The New European Bauhaus

The European Parliament adopted by 466 votes to 83, with 55 abstentions, a resolution on the new European Bauhaus.

The EU has been responding to the challenges of environmental degradation, climate change and the increasing scarcity of natural resources, which require far-reaching and ambitious political action to implement the European Green Deal, which is driving the quest for renewal and innovation within planetary boundaries. As the ‘soul’ of the European Green Deal, the new European Bauhaus (NEB) aims to address Europe’s spatial and environmental needs in a transdisciplinary, sustainable, inclusive and aesthetic way.

Parliament supports the NEB project, which aspires to create a pan-European cultural movement contributing to a smarter, more sustainable, inclusive and enjoyable living environment and promoting the development of knowledge at local and global level. The project should focus on improving the quality of people’s lives by creating healthy and affordable living spaces, rethinking the status quo and transforming the spaces, buildings, cities and territories in which they live.

Governance and criteria for the New European Bauhaus

The resolution encouraged Member States to implement the NBE in their national policies and called on the Commission to: (i) provide an integrated governance model for the NEB, based on citizens' participation and ownership, (ii) provide timely information on how to participate in the NBE, including through technical assistance for interested stakeholders and good practice.

Parliament insisted that the criteria for the selection and evaluation of projects under the new European Bauhaus should be clearly defined. In particular, these projects should meet the following criteria: (i) support the implementation of major policies such as the Green Deal and the Digital Decade, as well as environmental, industrial, social and cultural policies; (ii) be fully in line with the New European Bauhaus guiding principles of sustainability, inclusiveness and aesthetics; (iii) contribute to the creation of new jobs and business opportunities; (iv) promote accessibility and affordability; (v) promote citizen participation; (vi) involve the cultural and creative sectors, including cultural creators; and (vii) be aligned to indicators associated with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Commission is called on to further broaden the reach of the NEB by involving associated and partner countries outside the EU to take part in the initiative, including by means of a permanent dialogue on the NEB. Parliament acknowledged that the NEB has the potential to contribute to the post-war restoration of cities, societies and the economy, in particular in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Funding

Deploring the lack of clarity regarding the funding of the NEB from 2023 onwards, Members called for an amendment to the Horizon Europe regulation in the context of the mid-term review of the current multiannual financial framework to create a ‘new European Bauhaus’ programme with EUR 500 million. The Commission is invited to come forward as soon as possible with a proposal to make the NEB a new stand-alone EU programme, before the adoption of the next MFF, without burdening the funding of other under-funded programmes, in particular Creative Europe, Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. Member States are encouraged to allocate sufficient funds in line with the principles of the NEB, through their recovery and resilience plans and the European Structural and Investment Funds.

Development and priority areas

The resolution stressed that the NEB should:

- promote more sustainable, socially inclusive and innovative ways of living based on new, holistic models of planning, constructing and inhabiting our built environment, with the meaningful involvement of residents in decision-making processes;

- provide an opportunity to envision a well-designed green regeneration of public spaces with the aim of achieving decarbonisation objectives, to retrofit and repurpose obsolete buildings, to transform old industrial areas into new green urban and public spaces, and to build the relevant infrastructure to facilitate physical activity, knowledge and cultural exchanges;

- promote 15-minute cities to make all essential services and amenities accessible to citizens within walking distance and to provide innovative solutions for the development of sustainable urban areas, including sustainable mobility solutions;

- showcase affordable, socially inclusive and energy efficient buildings, and contribute to a modal shift towards public and collective transport and less polluting means of transport;

- support initiatives for the construction and renovation of affordable, quality and energy-efficient social housing;

- promote energy security and efficiency by encouraging investment and supporting low-tech, zero-emission and energy-efficient solutions and materials;

- facilitate the digital transition by improving connectivity to mitigate the digital divide.

Implementation

The report called on the Commission and Member States to connect the NEB with the renovation wave strategy. Members support the creation, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, of an NEB label based on clear criteria applied in a systematic, comprehensive and inclusive way, which determines the value of projects in terms of sustainability and from an economic, environmental and social perspective.

The Commission is called on to create a public, digital and easily accessible database of NEB projects and actions to make the results of the initiative more visible, to further develop the NEB based on best practices, including within the cultural sector, and to strengthen knowledge sharing, research and development.