As negotiations intensify over the the next seven-year EU budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework, Europe’s cities are striking while the iron is hot: if Europe wants to deliver, it must invest in cities.
This was the message city leaders brought to Brussels during two days of high-level meetings and political exchanges. In discussions with the European Commission, they addressed the overall design of the next EU budget. They also met MEPs from across political groups to share their position on key EU laws, from cohesion funding to competitiveness, where cities’ role and access to funding must be secured.
One significant moment was the exchange with Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice President for Cohesion and Reforms. City leaders welcomed his commitment to protect the core principles of cohesion policy while modernising it, his recognition that cities are indispensable partners, and his willingness to keep working closely with local leaders as negotiations move forward.
At the same time, city leaders were frank about the risks they see ahead, and about what must change if Europe’s next budget is to work for people on the ground.
Modernise cohesion policy and keep its strong principles
Fitto underlined that the European Commission is seeking to adapt cohesion policy to new challenges.
“We can show the importance and the results of cohesion policy,” he said. “But we have to modernise it because we will have new needs.”
Fitto pointed to the recent mid term review, which allowed around €35 billion to be redirected towards priorities such as competitiveness, defence capabilities, energy, housing and water – proof, he argued, that cohesion policy can evolve while remaining true to its purpose.
“The goal is to modernise cohesion policy, and that is indeed the right goal,” Fitto said. “But to keep the perspective, the objective, and the principles of cohesion policy. For me, it is fundamental.”
That reassurance matters. Under the Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 EU budget, most cohesion funding would be channelled through National and Regional Partnership Plans, designed and led by national governments, with the involvement of regional authorities. Without safeguards, cities fear being reduced to implementers of decisions taken elsewhere.
From Tallinn, Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik warned that when cities are not clearly recognised in EU rules, tensions between national and local levels grow.
“If cities are mentioned separately and clearly in EU documents, it helps avoid competition between the state level and the municipal level,” he said. “That would be in the interest of our people.”
Cities deliver Europe’s priorities, yet risk being sidelined
For city leaders, the issue is about whether Europe’s priorities can be delivered.
“Cities are where Europe becomes real,” said Matthias De Clercq, Mayor of Ghent. “We deliver on climate transition, social policy, mobility, housing, and much more.”
We fear that cities will become implementers of plans they did not help design. The experience of the recovery facility shows that it does not work well.
Across the EU, 75% of citizens live in urban areas, and cities are where most climate action, social investment and economic innovation happen. Yet under the current budget proposal, there is no mandatory urban chapter and no guaranteed share of funding for cities.
De Clercq warned that this creates a real risk of repeating the mistakes seen under the EU’s resilience and recovery funding.
“We fear that cities will become implementers of plans they did not help design,” he said. “The experience of the recovery facility shows that it does not work well.”
This concern is echoed by other cities facing different political realities, but similar risks.
“The Commission should be empowered to reject a national plan if cities and regions are not consulted properly,” said Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca.
Cities build momentum at the European Parliament
Cities are also engaging the European Parliament, where key decisions on the 7 year EU budget will be taken.
That momentum is already visible in the Parliament’s draft report on the budget’s future National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRRPs). Eurocities and its partners in the Local Alliance have backed the draft report as an important step toward a more place-based, accountable and effective EU budget.
The report supports stronger multilevel governance, dedicated regional and territorial chapters, and funding for sustainable urban development, which are all key safeguards to ensure cities can help shape EU investment priorities.
During the discussions in Brussels, city leaders discussed directly with MEPs from across political groups how they can help turn cities’ concerns into clear safeguards in EU law, from cohesion funding to competitiveness and innovation.
Across political groups, MEPs signalled support for strengthening the role of cities. Karlo Ressler, co rapporteur on the National and Regional Partnership Plans, indicated that the Parliament’s work is moving towards stronger safeguards for cities, including urban earmarking and better local and national government working together. Carla Tavares, co rapporteur on the overall EU budget, highlighted that the Parliament’s newly adopted report reinforces the role of local authorities and gives the Parliament a stronger mandate in the negotiations ahead. For Marcos Ros Sempere, co-rapporteur for the future European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the task ahead is to strengthen cohesion policy’s content, governance and ambition so it can better respond to today’s realities. This direction was echoed by the other co-rapporteur on the overall EU budget Siegfried Mureșan, who underlined that cities must be recognised not only as implementers of the budget, but as political actors in its governance – a message reinforced by MEPs such as Fabienne Keller and Gordan Bosanac, drawing on their own experience of city leadership.
What cities are asking for, and why it matters
Eurocities and its members have been clear and consistent about what is needed to make the next 7 year EU budget work for people on the ground.
