1. Affordable Housing and the EU Urban Agenda
The EU Urban Agenda is an ambitious work in which the Commission is ready to play an active role and to facilitate the process.
The Commission is not imposing, we are facilitating cities to get better involved in the whole EU policy cycle and to mobilise cities better.
It is not a top-down process: it will be developed in close cooperation with Member States, and cities.
Integrated approach at all levels and through all sectors. Tearing down the walls and silos and work in more constructive and effective way by involving all partners up front and all the way through the process
Focus on Place based, local actions, implementation
NB: - 70% of EU citizens live in cities
- 70% of EU legislation implemented at sub-national level
- 55% of public investments at sub-national levels
Judit Törökné Rózsa, Head of Competence Centre for Inclusive Growth, Urban and Territorial Development, DG Regional and Urban Policy European Commission
The 3rd Europe Housing Forum
19 November 2015

2. State of play – multiple pressures
Supply side – insufficient supply, spatial distribution, costs
Demand side – increased (risk of) poverty, less income, difficulty to access financing
Policy response – narrowing possibilities, passing the ball to local authorities, conflicting priorities

3. Role of the EU – framework conditions and financing
Not an EU competence, but big impact through
European Semester and financial/banking regulations
State Aid
Legislation on Energy
Legislation on Public Procurement
Services of General Interest
Funding
No coherent EU policy response to the questions of affordable housing

4. Funding related to Housing
European Regional Development Fund
Energy efficiency renovation of existing housing: 5.4 billion EUR
Housing infrastructure: 1.4 billion EUR
European Social Fund
European Fund for Strategic Investment
European Investment Bank

5. Issues to consider in funding
How housing investments impact on
Desegregation
Migrants and refugees
Community based living
Social inclusion
Urban planning and development?
How to optimise funding for the best result in housing?
Energy efficiency investments
Financial instruments vs grants
Ownership

6. Pressure on Cities Population growth or decline, household structure
Migration
Tenure structure and housing stock
Lack of social and other forms of affordable housing!
Urban poverty and homelessness
Jobs
Urban sprawl
Segregated communities

7. The EU Urban Agenda
A coherent multilevel policy framework -Involve cities in the design of EU/ national policies -Mobilise cities in the implementation of EU/ national policies
To achieve these aims, there will be:
 Action Plans on a number of Priority Themes
 Partnerships (Commission+ Member States+ Cities+ NGOs/ private + experts) to do the work together
 Other initiatives, like better use of Territorial Impact Assessment and better Urban Data and knowledge
The EU Urban Agenda should help cities to improve the implementation of EU and national policies on the ground, by strengthening cooperation between Commission services and by planning and implementing concrete actions at EU, national, regional and city level.
Cities have a key role to play in translating national and EU policy objectives into concrete action and are a major player in EU investments (in EU-28, 55% of total public investment is carried out by sub-national authorities; the OECD calculates that 50% of all public procurement is performed at subnational level).
However, despite discussions for decades at intergovernmental level on coordination of urban related topics, progress on the ground remains limited. Cities have increasing difficulties in dealing with the effects of climate change (heat, heavy rainfall, etc.), congestion and air quality in cities is often deteriorating, |Energy goals are not being reached, urban poverty remains an issue, etc. To address these challenges, the city level needs to be better taken into account when designing and implementing EU policies.
We (DGREGIO) will:
strengthen coordination within the Commission, by meetings with the main DGs to identify their priorities and define bottlenecks and map the upcoming legislative initiatives and calls for proposals. The objective is to identify the areas for cooperation and the needs for better coordination. Once the Priority Areas have been defined, the concerned DGs will be actively involved in the implementation.
will Assess the added-value of Territorial Impact Assessments (for cities) by testing existing data and methodologies. It is envisaged to perform two test cases on a limited number of policy initiatives by the end of the year.
improve knowledge/ data on selected Priority Areas by obtaining measurable, reliable and comparable data, by mapping the knowledge sources (e.g. statistics, studies, projects, practices, tools, networks and platforms) and by investing in more urban data from national statistical institutes and other sources like remote sensing using satellite imagery. In particular, to facilitate access to data, the Commission will bring together data on cities in Europe from many different sources. Users will be able to visualise this data and easily download it. The platform will also facilitate benchmarking by identifying similar cities across Europe. This platform will be launched during the UN-Habitat III conference in October 2016.
Update the existing "urban portal" and examine the feasibility of a one-stop-shop.
The EU Urban Agenda should follow principles such as not new, but better EU legislation, reliance on and better coordination of existing networks, bodies and institutions and no new EU funds/ programmes, but better alignment of existing instruments.

8. Rationale behind the partnerships
Integrated approach requires:
-Multi-level cooperation
-Horizontal coordination
-Involvement of relevant urban stakeholders
Added value: cooperation between
Member States, cities, Commission
The proposed governance system (called 'Partnerships') is inspired from the EU macro-regional strategies, but has been slightly adapted to the specificities of the EU Urban Agenda. Given our experience on 4 such macro-regional strategies we are confident that our proposal can deliver results.
Each Priority Area could be implemented through an Action Plan with concrete actions at EU, national and local level. This Action Plan would build on existing successful initiatives, such as the EIP on Smart Cities and Communities, the integration of different policy fields should be a priority. It could also include projects as examples, and possibly targets/ indicators to monitor progress. The Action Plan could be a rolling document which can be updated when needed.
The Commission will (a) facilitate the process and (b) work on the actions at EU level.
The implementation should be driven forward by the Member States, regions, cities and stakeholders. Their ownership and commitment is key to a successful implementation. Partnerships composed of experts of the Commission services, Member States, cities, and existing networks could ensure a timely and effective preparation of the Action Plan and its later implementation. In addition, national contact points in each Member State could also be envisaged, serving also as a national one-stop-shop for urban matters.
The work of the first Partnerships will start end 2015.

