EU and international affairs

City Alliance on Short Term Rentals

Many metropolises in Europe are faced with the problem that the permanent letting of apartments as holiday lets limits the availability of housing, especially in areas of the city popular with tourists. This is one of the causes of the explosive increase in rents there and also for the displacement of lower income households. On 1 May 2014, Berlin responded by introducing a ban on misuse of (residential) buildings. Under the new law, anyone who permanently withdraws apartments from the rental market by offering them for short-term lets can expect to receive substantial fines. Other European cities are dealing with this problem in other ways. But it is becoming increasingly important to find joint solutions on a European level.

Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Krakow, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Valencia and Vienna, as well as the EUROCITIES Network, have therefore joined together to form a so-called City Alliance on Short Term Rentals. Within the alliance, cities exchange information about how the participating cities are dealing with short-term lets. In several meetings with one of the competent EU Directorate Generals (DG GROW), the City Alliance has also drawn attention to the problems that arise in relation to the short-term letting of apartments. The Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing represents Berlin in the City Alliance on Short Term Rentals.

EUROCITIES

With over 140 cities in more than 30 countries, EUROCITIES is Europe’s largest city network. Established in 1986, the objective of the interest grouping of large European cities is to strengthen municipal influence in the European decision-making processes and to support cross-border cooperation between the cities on a practical level. Berlin has been a member of EUROCITIES since the mid-1990s.

EUROCITIES is organised in forums and working groups, which cover the various focal topics of the cities’ policies. Representatives of the cities meet annually in changing locations in Europe, to discuss joint concerns and interests in the six forums for culture, economic development, environment, knowledge society, mobility and social affairs and to exchange experiences. All the forums also have working groups on special topics, which meet several times a year and work on specific issues. The Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing is involved in the "Barrier-free city for all” and "Housing” working groups.

EUPOS

In 2002, Eastern and Central European institutes and administrations, under the leadership of the State of Berlin, established the EUPOS Steering Committee. The aim was to develop satellite positioning services in the Eastern and Central European member states, to provide correction signals for global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), to increase civilian use in the member countries. After setting up the services, the focus is on ensuring high quality and the exchange of experiences between the members. The administration members of EUPOS provide users in the member countries with precise correction data. Quality management measures are agreed for the provision of the correction data.

EUPOS currently has 16 full members, two associate members and one observing member. The Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing of the State of Berlin is a full member. The EUPOS chair is currently held by the Slovakian partner administration and the Chairman is the Headmaster of the Geodetic Controls Division, Geodetic and Cartographic Institute of Bratislava. The members meet annually for a council and technical meeting, to exchange experiences. The information is made available to the public on the EUPOS ® website.

URBAN Network

The German-Austrian Urban Network supports German and Austrian cities in implementing integrated urban development measures financed by the EU Structural funds. To this end, the network organises exchange of experiences, provides information and support for urban development measures, prepares the results and helps with the information and PR work of the cities and with the political sensitisation. The exchange focuses on current urban development policy challenges. These change with the needs of the members. They currently include, for example, the upgrading of disadvantaged neighbourhoods, neighbourhood energy concepts, digitalisation and the integration of immigrants.

Berlin – represented by the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing – is one of the 11 German member cities of this network, which also has two Austrian cities as members.

Scandria®Allianz

After many years of successful transnational cooperation between the regions along the Scandria®Corridor, based on Interreg projects, this approach is now to be stabilised by the Scandria®Alliance. The objective is long-term cooperation in a mutually beneficial network spanning topics and levels. The founding members are the regions of Örebro (Sweden), Skane (Denmark), Helsinki-Uusimaa (Finland), the regional association of East Norway, the City of Turku and the Capital Region of Berlin-Brandenburg. In particular, the aim is to promote regional development through innovative cross-border transport and logistics solutions and to ensure the exchange of experiences. The joint projects are intended to improve the quality of multimodal transport connections between Scandinavia and South-Eastern Europe through sustainable development of the affected and adjacent regions. The alliance therefore makes a decisive contribution to the networking of the Capital region Berlin-Brandenburg in Europe and promotes territorial cohesion.

City Twinning

The State of Berlin maintains partnerships with the following 17 cities around the world: Brussels, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, Paris, Peking, Prague, Tashkent, Tokyo, Warsaw and Windhoek.