Commissioner Piebalgs calls for a Development cooperation «chapter » in the Covenant of Mayors

by Alix on 12 April 2011 / 120 visites

The integrated approach of the Covenant of Mayors has “more than paid off” and this successful model should be emulated to allow for decentralised cooperation between Covenant signatories and cities or regions in developing countries. This message was brought forward by European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs at the occasion of the second edition of the European “Assises of decentralised cooperation for development”, held on 29 and 30 March 2011 in the Committee of the Regions in Brussels.

Commissioner Piebalgs recalled the importance of translating global and national frameworks into concrete actions on the ground.

Identifying decentralised cooperation as one of its key priorities, he cited the example of the Covenant of Mayors, launched in 2008, at the time he was in charge of the Energy portfolio. Mr Piebalgs praised the success of the initiative, where involved cities not only adopt commitments beyond EU objectives, but go “even further by accepting accountability and transparency for their actions”. “I would like to propose that we build on this success with a new chapter in the Covenant of Mayors,” said the Commissioner, adding that doing this would respond to the recent request by President Barroso to extend the bottom-up Covenant approach to other areas of activities.

Photo credit: European Parliament