation platform used by hundreds of cities around the world; and Superblock, an initiative to reclaim the city’s streets from cars.

‘Local government has always been the level of public authority closest to the people it serves,’ explains Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe. ‘It is here that new ideas and democratic participation are best placed to flourish. The European Capital of Democracy not only recognises excellence but holds it up as an inspiration to others.’

From September 2023 until August 2024, Barcelona will host a Programme Year of events and activities to strengthen European democracy. Activities will be organised in cooperation with partner organisations and citizens. Visitors from all over Europe are invited to participate.

‘The City of Barcelona is proud to be the first European Capital of Democracy. In a global context where hate speech and authoritarian projects are on the rise, cities are the place where we can work together with citizens to strengthen democracy.’ says Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona.

Do you want to participate in the next European Capital of Democracy elections?

In February 2023, the call will open for cities to apply for the next title of European Capital of Democracy. Find out how your city can apply.

If you want to participate in the European Capital of Democracy as a citizen, register here.

Source

THOMAS Carol

Senior Adviser, Governance, Gender Equality, Local Democracy

THOMAS Carol In Impact community Society, Latest, Local democracy

Paweł Adamowicz Award

Discover the 2022 Laureate of Paweł Adamowicz Award

On Friday 13^th January, the municipality of Michałowo in Poland was announced as the laureate of the second edition of the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award. The small municipality was chosen to highlight the incredible work it did, alongside its inhabitants, to provide help to refugees on the border with Belarus and their support of freedom, solidarity, and equality.

“To win the Paweł Adamowicz Award is a great privilege and source of pride for me as the head of the municipality. […] Above all, I am proud of our local people because we were able put into practice the values that the European Union brings, indeed, that humanity brings, and really bring them to life.” stated the Mayor of Michałowo Marek Nazarko.

The award was created to promote the legacy built up by Paweł Adamowicz. He was the long-serving Mayor of the City of Gdańsk when he was murdered in January 2019 whilst carrying out his public duties and standing up for the values of freedom, solidarity and equality.

The jury also decided to give a special mention to Oleksandr Babych, Mayor of Hola Prystan in the south of Ukraine who was supported by CEMR this year, as a representative of all Ukrainian mayors who have been kidnapped or tortured since the beginning of the Russian invasion for trying to protect his local community. Mayor Babych himself has been held captive since March 2022. This special recognition is, as described by the President of the Committee of the Regions Vasco Alves Cordeiro, “a tribute to his courage and a signal of hope and solidarity for all Ukrainian mayors and citizens fighting for our European values”.

The award will be officially presented to the Mayor of Michałowo Marek Nazarko on 8th February 2023 during the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels.

THOMAS Carol

Senior Adviser, Governance, Gender Equality, Local Democracy

GRIFFON Axelle In Energy, Impact community Climate, Latest

Renewable energy

Faster permitting of renewables: ‘Local governments must be fully involved at all stages!’

While the Council of the EU adopted a new regulation aiming at boosting the deployment of renewable energies through faster and easier permitting procedures, CEMR calls for the full involvement of municipalities and regions in this process.

CEMR values the adoption of emergency measures to speed up renewables permitting and considers local and regional governments as the driving force for achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal. It however expresses substantive reservations on a number of points.

Reacting to the EU Energy Ministers’ agreement, CEMR’s spokesperson on Climate and Energy, Belinda Gottardi highlighted the necessity to give sufficient time for the processes to find solutions that adequately balance legitimate local and national interests.

“There is a need to fully take on board municipalities and regions in all steps of the permitting of renewable energies. In most EU Member States, local governments are the competent authorities for granting permits for many of the renewable energies and grid connections”, she pointed out. “They need to manage spatial conflicts to ensure balanced solutions with sufficient local acceptance.”

“Municipalities and regions have a wealth of valuable experience and expertise that act as a key asset in the energy transition. Bypassing them or giving inadequate time in this process could have counterproductive effects and lower citizens’ acceptance.”, she concluded.

The regulation will now have to be interpreted within the various national contexts, with necessary alterations of the processes to respect the time limits. Clarifications will be needed, notably on how spatial planning and environmental assessments will be affected, and which power plants will be included.

Background information

On 19 December, EU Member States agreed on the substance of a Council’s Regulation laying down a framework to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy. This regulation is part of a series of Council regulations under Art. 122 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). It addresses the “emergency nature to accelerate the permit-granting process” for the generation of renewable energies in the ongoing energy crisis, provoked by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The Regulation is of particular interest for CEMR given that in a lot of European countries, local and regional governments are the competent authorities for spatial planning and granting permits for the installation of solar-PV, heat pumps, wind power, other renewable power plants, and grid connections.

