Tilman Buchholz on… the German EU Presidency and the New Leipzig Charter

“The New Leipzig Charter emphasises the role of local authorities to safeguard the common good and to balance public and private interests in urban development.”

Another major achievement is that the New Leipzig Charter emphasises the role of local authorities to safeguard the common good and to balance public and private interests. The Charter also clearly addresses what cities need to be able to cope with all the future challenges they face – they need framework conditions on the national and on the European scale.

What is also important is that the Charter is deeply embedded in the long-term European urban development process, namely the Urban Agenda for the EU. The Implementation Document states that the principles of the New Leipzig Charter shall guide the next phase of the Urban Agenda for the EU. The Urban Agenda for the EU will also be one of the main vehicles to implement the messages of the Charter at a European scale.

What are your hopes for the German Presidency’s legacy at the national and the EU level regarding the promotion of just, green and productive cities?

At the national level in Germany we will use the New Leipzig Charter as the framework to further develop the National Urban Development Policy – an initiative that was established after the adoption of the Leipzig Charter 2007 and that works as the main strategy to promote integrated urban development approaches in Germany. Following the guiding principles of the New Leipzig Charter, the National Urban Development Policy in Germany is currently focusing on “urban resilience” to answer the long-term challenges related to the pandemic. This work is also closely linked to the three dimensions of European cities as described in the Charter.

In general we hope that the clear political message of the New Leipzig Charter to establish or strengthen national urban policies will be heard in the Member States and that more Member States are encouraged to work in that direction. To promote this idea, a regular exchange on national urban development policies should be organised in the framework of the UDG and DGUM meetings – the Slovene Presidency has just started this exercise.

The establishment of a permanent and dedicated Secretariat for Urban Matters in the framework of the European Urban Initiative that supports the intergovernmental cooperation could be very helpful in that respect. Regular monitoring/evaluation of the implementation of the New Leipzig Charter can also be used to follow this important angle of the Charter.

“At the European level, we strive to continue developing a powerful Urban Agenda that is guided by the notion of just, green and productive cities.”

At the European level, we strive to continue developing a powerful Urban Agenda that is guided by the notion of just, green and productive cities. We are confident that the New Leipzig Charter will influence the next phase of the Urban Agenda, which will be agreed at the Informal Ministerial meeting under the Slovene Presidency. The principles of good urban governance laid down in the Charter could be used as cross-cutting issues and considered in the work of the future partnerships or other delivery modes of the Urban Agenda.

The three cities dimension of the Charter will be reflected in the future URBACT programming period. Finally, the Charter can also serve as a strategic reference for the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy. In Germany,  we are emphasizing the New Leipzig Charter’s principles in the Partnership Agreement that works as the framework document for Cohesion Policy at the national level for the new funding period.