9. Proposed themes 3. Housing 1. Jobs and skills in the local economy:
2. Urban poverty
3. Housing
4. Inclusion of migrants and refugees
5. Sustainable use of land and Nature-Based solutions 6. Circular economy
7. Climate adaptation
8. Energy transition
9. Urban mobility
10 Air quality
11. Digital transition
12. Innovative and responsible public procurement
Set of inputs that fom the basis of this list: (1) a public consultation (2014); (2) a consultation of Member States (organised by NL in 2015); (3) a consultation of the DGs of the Commission (2015); (4) reports and opinions from the EP, the CoR and the EESC; (5) papers from the cities' organisations (Eurocities and the CEMR), key cities and other organisations.
These inputs were analysed by using these criteria:
(1) are clearly supported by MS, the Commission and cities;
(2) address the major challenges faced by cities;
(3) require action at the EU-level using the multi-level governance;
(4) generate concrete results in a reasonable timeframe; and
(5) promote smart, green and inclusive cities.
The proposed 12 Priority Themes are based on a series of consultations with relevant Commission services (individually and through the Inter-Service Group), Member States (with the lead of the upcoming Dutch presidency), cities, experts and stakeholders (through three workshops organised in September).
We believe that we have reached a good list which is both focused on the key issues and well balanced.
Decision on this list will be made in the DG meeting (21 Okt) and will be discuss internally within the Commission (ISG 22 Okt). CEMR/EUROCITIES/CoR/Commission are observers in the DG meeting (and the UDG). In the future we will keep on using these groups for the EU Urban Agenda but want to give a voice and comparable role to the observers with reagrd to decision to be made within the framework of the EU Urban Agenda.
More information on the proposed themes
Jobs and skills in the local economy: The objectives are prosperity and low unemployment. The focus will be on: (a) attracting and keeping enterprises; (b) creating new enterprises; (c) producing and consuming locally; (d) supporting new ways of working; and (e) ensuring that skills meet the needs.
Urban poverty: The objectives are to reduce poverty and improve the inclusion of people in poverty or at risk of poverty. The focus will be on: child poverty, deprived neighbourhoods and homelessness.
Housing: The objectives are to have affordable housing of good quality. This will cover: social housing, social mix, housing stock, ownership, shelters, rehabilitation, housing loans, new forms of housing, etc.
Inclusion of migrants and refugees: The objectives are to manage the integration of incoming migrants and refugees (extra-EU) and to provide a framework for their inclusion. This will cover: housing, integration, provision of public services, social inclusion, education and labour market measures.
Sustainable use of land and Nature-Based solutions: The objective is to ensure that the changes in cities (growing, shrinking and regeneration) are respectful of the environment. The focus will be on: urban sprawl, development of brownfields and on renaturing / greening the cities.
Circular economy: The objective is to increase the re-use, repair, refurbishment and recycling of existing materials and products to bring new growth and job opportunities. For instance, additional measures to increase resource productivity by 30% by 2030 could boost GDP by nearly 1%, while creating 2 million additional jobs. The focus will be on: waste management (turn a waste into a resource), sharing economy, resource efficiency.
Climate adaptation: The objectives are to anticipate the adverse effects of climate change and take appropriate action to prevent or minimise the damage it can cause to cities. The focus will be on: vulnerability assessments, climate resilience and risk management.
Energy transition: The objectives are to have a long-term structural change in energy systems i.e. shift to renewable energy and energy efficiency. The focus will be on: improving energy efficiency (also in buildings), fostering innovative approaches for energy supply (e.g. local systems) and increasing the local production of renewable energy.
Urban mobility: The objectives are to have a sustainable and efficient urban mobility. The focus will be on: public transports, soft mobility (walking, cycling, public space) and accessibility (for disabled, elderly, young children, etc.).
Air quality: The objective is to have the systems to ensure a good air quality for human health. This will cover: legislative and technical aspects linked to a wide range of polluting sources such as cars, industries, agricultural activities, etc.
Digital transition: The objective is to provide better services to citizens and create business opportunities. The focus will be on: data collection (including ownership), better use of open data, data management (including the capacity of cities and privacy issues) and digital services (incl. new technologies).
Innovative and responsible public procurement: The objective is to use this powerful tool to address social and environmental objectives and to do more with less. This will cover innovative approaches in procurement.

10. Cross cutting issues Integrated approach
Good urban governance (e.g. focus on innovation, good regulation, good coordination);
Sound urban planning (and link with regional planning and territorial development);
Innovative approaches (incl. social innovation and civil society involvement);
Having an impact on societal change, including behavioural change (e.g. healthy lifestyle);
Attention for challenges and opportunities of small- and medium-sized cities; and
Attention for urban-rural, urban-urban and cross-border cooperation.
In addition to the proposed priority themes, a selection of cross-cutting principles is proposed.

11. Partnership on Housing
Priority for the upcoming SK Presidency
Action Plan to address:
Better regulation
Better funding
Better knowledge

12. Next steps December 2015: Start of first partnerships
including Housing
Dutch Presidency 2016
"Pact of Amsterdam”
June start of
other partnerships
21 October 2015: DGs meeting (discussion on Priority Themes and Partnerships);
November 2015: Start of the 2-3 first Partnerships;
May 2016: Amsterdam Pact (support by MS to the EU Urban Agenda);
June 2016: Start of the remaining Partnerships.