The Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, joined his voice at the meeting in Warsaw with mayors from across Europe who called for strengthening the role of cities in managing European funds and selecting the projects to which they are allocated.

The Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, stated: “Athens is transforming to address promptly and effectively all the challenges faced by modern metropolises today: overtourism, the climate crisis, and social inclusion. Cities with a human face are a fundamental demand of our time. Such a governance proposal not only aims to ensure social peace but also seeks common solutions to contemporary problems. This commitment serves as a compass for us to continue implementing our program.”

As part of the 14th Dialogue of Mayors of European Capitals and the European Commission, a declaration was signed by 23 cities for safe, resilient, and prepared European urban areas during times of crises.

Key points of the Declaration:

• It is crucial to ensure adequate funding for cities and metropolitan areas, both within and outside the cohesion policy framework.
• The creation of a special funding instrument for metropolises, amounting to at least 10% of the resources from structural funds, is proposed. This instrument could support sectors such as urban green transitions, sustainable urban mobility, entrepreneurship, infrastructure, and social inclusion.
• Regional authorities must retain their ability to plan and manage grants for their areas.
• EU legislation should fully recognize urban/metropolitan authorities as responsible for programming funds and selecting projects. These authorities should also participate in negotiations for operational programs with the European Commission, especially regarding grants based on development strategies (e.g., ITI).

The Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, in his speech on “What is the Role of Cities in Strengthening the EU’s Political Preparedness and Readiness,” presented Athens’ transformation initiatives.

For example, the Mayor of Athens mentioned: “We are the first municipality in Greece and one of the few in Europe that has eliminated municipal taxes for energy-vulnerable families, single-parent families, large families, and people with disabilities. Additionally, we have achieved our annual goal of 5,000 tree plantings in Athens. Furthermore, we are investing in new technologies and artificial intelligence to upgrade civil protection. Finally, in collaboration with the University of Piraeus and with the participation of 788 citizens and 18 institutional bodies, we developed the Sustainable Tourism Capacity Study, which gave us the answer to how many tourists our city can sustainably accommodate.”

Among the meetings he held in Warsaw with other mayors, he met with the mayors of Paris, Anne Hidalgo; Copenhagen, Lars Weiss; Brussels, Philippe Close; and Helsinki, Juhana Vartiainen.