Key contents of the legislation are the concept of the overriding public interest for the production of renewable energy, their grid connection, and shorter permit-granting within specified time periods. The overriding public interest enables new projects to benefit from a simplified environmental assessment under specific EU directives.

Generally, this also applies to the respective grid connections. Solar energy equipment should receive a permit no later than three months or be accepted after 1 month of “positive administrative silence” for capacity below 50 kW or 10,8 kW. Moreover, the regulation introduces a maximum of six months for the permit-granting process regarding the repowering of renewable energy power plants and their grid connection, and three months if the increase is less than 15%. Heat pumps below 50 MW benefit from a one-month deadline and from a maximum of three months for ground source heat pumps.

Links to CEMR’s positions

GRIFFON Axelle

Advisor – Environment and mobility

GRIFFON Axelle In Energy, Impact community Climate, Latest

Training Academy

Discover the main findings

On 21 October 2022, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) organised a training event for elected political representatives working in climate adaptation and mitigation, with an emphasis on sustainable finance. The sessions included a keynote speech from a scientist, presentations of case studies, interactive exercises and discussions. The objective was to familiarise local and regional elected officials with the concept of sustainable finance from a scientific, regulatory and technical perspective.

A summary of the training work, including key concepts, speaker and panel content, and key findings, can be found here.

This edition of the training academy represents the seventh in the series organised by CEMR/PLATFORMA, which was initially inspired by the Urban Agenda for the EU.

GRIFFON Axelle

Advisor – Environment and mobility

TARAN Stanislav In Bridges of Trust, Latest, Projects and Programmes

Generators for Ukraine

Call for cities and regions to provide generators for Ukraine

The European Commission and the Committee of the Regions have launched a humanitarian appeal to European cities and regions. Responding to an urgent request from the Ukrainian Government, they call on a joint effort to send energy supplies to Ukraine.

The escalation of Russian attacks on civilian infrastructures and residential buildings has deeply impacted the Ukrainian energy network. In consequence, only 70% of peak demand power can be covered, leaving millions of people without electricity and water in the middle of winter. To strengthen the humanitarian action of Member States and private donors, the Commission is now calling on European regions and cities to provide further assistance.

Cities and regions can make donations of energy items both new and old, in particular power generators and heaters. The transport costs to the new “rescEU energy” hub in Poland are co-financed by the Union budget. For more information, donors are invited to contact the European Commission.

The European Commission has already been facilitating donations of energy equipment and fuel through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). So far, they have delivered over 55,000 energy items, including 775 power generators, provided by the Member States and private donors. As cities and regions join this common effort, more energy infrastructure will be preserved and restored, helping millions of people regain access to water and electricity.

TARAN Stanislav

Project Officer – International Partnerships (U-Lead)

GAUDRON Marine In Impact community Cohesion, Latest, Local finances

Local Finances

How to unleash local public investments for the green transition

As the EU struggles to find ways to pay for industry transition towards a carbon-free economy, the finances of local governments play an often-neglected role in delivering the needed investments, argues a report by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).

The report retraces the development of local finances over the past decade and how they can influence the ability of municipalities to finance the green transition.

For example, the report found that countries with a more decentralised structure further decentralised their public finances in the past decade, while those with more centralised public spending became even more centralised.

“Federal countries, for example, Germany, went towards more decentralisation,” CEMR’s Vincent Furlan told EURACTIV.

According to the report, this polarisation is relevant because countries with decentralised public finances tend to invest more in the green transition.

“More centralised countries have lost some margin of manoeuvre in terms of investments as a part of their total expenditure,” Furlan said. However, he stressed that this was not necessarily a causal relation between the two as the lower investment appetite of countries with more centralised public finances may be caused by other factors.

Unrelated to centralisation, Furlan stressed that “local and regional governments have a significant weight in investment expenditure”.

“Local and regional governments invest in areas determinant for the green transition.”

For example, local transport infrastructure or waste management facilities are often governed locally and can have a significant environmental impact.

However, municipalities and regions are often constrained in their ability to invest in the green transition as fiscal rules, and the lack of access to financial markets can make it hard for regional governments to undertake the necessary investments.

The issue that too-strict fiscal rules can affect investments has long been a topic of debate at the EU level. However, this debate usually focused on national rather than regional or local, finances. Then, in November this year, the European Commission announced its intention to reform the national fiscal rules and allow member states to invest more in the green transition.

