Across Europe, our cities are collaborating to urgently learn from each other’s responses and deal with the crisis in the most effective way.
But city leaders are also calling for European solidarity and strong collaboration between all levels of government to combat not only the short, but also long term, impacts of this emergency.
With the right tools, city governments can further support people and local economies in the current crisis. These could include:
- Rapid access for cities to existing EU funding resources, including the Solidarity Fund, to support SMEs and vulnerable people, as well as direct and efficient access to any additional resources made available, such as the Corona Response Investment Initiative (CRII).
- Continuously reducing European fiscal policy barriers to facilitate cities’ long-term investments. In addition, the network calls on the EU to directly support cities by suspending mortgage payments on European Investment Bank loans for 2020.
- Working with cities as an integral component of the EU’s recovery plan to fully assess the impact of the crisis at local level as well as the urgent policy and funding needs across all sectors – social, cultural, digital, economic, environmental and mobility