Cities have a critical role to play in driving transition to effective policy planning that takes due account of the population diversity and its benefits. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has been actively supporting the process of migrants’ economic integration in European cities and regions, having recently adopted Resolution 358(2013) and Recommendation 343(2013) on promoting migrant entrepreneurship in European municipalities, as well as Resolution 362(2013) and Recommendation 347(2013) on migrants’ access to regional labour markets. It is encouraging to see that the DELI project is now taking on the challenges outlined in our recommendations.
I support the fundamental message that runs right through the DELI approach to policy planning: no single department, no single agency, no single organisation will be successful in achieving effective integration of migrants and in creating an entrepreneurial city open to all. It is therefore essential that the different departments (integration, social affairs, procurement, economic development) work together to support DELI and similar initiatives, and that they purposely and explicitly agree to engage in joint action planning in this field.