Press Releases

State Secretary Finz at the EU Conference on Urban Development in Maribor

Today, State Secretary for Finance Alfred Finz participated as representative of the Austrian EU Presidency in the Conference on Urban Development on “Acquis URBAN: From Vision to Action” in Maribor, Slovenia. The conference, which was organised by the German-Austrian URBAN Network and the cities of Graz and Maribor, was directed EU-wide at practitioners of urban policy and planning. State Secretary Finz and, among others, EU Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Ivan Zagar, Slovenian Minister for Regional Policy, took part in the talks on the urban dimension to structural funds over the period 2007-2013.

During his introductory statement, State Secretary Finz emphasised the awareness in all Member States of the importance of urban issues in relation to strategic aims at EU level: “On the one hand, regarding the strengthening and further development of cities and urban conurbations as ‘growth drivers’ and attractive places in which to live and work; and, on the other, regarding greater focus by policy-makers on specific urban problems.”

“Increasingly, cities and urban regions, with their issues and players, must be acknowledged and taken into account as important dimensions of all EU policy. This is not only the view of the Commission and the European Parliament, but also the stance adopted by the 25 Member States in the Council”, stated Finz. “However, EU Structural Funds can only make a contribution towards a successful urban policy; they are not the sole ‘miracle subsidy cure’ to solve existing problems in cities. The cohesion policy offers Member States a number of additional new options, which must be adapted to each geographical and institutional context and implemented as and where required in regions and cities. The options include financial support, incentives for policy innovation and networking of knowledge and experience”, said the State Secretary.

To round off, Finz stressed that the official negotiations on the EU cohesion policy 2007-2013 had still not been wound up, but the Austrian Presidency was nevertheless confident of being able to conclude the ‘Structural Funds’ dossier through constructive cooperation on a partnership basis with the European Parliament and the European Commission.