Sustainable urban mobility – meeting in Strasbourg on January 21st
URBAN Intergroup met at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday January 21st to discuss the topic of urban mobility. Karima Delli, vice-president of the URBAN Intergroup and European Parliament rapporteur of the INI report, presented the key points of the EP resolution on sustainable urban mobility adopted in plenary on the 2nd of December 2015.
At the beginning of the presentation, Ms Delli underlined that there is a social and climate emergency linked with and to be dealt by the transport sector. She presented some of the problems related to transport such as pollution and road accidents. Every year, about 430,000 Europeans die prematurely due to fine particles mainly emitted by diesel engines. Nearly 42,000 deaths are also caused by road accidents every year in Europe, with an estimated cost of €45 billion.
The EP resolution emphasised the importance of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in achieving EU targets regarding the CO2 emissions, air pollution and accident reduction. It calls Member States to promote public transport with the view to increase its use by 2030, to support the development of innovative forms of mobility and to set up ambitious targets for cycling rates by 2030.
Karima Delli pointed out the current problem of the ‘use of revenues’ principle with regard to road charging. She called for a proportion of revenue from the use of road infrastructure (road charging and/or Eurovignette) to be dedicated to improving sustainable urban mobility.
During the discussion, MEPs noticed that the urban mobility was one of the 12 thematic objectives of the EU Urban Agenda. They also stressed that the work of the future partnership should take on board the European Parliament position on sustainable urban mobility. Moreover, participants agreed that one of the first pilot partnerships dedicated to air quality should take on board the issue of transport and mobility.
First call of the Urban Innovative Actions
On 15th December the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, via the Urban Innovative Actions secretariat, launched the first call of the Urban Innovative Actions initiative which is worth EUR 80 million in total. The call will be focused on four topics linked to the EU Urban Agenda:
- Energy transition
- Urban Poverty (with a focus on deprived urban neighbourhoods)
- The inclusion of migrants and refugees
- Jobs and skills in the local economy
The Call is open from 15th of December 2015 until 31st of March 2016.
More information about the call
The Urban Innovative Actions, set out in Article 8 of the ERDF Regulation, is a new instrument of the European Commission with the aim to test new solutions to the challenges faced by urban authorities. French region Nord-Pas de Calais is responsible for implementing this initiative. The total budget for Urban Innovative Actions is EUR 371 million over the period 2015-2020. All projects will be selected through calls for proposals with an ERDF contribution which shall not exceed EUR 5 million per project, a unique co-financing rate of maximum 80% and duration of 3 years maximum.
Four information events will be held across the EU: Brussels, Riga, Rome and Krakow in January and February 2016 to ensure that cities and relevant stakeholders are fully aware of the call. The first of these events will be held in Brussels on the 13th January 2016. You can register now!
More information about Urban Innovative Actions
