Tag Archive for: UE

Official signing ceremony of the Framework Partnership Agreements between the European commission and the Associations of Local Authorities

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The Presidents of the five largest associations of local and regional governments will meet with Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, on 12 September in Brussels. Local governments leaders will discuss and reaffirm their partnership with the European Union to promote international development.   

The five local government Presidents participating are: 

  • Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris (France), President of the International Association of French-Speaking Mayors (AIMF) 
  • Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy) and of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) & PLATFORMA 
  • Rev Mpho Moruakgomo, former President of the Botswana Association of Local Authorities, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) 
  •  Jan van Zanen, Mayor of The Hague (Netherlands), Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) 
  •  Fatimetou Abdel Malick, President of the Regional Council of Nouakchott (Mauritania), President of United Cities and Local Governments – Africa (UCLG Africa). 

The five presidents will be accompanied by the respective secretaries-general and will also meet with other senior EU officials, including Koen Doens, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA). 

The first Framework Partnership Agreements were signed seven years ago between these five associations and the European Union. They were renewed last spring for a period of four years. 

On the occasion of the renewal, the five associations “committed to strengthening local and regional governments in Europe and in third countries“, in particular to implement Sustainable Development Goals aiming “to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.” 

European Union 2021-2027 Programming Process: Africa’s Local and Regional Authorities Hold National Seminars

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The preparation of African local governments is intensifying with a view to taking part in the negotiations for the 2021-2027 programming of European cooperation. Benefiting from the technical support of UCLG Africa since May 2020, the national associations of local authorities of the continent are working hard to meet expectations during the exchanges scheduled for the end of February 2021.

January 2021 was marked by the holding of national seminars for the validation of the roadmap that the associations will bring to the negotiating table. This roadmap highlights the priority areas of financing for local authorities according to the needs of the populations of their country. For this EU programming cycle (2021-2027), they will be around the table with national governments.

The first associations that have already organized their national seminars to validate their roadmap are : Libya (14 December 2020), Nigeria (19 January 2021), Cameroon (21 January 2021), Zambia (21 January 2021), Cape Verde (26 January 2021).

As a reminder, the national associations of African local authorities will have to lead the advocacy on 3 points:

1) To have local governments recognized as state actors. Associations must obtain this status from national governments on the basis of the EU Communication made in 2013;

2) To have national associations of local and regional authorities considered as political representatives of local governments and have them integrated into negotiations alongside national governments;

3) To ensure that all public policies are territorialized since there is a national dimension and a territorial dimension to any policy that will be implemented, including the financial support to be provided by the European Union.

The financing made available in the new programming of the European Union Commission for the period (2021-2027) amounts to Thirty-two billion euros.