The future of the European Urban policy and the role of metropolitan areas and cities was on the spotlight in Milan on 2-3 February. Seven Metropolitan areas (Milan, Barcelona, Porto, Gdansk, Bari, Riga and Zagreb), in partnership with ALDA – the European Association for Local Democracy, gathered together in Milan to debate, exchange and propose a common position on the importance of the cohesion policy and, more particularly, of the urban agenda.

The event, launched on the initiative of Carmelo Pacente, President of the Commission for International affairs, post Expo and European policies of the City of Milan was an occasion of dialogue between urban areas representatives and the European Commission, represented by Nicola De Michelis, Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu. “Ensuring the continuation of the urban policy and its corresponding funding in the framework of the MFF and after 2020 is key to deliver essential services to citizens” was the message the delegations brought to De Michelis.

The meeting took place in the framework of the kick-off of the project MEANING – Metropolitan European in Active Network, Including Novelties in Governance. The two-year project co-funded by the Europe for Citizens programme aims to build a thematic network of European metropolitan cities in order to exchange knowledge, experience and good practice about their management and role in the future of European governance, by focusing on the participation of citizens in these processes. The consortium, led by the metropolitan city of Milan, has the ambition of promoting new tools to promote citizens’ participation in the policy making process at the metropolitan level.