Riga, 30 November 2020 - From 30 November to 1 December 2020 Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Artūrs Toms Plešs participates in the online meeting of the Council of Ministers responsible for Urban Development and Territorial Cohesion, which is scheduled to approve the renewed Leipzig Charter * and the EU Territorial Development 2030 agenda.
The Leipzig Charter is needed to provide targeted and coordinated support to EU cities, while promoting balanced territorial development with the potential available in the territories is covered by the Territorial Agenda. . These are the main instruments of political settings at intergovernmental level, which are used to justify the necessary support mechanisms for territorial and urban development at EU level, including the legislative initiative s.
VARAM Parliamentary Secretary Artūrs Toms Plešs: “Latvia has ensured active participation in the drafting of both the Leipzig Charter and its implementing document, including the involvement of regional and local partners, and is grateful that a number of Latvian proposals are included in the final versions of the documents, thereby ensuring that the document is consistent with the interests of Latvia. The Leipzig Charter highlights three dimensions: a fair, green and productive city s. Common implementation of these dimensions can ensure sustainable urban development by addressing social, economic and environmental challenges to ensure a high quality of life for all EU citizens. Latvia supports the introduction of the Leipzig Charter and considers that many aspects are already being implemented within the framework of national regional policy in 2021-2027 m. The settings included will allow more efficient implementation of the support measures planned by Latvia to boost urban growth, and will encourage closer interaction between cities and rural areas. "
Latvia has already provided significant support for urban development (at least 8% of the potentially available support for territorial development), while choosing to redirect support not only to urbanised centres, but also by providing support to cities and their functional areas. . The Leipzig Charter supports Latvia's planned support for promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in cities, applying smart solutions to services, promoting mobility, achieving climate neutrality objectives, developing a high-quality public area, particularly by emphasising the need to cooperate with the various stakeholders, and by providing coordinated support measures between sectoral policies for more targeted support, which, in turn, to grow faster cities I.
Ministers plan to approve the EU's 2030 Agenda for Territorial Development on the second day – 1 December, dedicated to territorial development issues. . The Latvian delegation intends to support the Territorial Development Agenda, indicating that the settings included therein are important for promoting balanced territorial development in Latvia. In particular, the settings aimed at promoting balanced territorial development through territorial diversity and local potential should be welcomed. U. The document also aims to promote sustainable economic and social development by providing local territory and international reach while at the same time contributing to climate neutrality objectives, including sustainable mobility and the trans-European transport network.
Latvia's regional policy largely already includes and implements, as well as plans to implement a series of EU Territorial Development Agenda settings and priorities for 2030 in the next seven years. . In the future, it is important to ensure the practical implementation of the texts adopted so that they do not remain at the level of political settings. In this context, discussions at intergovernmental level should be continued in search of the most efficient implementation models, while at the same time bringing forward the processes related to the implementation of the Leipzig Charter and the 2030 Agenda for Territorial Development, as urban growth is not seen in isolation from the overall territorial development issue. m.
The Latvian delegation is chaired by the ministry's parliamentary secretary, Artūrs Toms Plešs. The meeting was initially scheduled to be held in Leipzig, Germany, but in view of the situation with COVID-19 spread, the meeting is in a remote format.
* The Leipzig Charter is the most important instrument of intergovernmental political settings on urban development. . It is a strategic framework for integrated, sustainable and sustainable urban development, which will be used as a basis for setting up the necessary EU-level support mechanisms for urban development, including by developing a specific legislative initiative s.
Information:
Public Relations Department
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Tel. 20200305; 67026533,
e-mail: prese@varam.gov.lv