Yet, the local level is often forgotten in these discussions. In a position paper, CEMR argued that the EU’s current fiscal rules constrain local finances since local government debt is included in the calculation of total national debt.

“More flexibility should be granted for local and regional governments, particularly when investing for long-term and sustainable development,” the paper reads.

However, excluding local debt from the national debt calculations could incentivise governments to reallocate their expenditure and their debts to local governments, which might give local governments more leeway to invest, but which also might undermine the effectiveness of the fiscal rules.

Another obstacle to the green investments of local and regional governments is the lack of access to financial markets. In contrast to national governments, local and regional administration cannot count on the same investor appetite for their debt issue and have more difficulty accessing funding.

And as their debt is usually considered riskier, they will also have to pay higher interest rates.

But better access to financial tools might expand the options for local governments to fund themselves. “Because local governments can make a large contribution to the green transition, granting them more access to financial instruments would be beneficial,” Furlan argued.

This article was first published on EURACTIV‘s website.

GAUDRON Marine

Advisor – Territorial Cohesion & Local Finances

BAIER Jessica In International cooperation, Latest, Projects and Programmes

CERV programme

Discover the next funding opportunities!

Check out the European Commission’s (DG JUST) priorities for 2023 and 2024 and discover the next funding opportunities!

The CERV programme is the biggest EU fund ever available for promoting and protecting EU rights and values (1.55 billion over 7 years). Together with the Justice programme (305 million euros over 7 years), it contributes to building a Union of Justice, Rights and Values.

BAIER Jessica

Project Lead in Twinning & Partnership

BORDELOT Federica In Climate, Climate, Energy, Energy, Housing, Housing, Impact community Climate, Impact community Climate, Latest, Publications

Smarter building rules in Europe

EPBD revision: Local flexibility and long-term planning key to success, say CEMR and Housing Europe

Read position paper

EPBD revision: Local flexibility and long-term planning key to success, say CEMR and Housing Europe

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and Housing Europe have joined forces to publish a set of recommendations on the European Commission’s proposal to recast the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). While both organisations fully support the ambition to decarbonise buildings across the EU, they warn that the proposal must better reflect the realities on the ground.

Local and regional governments, as well as providers of public, social, and cooperative housing, are critical actors in delivering the EU’s climate objectives. But a one-size-fits-all approach will not work.

The joint position paper outlines three key recommendations:

Respect local differences through subsidiarity and adaptability
The EPBD must allow member states and local authorities to tailor building codes to their own context. Setting EU-level definitions for zero-emission buildings without a clear methodology risks creating uncertainty and undermining national efforts. Other areas, such as fire safety and asbestos removal, should remain the competence of national or local governments.

Provide a stable and realistic framework for renovations
Renovating buildings is a long-term process that requires careful planning. The proposed EPBD introduces tight deadlines and shifting labelling systems, making it nearly impossible for local authorities and property owners to comply effectively. CEMR and Housing Europe argue for a more predictable timeline that reflects labour shortages, market dynamics, and tenant affordability.

Support zero-emission construction with energy system flexibility
While new buildings must meet high standards, member states should retain the freedom to choose their energy sources. That includes not only on-site renewables, but also low-carbon energy from the grid, waste heat, and energy recovery, all in line with the EU waste hierarchy.

Ultimately, the success of the EPBD will depend on how well it enables local and regional actors to deliver results. CEMR and Housing Europe are clear: the path to climate-neutral buildings must be ambitious but flexible, fair and grounded in local realities.

Read the full policy paper here

For more information, contact:

BORDELOT Federica

Director – Policy & Impact

TONHAUSER Boris In Latest, PLATFORMA

EU Enlargement

Towards a new EU strategy for enlargement

The EU needs to step up the involvement of local and regional authorities of EU Member States and candidate countries in the accession process, states a European Parliament’s report on the new EU strategy for enlargement. It was presented by MEP Tonino Picula at the plenary session in Strasbourg on 22 November.

During the debate, the Croatian MEP emphasised that in the situation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, expansion must gain new momentum, be predictable and believable, “as the single most effective EU instrument for securing peace, prosperity and fundamental values on the European continent.”

The rapporteur Mr Picula also added that each candidate for membership must be evaluated according to progress in reforms, especially when it comes to the rule of law, and the judiciary, and that EU support funds should be accessible to candidates for membership before they become full members of the Union.

