As the European Budget Conference opened yesterday, 20 May, ICLEI Europe joined forces with fellow Local Alliance networks - ACR+, CEMR, Climate Alliance, Energy Cities, Eurocities, FEDARENE, and POLIS - to call on the European Commission to realign the EU’s budget with the real needs and untapped potential of Europe’s cities and regions.
With three jointly developed position papers, the Local Alliance presents a unified message: the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) must be a bold and effective tool to build a democratic, just, climate-neutral, secure, and competitive Europe.
This requires more than policy, it requires strategic investment that is designed with and empowers every community and territory to help achieve shared European goals.
This call comes at a critical time. In her keynote speech at the conference this morning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen affirmed:
"Local authorities must be deeply involved in designing reforms and investments because every territory has its own specific needs. Some need to invest more in education and skills, others in energy grids. Some need to do more to manage their water. Others need to manage their external borders. Every territory has a unique set of circumstances and knows best how to address them. So, we need to listen to our regions – instead of having a single recipe for all. For this reason, the new budget will be built on a new structure. It will be centred on ‘national and regional partnerships for investments and reforms."
Ursula von der Leyen's recognition of the role of local and regional governments is an important step in the right direction as cities and regions are already shaping the enabling conditions for industry through planning, infrastructure, housing, education, and more.
For instance, in 2023, they were responsible for nearly two-thirds of the total increase in public investment across the EU, focused on critical sectors such as energy, social affairs, and transport. Cities also implement 70% of the European Green Deal legislation and EU's subnational governments account for 69% of climate related public expenditure.
Yet, the current structure of the EU budget does not fully reflect their role or support their potential.
To unlock this potential and strengthen the EU’s strategic delivery capacity, the Local Alliance calls for three urgent reforms:
- Embed multilevel governance across the EU budget: coordinated action between the EU, national, regional, intermediate (e.g., provinces), and local governments must become a foundational principle.
- Ensure local and regional governments are central to the new EU Competitiveness Fund: they must be explicitly recognised as key partners and beneficiaries. Without them, the link between industrial ambition and practical delivery is at risk.
- Co-design EU investment-linked reforms with all levels of government.
As President von der Leyen noted:
“The next EU budget is the engine that turns our priorities into action and the backbone of our Union. Our budget of tomorrow must balance long-term priorities with emergencies. It must deliver where it matters—efficiently, with impact, and fast.”
As discussions around the next Multiannual Financial Framework move forward, now is the time to ensure that Europe’s budget delivers for its regions, cities, rural areas, and all people.
In a powerful joint op-ed published today in Sustainable Views, local leaders - including Andreas Wolter (Mayor of Cologne), Kai Mykkänen (Mayor of City of Espoo), Vlasta Krmelj (Mayor of Selnica ob Dravi), Jakub Mazur (1st Deputy Mayor of Wrocław), Mohamed Ridouani (Mayor of Leuven), Senna Maatoug (Alderman in Utrecht), and Gunn Marit Helgesen (President of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities) shared their message, read more here.