Mayors and President of the Regions from all EU Member States adopted the “Copenhagen Declaration”. The Declaration expresses the political will of European cities and regions to achieve a sustainable urban development. Moreover, cities and regions called upon the European Union to share its best practices.

The “Copenhagen Declaration” now adopted by Mayors and Presidents of regions from all EU Member States states the political will of European cities and regions to make sustainable urban development a key focus at the Rio+20 Earth Summit to take place on 20-22 June 2012. The Declaration was signed during the celebration of the European Summit of Regions and Cities that took place in Copenhagen on 22-23 March.

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) members adopted the "Copenhagen Declaration" in order to set out clear goals for European cities: striving for climate-neutrality, social inclusiveness, higher investment in human capital, education and health, physical infrastructure and new technologies, as well as better integration into their surroundings. The Declaration points out the need to strengthen the role of cities and regions in piloting European policies, such as integrated strategies for sustainable regional development and a carbon-free economy.

Mercedes Bresso, President of the CoR, also underlined the need to urgently put in a place a European framework for public services that aims at creating legal certainty while guaranteeing local autonomy and security, especially in these times of economic crisis. In addition, Mayors and Presidents of regions called upon the EU to ensure adequate financial support for a cross-cutting urban policy and for European policies to give greater priority to territorial cooperation between European cities.