EU - Mexico cooperation on regional and urban policy

The Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission and the Secretary for Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU) established a dialogue on cooperation on regional and urban policy in 2014.

The principal objectives of the dialogue are:

• to co-operate and exchange information on geographically targeted and other relevant policies contributing to growth, competitiveness, employment and to achieve better territorial balance;
• to exchange information on experiences in setting up and implementing regional and urban policies with special emphasis on ways to promote the development of disadvantaged regions and areas including urban, rural and border areas;
• to exchange views and best practices on the organization of multi-level forms of governance and on developing regional strategies.

Mexico is an important partner for the EU in the actions carried out to further this cooperation, namely:

• International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme for city-to-city cooperation on sustainable urban development and region-to-region cooperation on regional innovation
• INNOV-AL project promotes the exchange of knowledge and good practices on the definition and implementation of decentralized innovation policies and smart specialization policies at the regional level and the cooperation between the national and regional authorities of six countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico) and between these and their counterparts in the EU.
• INNOVACT project diffusing EU regional policy experience and good practices in Latin America
• to facilitate the sharing of information and lessons between European and Latin-American cross-border regions on promoting cross-border cooperation, innovation systems, clusters and competitiveness;
• to identify and develop strategies, action plans and concrete projects or programmes for the development of cross-border value chains;
• and to stimulate and contribute to a learning process based on concrete examples and best practices.
• Seven Latin Americas border areas were covered by INNOVACT, including Chile-Peru border area