Outlook for the German Presidency

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the priorities of the German Presidency of the Council of the EU. Many important decisions have been taken during the current Croatian Presidency, but a lot more remains to be done to get Europe’s societies and economies back to robust growth, drawing lessons from the crisis and addressing its significant social impacts and human dimension. The territorial agenda 2030 will play an important part in this process.

The spreading of the virus has shown the interconnectedness and interdependencies between places in Europe and worldwide. Fragmented policy responses illustrate the misalignment between political and administrative delineations and the spatial impact of policies, and emphasise the need for increased cooperation and coordination across borders.

The pandemic has also had very different impacts on the various parts and regions of the European territory. The risk of new and deepening inequalities between places and between people in Europe has grown as a result of the crisis. The need for territorial cohesion, solidarity and convergence has never been more relevant. We need a Europe where all places have an equally positive future and the territorial agenda 2030 is at the heart of ensuring this.

Under the German Presidency, we want to successfully complete the renewal process of the territorial agenda 2030. We plan to hold virtual meetings of the Task Force on the Renewal of the Territorial Agenda on 1 July and, if necessary, on 19 August.

On 16 September, the Network of Territorial Cohesion Contact Points and, on 20 October, the Directors-General for Territorial Cohesion will meet in Berlin. At the moment, we plan to hold face-to-face meetings in parallel with some videoconferencing elements depending on the situation at the time; we will closely follow the process of reopening in Europe and adjust our planning accordingly.

During the German Presidency, we would like to highlight through ESPON policy papers two aspects related to crossborder spatial monitoring, to gather reliable, consolidated, analytical information on spatial developments for policy- and decision-makers and on structural transformation, with a focus on climate change and carbon neutrality but also including topics ranging from digitalisation to economical regional disparities.

The ESPON-week with meeting of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme Monitoring Committee, the Joint Working Group on the ESPON post 2020, the ESPON seminar and the ESPON Contact Points (ECP) meeting is sheduled from 16 to 20 November and we hope to be able to welcome participants to this event in Berlin.

Finally, on 1 December, ministers for territorial cohesion will convene in Leipzig to adopt the territorial agenda 2030 and kick-off several implementing actions around Europe. To accompany the territorial agenda 2030, we are working on an efficient governance structure so that the priorities of the agenda can be put into practice and applied at all administrative levels and in all sectors. ESPON with its extensive territorial knowledge and project experience will play a decisive role in ensuring the success of the territorial agenda 2030.