As André Sobczak, Secretary General of Eurocities, put it: “If we wait until the very end to say that cities need to be involved, it might already be too late.”
For Eurocities, the issue is how national plans are prepared and whether local and national government work together from the start.
Sobczak warned that several national governments have already begun drafting their plans, some in cooperation with cities, others without meaningful local involvement.
“That’s why we think it would be very useful to have recommendations or guidelines quite quickly,” he said, “to make clear that if you start working on national plans, you need to involve cities from the beginning.”
At the heart of cities’ demands are three practical safeguards:
- A mandatory urban chapter in every national plan, so cities help design priorities instead of being consulted too late.
- A minimum earmarking for urban development, protecting cities’ access to funding.
- A dedicated EU funding line for cities, to turn the European Agenda for Cities into action on the ground.
These asks are rooted in experience and in what cities across Europe are already facing.
Why cities need the tools to invest
In Lodz, Mayor Hanna Zdanowska described how access to EU funding can depend entirely on relations with national governments.
“When there is a different government and they don’t want to respect our needs, we can’t do anything,” she said. “That’s why it’s so important for us to have more independence in accessing European funds.”
This is not only about cities’ own interests. It is about what is good for Europe. Climate action, clean energy, sustainable mobility.
Riga is home to roughly one third of Latvia’s population, yet produces 75% of the country’s GDP, explains Viesturs Kleinbergs, Mayor of Riga.
Riga’s challenge is metropolitan: bringing people into the city for work, investing in public transport, and building green, safe streets. But national priorities do not always align with urban needs.
For Kleinbergs, the conclusion is obvious: without a minimum share of EU funding reserved for urban investment, cities cannot plan or deliver at scale.
“That’s why I stand for urban earmarking,” he stresses.
Cities insist that this debate is about Europe’s overall performance. As Mervi Katainen from Espoo put it: “This is not only about cities’ own interests,” she said. “It is about what is good for Europe. Climate action, clean energy, sustainable mobility. Most of this happens in cities.”
Many city leaders question whether the next EU budget will preserve the principle that budget governance should remain close to the level where implementation happens. For the Mayor of Warsaw, this matters beyond the EU budget itself: if that principle is weakened at EU level, it risks sending a negative signal to national governments too.
This is also why MEP Ros was clear that cities must be recognised as more than beneficiaries of EU funds.
“They are key delivery actors,” he says, which makes local and national government working together, respect for the partnership principle, and a real voice for cities essential elements of the next budget.
For cities facing political tension with national governments, this recognition determines whether EU policy remains accessible and responsive to people’s needs.
Budapest: protecting cities when national politics fail
The risks of over centralised funding were illustrated most starkly when discussing the example of Budapest.
Benedek Jávor, speaking for Budapest pointed to two missing safeguards: first, mandatory and meaningful consultation with cities before national plans are approved; and second, a mechanism to ensure that when EU funds are suspended at national level, cities are not automatically cut off.
“Cities have, in most cases, nothing to do with non compliance,” he said. “They should still have access to these funds.”
The exchange revealed a shared diagnosis: cities should not be excluded from the design stage. The solution lies in designing plans together from the start.
The success of cities will be the success of Europe
Vice President Fitto repeatedly acknowledged the arguments and the reality cities face.
“For me, it is impossible to imagine a new plan for the future without the local authorities,” he said. “We will sit together, working closely in this direction.”
He also pointed to the European Agenda for Cities as a crucial political tool to strengthen cities’ role, while being clear that key budget decisions, including overall amounts, still lie ahead.
Many of the challenges of Europe will be solved, or not, in cities. The success of the cities will be the success of Europe.
“The negotiations on the next EU budget are ongoing, with many aspects relevant for cities still being discussed,” Raffaele Fitto said. “We are ready to listen to all stakeholders in a constructive spirit, with the shared objective of delivering the best possible outcomes for our cities, territories and the citizens who live in them.”
Cities are taking him at his word. As negotiations move forward, they are organised, aligned and ready to deliver. What they need now is for political intent to translate into clear rules in the next EU budget.
Themis Christophidou, Director General for Regional and Urban Policy, reinforced the message that cities are not just beneficiaries, but the motor of Europe’s development.
“Many of the challenges of Europe will be solved, or not, in cities,” she said. “The success of the cities will be the success of Europe.”
The coming months will determine not only how much money is available, but also what kind of budget Europe wants: one in which cities are treated as partners in design and governance, or one in which they are left as implementers by default.
A budget that empowers cities is a budget that delivers. Europe, the choice is yours.
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Photo credits: EC Audiovisual service, Photographer: Xavier Lejeune
