1. EUROCITIES
Social Affairs Forum
Business meeting
8 March 2018, Utrecht

2. Business meeting EU policy updates EU funding opportunities
Save the date for the SAF autumn meeting

3. Overview of EU policy updates
SDGs in EU
European Pillar of Social Rights
EU cohesion policy
‘Cities4Europe’ campaign
Urban Agenda for the EU

4. SDGs in the EU EUROCITIES is in the stakeholder platform on SDGs:
5 Dec 2017 – 1st management committee meeting
EUROCITIES with CoR and CEMR to create a working group on ‘delivering SDGs at local level’
10 Jan 2018 – 1st meeting with Frans Timmermans
EUROCITIES inputs to EC consultation for the reflection paper on SDGs, due in October 2018

5. SDGs in the EU Next steps on SDGs:
ExCom political debate on SDGs on 4 June in Ghent
EUROCITIES is official partner in the European Sustainable Development Week 30 May-5 June 2018
Brand your city events on SDGs as part of this week
More information at:

6. European Pillar of Social Rights
Adopted at EU Social Summit
on 17 November in Gothenburg
Road to implementation:
Legislative proposals:
Work-life balance directive proposal
Social Fairness package: European Labour Authority, European Social Security Number, access to social protection
2. Policy coordination through European Semester
3. Funding -> linking ESF to Pillar delivery

7. European Pillar of Social Rights
Next steps for EUROCITIES:
use ‘Social Rights for All’ statement
bilateral meeting between EUROCITIES president, Daniel Termont, and chair of SAF, Laia Ortiz, with Commissioner Thyssen on 13 April
Annual Convention for Inclusive Growth on 27 Apr (DG EMPL annual event) on the implementation of the social pillar -> side event to showcase role of local level in the pillar

8. Future of EU cohesion policy
EC proposal for post-2020 budget out
in May 2018 (incl. reshape of ESF)
EUROCITIES answers public consultation on EU funds
EU conference on ‘investing in people – the way forward’ on Feb in Sofia indicates focus on:
skills and employability at the core of future ESF
more synergies of EU funds (ESF, FEAD, Erasmus+), simplification, link EU funds to structural reforms (macro conditionalities), more flexibility

9. Future of EU cohesion policy
EUROCITIES survey on ESF:
technical report with preliminary findings in Feb, based on survey in 32 cities in 13 countries
more cities have expanded responsibilities in ESF and many have been consulted on ESF programmes
evidence of added value of ESF in cities
remaining obstacles: too complex rules and mismatch btw ESF OP priorities and local needs
Conclusions: cities need better access to ESF, more flexibility, more space for social innovation, simplification, synergies ESF-ERDF

10. EUROCITIES campaign European launch event – Brussels, 7 May 2018
Pan-European campaign in cities in May 2018
engage cities and citizens in the future of Europe
European launch event – Brussels, 7 May 2018
recommendations on new forms of democracy
AGM in Edinburgh in November 2018
2nd Mayors Summit in March 2019
46 cities have joined the campaign
Your city can still join the campaign
More info: cities4europe.eurocities.eu

11. EU Urban Agenda Pilot partnerships of 2016 (poverty, housing, migrants
& refugees)
final action plans adopted implementation begins
Partnerships of 2017: jobs & skills, public procurement draft action plans & public feedback
New partnerships in 2018: urban security, culture
EC report on UA gave positive assessment

12. Project and funding news

13. CITIES GROW
Integration of refugees and migrants through economic activity
Main focus: transferring good practices and approving concrete action plans on the economic integration of migrants and refugees to address the implementation gaps of the Integrating Cities Charter.
Main Activities:
Benchmarking, 4 new toolkits on integration
drafting action plans for local change
study visits in autumn & implementing visits in mid-2018
videos
Methodology: City-to-city mentoring, transfer & take-up (study visits, implementing visits) + concrete actions
Major event: Integrating Conference VII – 7-8 November 2018 in Milan

14. Funding opportunities
Urban Innovation Action
REC calls
EaSI
ESF transnational cooperation
New EEA and Norway Grants
Horizon 2020 calls
Funding Forecast:

15. Urban Innovation Actions
Local projects of < 5 mil. € with 80% co-financing
3rd call for proposals, deadline 30 Mar 2018
housing
jobs & skills in the local economy
2018 calls to open in Dec 2018
urban poverty
circular economy

16. Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020
budget €439.5 mil for , 80% co-funding
7 open calls:
capacity-building in rights of the child, DL: 31 May
improve the inclusion of mobile EU citizens and their political & societal participation, DL: 26 Apr
prevent and combat gender-based violence and violence against children, DL: 13 Nov
non-discrimination & Roma integration, DL: 9 Oct
counter hate speech online, DL: 11 Oct
combating racism & intolerance, DL: 27 Sep

17. Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)
Call for proposals on social innovation & national reforms => Lot 1: Work-life balance, DL: 18 April
Aim: to develop, test and implement innovative work-life balance strategies, multi-level partnership models and knowledge-sharing
Total budget €10 mil -> 5-7 proposals to be funded
80% co-funding rate
Cities can participate as lead or project partner

18. ESF transnational cooperation
transnational ESF projects, 3-year, 100% cost
6 member states launched calls in Jan-Feb: Belgium (Flanders), Bulgaria, Finland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden
calls cover the broad ESF themes of employment, youth, inclusion, social economy, learning and skills, migrants and governance.
common deadline: 11 May 2018
projects to start in Oct-Nov 2018

19. New EEA and Norway Grants
New fund to support regional cooperation -> consortium: min. 3 eligible countries
Aim: knowledge sharing, exchange of good practice and capacity building.
Themes:
innovation, research, education & competitiveness
social inclusion, youth employment, poverty
environment, energy, climate change
civil society, good governance, fundamental rights
justice and home affairs
Deadline: 1 July 2018

20. Horizon 2020 calls Presentation by
Raffaella Greco Tonegutti, policy officer on migration and mobility at DG Research and Innovation, European Commission

21. Interested to host a SAF meeting in 2019?
Save the date for our next SAF meeting
Autumn SAF 2018
Stuttgart
Interested to host a SAF meeting in 2019?
Apply by 15 September 2018

23. Thank you for contributing to the #GlobalGoals!
See you all at Autumn SAF 2018 in Stuttgart