In January 2025, 20 years after officially joining the European Union, Poland inaugurated a new cycle of the Presidency of the Council of the EU. During the six-month mandate, Poland is hosting 300 official meetings across 24 Polish cities. One of the focal points on the agenda is European cohesion and socio-economic development – both of which implicate European cities, regions and territories.
Poland has committed to implementing priorities around the topic of security, not only referring to external security but also relating to economic, information, energy, food security, and so on. Let’s look closer at (urban) cooperation during the 2025 Polish Presidency, and specifically, where Poland is angling to leverage involvement in EU cooperation programmes, like URBACT, and events over the next few months.
The call for territorial cohesion
URBACT spoke to Wiktoria Saganowska, Deputy Director of the Strategy Department in Poland’s Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy to understand the specific priorities when it comes to cohesion policy and urban matters. For the Polish Presidency, supporting sustainable urban development, especially in functional areas and fostering dialogue among EU Member States is critical considering the EU financial perspective and the ongoing social, economic and security challenges:
 | « The importance of urban areas in EU goals is increasing with each financial period. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the importance of cities in European development and formulated this in the mission letter to the executive vice-president for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaelle Fitto. The Polish EU Presidency supports this direction and encourages EU urban stakeholders to perceive cities and towns within functional urban areas.» Wiktoria Saganowska, Deputy Director in Strategy Department of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Poland. |
In recent months, the future of EU Cohesion policy post 2027 has been a point of discussion among EU and regional policymakers. A 2024 INTERREG public consultation generated compelling results and insights on this.
In this context, Poland seeks to substantially reference the conclusions from several key documents from recent years, from the conclusions on Cohesion Policy and its future, through to the Letta and Draghi reports in 2024 and the most recent Communication from the European Commission, “A Competitiveness Compass for the EU” in early 2025.
According to the official programme, the urban dimension of EU cohesion should also be taken into account. “At the current stage, Poland is in favour of further support for sustainable urban development”, says Wiktoria. “We also hope to discuss support for sustainable urban development beyond the European Regional Development Fund and have well-coordinated treatment of urban development issues in different EU policies and programmes,” she continued. In January, Polish and EU officials expressed their intention to work with cities and regions towards a strong renewed Cohesion Policy post 2027 during a conference in Krakow (PL).
Looking at the agenda from now until June 2025, there will be a series of expert-led meetings on a number of topics, to name a few, the monitoring and coordination of the Urban Agenda of the EU and the implementation of Thematic Partnerships, and discussions on the main urban Presidency theme “Supporting Sustainable Urban Development. Moreover, the Presidency will help prepare recommendations for EU territorial cohesion, given that the review of the EU 2030 Territorial Agenda coincides with the six-month mandate. Krakow will host the EU Cities Forum, 17-19 June, organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Urban Initiative. It is set to gather input from urban stakeholders on the EU’s future policy agenda for cities.
There are also expectations around the 2025 URBACT City Festival, which will bring over 600 city practitioners from across Europe to the Polish city of Wrocław.
| « The URBACT City Festival will be a great opportunity to show innovative solutions and good practices from European cities, including Polish cities. Our expectation is to have an interesting debate, share knowledge and learn about new trends on how to make our cities better. We believe that this debate and a broad presentation of the URBACT acquis could be a very valuable contribution to the discussion on the future of urban development in Europe, especially on the urban dimension of cohesion policy.» Wiktoria Saganowska, Deputy Director in Strategy Department of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Poland. |
Leveraging cooperation with Polish cities
Clearly, the Polish Presidency is making European cohesion a priority for broader policy discourse and decision-making. Another ambition of the Presidency is to maximise opportunities for exchanging experiences and transferring innovative practices between Polish and other European cities and regions.
Poland has a rich experience with INTERREG programmes, including URBACT. At a glance, Polish partners have been involved in 3 700 cooperation projects over the past 25 years. Since 2002, 132 Polish towns and cities have benefitted from URBACT’s participatory method for resolving complex challenges.
It has even been piloting an ‘URBACT-style programme’ since 2016.
| « The positive experience of URBACT cooperation that we have observed over the years has inspired us to implement a similar model of cooperation at the national level in the form of Cities Partnership Initiative, which we have been implementing with Polish cities for almost 7 years. For some cities, like Malbork, participation in this national project was a good entry door to taking part in URBACT networks.» Wiktoria Saganowska, Deputy Director in Strategy Department of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Poland. |
Poland’s dedication to promoting sustainable urban development is reflected in receiving seven of the 116 newly selected URBACT Good Practices labels. Wrocław, the host city of the URBACT City Festival holds three of them, which will be on display during the three-day event, covering urban farming, microgrants and cultural rehabilitation of abandoned urban spaces. Lublin and Ostrów Wielkopolski also feature in the Good Practice selection.
While the Presidency semester is an opportunity to showcase the benefits Poland has gained from European cooperation, they are keenly aware of the need to continue supporting cooperation with the wider European community, particularly Ukraine.
| « From the perspective of Polish Presidency, it is important that the URBACT City Festival will bring not only Polish and other EU cities together, but also cities from Ukraine as well as Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and North Macedonia who are eligible for URBACT support since 2023. We support the activities which can help to rebuild Ukrainian cities and to overcome difficulties.» Wiktoria Saganowska, Deputy Director in Strategy Department of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Poland. |
Continuing the cycle of cooperation
Our world is full of uncertainties, so achieving strong European cooperation and unity is an important goal. Poland’s push for local, place-based socio-economic development is an approach to combating insecurities and risks across European regions and territories. Nevertheless, this work will not end with the conclusion of the Polish Presidency in June 2025. Poland is part of a trio of countries in the 2025-2026 EU Presidency cycle, along with Denmark and Cyprus. Cities, regions and EU bodies need to continue to work together to achieve a robust renewed EU Cohesion policy in the future.
We will keep an eye on the Polish Presidency-led discussions on urban-related issues and EU Cohesion. Read this article to get an idea of how urban matters have been treated by the EU Presidency in recent years.
Stay updated on the Polish Presidency programme and event agenda.
Don’t miss the URBACT City Festival on 8-10 April in Wrocław – register now! You can also take a look here at the full programme. Whether you’re a long-standing member of the URBACT community or a first-time attendee, the City Festival in Wrocław offers an exceptional chance to connect, learn and inspire change across European cities.
