Olivia Mitchell
Question:67 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if the Government will make a response to the EU Commission's recent communication, Towards an Urban Agenda in the EU. [1206/98]
Written Answers. - EU Urban Policy.
At an EU meeting of Ministers responsible for spatial planning and regional policy held in June 1997 under the auspices of the Dutch Presidency of the EU, Ireland welcomed the EU communication entitled "Towards an Urban Agenda in the EU" in so far as it served to initiate a debate on the role which the Union can play in the area of urban policy.
The communication raises a broad range of issues impinging on many different aspects of urban development. It recognises that member states have primary responsibility for developing urban policy, but expresses the view that the EU should play a complementary role in addressing urban issues. It is the Government's intention to make additional contributions as necessary to the debate which the communication was intended to initiate in the period leading up to the urban forum which the Commission intends to hold later this year.