The partnerships of the Urban Agenda work together to identify and solve EU regulatory issues at the city-level. The Circular Economy partership has made use of public consultations to sumbit these issues.

The Urban Agenda for the EU consists of multiple thematic partnerships. These partnerships
represent a new type of multi-level working method between Member States, cities,
the European Commission and other stakeholders.

One of the objectives of these partnerships is to identify unnecessary obstacles in EU policy and EU regulation at city level. For example, the Circular Economy Partnership has taken stock of several issues regarding EU policy and regulation that impede or slow down the promotion of the circular economy in cities. One of these issues is that the current EU regulatory framework governing the ESI-funds 2014-2020 does not explicitly and comprehensively support the circular economy. The Partnership considers that a clear reference to and focus on the circular economy at city level in the regulatory framework of the ESI-funds is necessary to boost investment in the circular economy in European cities.

Providing input during a consultation

The members of the Partnership were made aware of an upcoming consultation set up by
the European Commission concerning the ESI-funds. The goal of this consultation was to
collect input that feeds back into the preparation of a new Commission proposal regarding
the ESI-funds for the post-2020 period. The Partnership, therefore, decided to use this
feedback opportunity and draft a position paper based on the collected practical experiences
of the members of the Partnership.

Success!

The general position paper is noticed by the European Commission, which invited the Circular
Economy Partnership to provide more detailed input regarding their city-level experiences and
proposals for the new ESI-funds regulatory framework post-2020. A more detailed position
paper was drafted by the Partnership, which called for mainstreaming the circular economy,
especially at the city level, in EU Cohesion policy and ESIF funds by including more detailed
and distinct references in the specific eligibility fields of ESI-funds to the circular economy.
The final Commission proposal for the post-2020 ESI-funds regulatory framework included
several policy objectives in which explicit references are made to the circular economy.