Regarding Eastern Partnership countries, the Report welcomes the European Council’s exceptionally swift decision on the EU membership applications of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia and calls upon the Commission and the Council to continue to provide them with political and technical support, while stepping up the involvement of local and regional authorities in the accession process.

Similarly, it invites the authorities of the three countries to unambiguously demonstrate their political determination to realise the European aspirations of their people by making significant progress on substantial reforms to effectively fulfil the criteria for EU membership as soon as possible. Focus is in particular on the independence of the judiciary, the fight against corruption, democratic oversight, human rights and “de-oligarchisation”.

Finally, it is stressed that the facilitation of these countries’ transitions from the Eastern Partnership to the enlargement framework would require the switchover from the NDICI – Global Europe instrument to the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). However, such a transition should be accompanied by a sufficient increase in the overall budget of IPA III in order to retain funding for current IPA III beneficiaries.

TONHAUSER Boris

Director – PLATFORMA

GAUDRON Marine In EU budget, EU budget, Impact community Cohesion, Impact community Cohesion, Impact community Society, Latest, Local democracy, Publications, Territorial development, Territorial development

Bringing Europe closer to its citizens

How ITI and CLLD strengthen local democracy, multi-level governance, and place-based development in EU cohesion policy

Read full study

The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is one of its most important instruments for promoting economic, social, and territorial cohesion across its member states. With nearly €392 billion allocated for 2021–2027, it tackles inequalities between regions while supporting a greener, more competitive, and more inclusive Europe. Central to this effort are Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI) and Community-Led Local Development (CLLD), two tools designed to put territorial needs and local actors at the heart of EU funding.

Why integrated tools matter

The foundations for a place-based approach were laid in the 2009 Barca Report, which argued that EU policy should focus on unlocking the potential of specific territories while addressing persistent exclusion. ITI and CLLD, introduced in 2014, operationalise this vision by giving local and regional governments a stronger role in programming, governance, and project implementation.

These tools provide flexibility, enable cooperation across levels of government, and ensure that EU funds target the real needs of communities. For municipalities, regions, and their associations, they are among the most valued features of cohesion policy.

ITI: Integrating strategies across territories

ITI allows funding from several EU programmes to be combined in support of integrated strategies. It has been especially used for urban development, where at least 8% of ERDF funding is earmarked for sustainable urban projects. While designed to cover any functional area, urban, rural, or mixed, ITI is most common in metropolitan settings, where challenges like mobility, housing, and regeneration demand integrated solutions.

CLLD: Communities leading the way

CLLD builds on the LEADER approach to rural development, empowering local action groups of citizens, NGOs, and businesses to design and implement strategies. While most common in rural areas, it has the potential to strengthen participation and ownership in cities, too. CLLD fosters trust, encourages bottom-up innovation, and helps address the needs of vulnerable groups such as youth, migrants, or elderly people.

What worked well

CEMR’s analysis highlights several clear benefits:

Flexibility and relevance – ITI and CLLD adapt EU funding to local needs.
Capacity-building – local authorities gain expertise in managing EU programmes.
Stronger governance – fostering trust and cooperation between local, regional, and national levels.
Visibility of EU action – projects close to citizens showcase the value of EU funds.
Community cohesion – encouraging cooperation among local actors and building metropolitan or regional identity.

Persistent challenges

Despite their value, integrated tools face obstacles:

Administrative burden remains high, with complex procedures and slow fund absorption.
Limited flexibility – strategies must still align with national operational programmes, sometimes restricting genuine local priorities.
Time pressures – integrated projects require trust and participation, often at odds with the EU’s strict N+3 spending rule.
Uneven use of PO5 (“Europe closer to citizens”) – some member states underfund this priority despite its direct link to ITI and CLLD.
Urban uptake of CLLD – adapting the rural-focused model to cities remains difficult.

CEMR recommendations

Looking ahead, municipalities and regions urge the EU to:

Maintain and strengthen integrated tools in cohesion policy.
Simplify procedures at both EU and national levels, avoiding “gold-plating.”
Clarify guidance on multi-funding, project selection, and the use of PO5.
Exempt ITI/CLLD projects from the N+3 rule to allow more time for participatory approaches.
Reintegrate the EAFRD into the Common Provision Regulation to ease multi-fund projects.
Ensure meaningful local involvement in programming, implementation, and evaluation.

Conclusion

ITI and CLLD have proven their worth as vehicles for place-based development, democratic participation, and closer cooperation between Europe and its citizens. While challenges remain, strengthening these tools is essential for making the EU’s cohesion policy more visible, more inclusive, and more responsive to local realities.

Read the study here