Planning at the heart of Europe: takeaways from the PlanningMatters Directors Meeting

On 11 and 12 June 2026, representatives from planning agencies and urban networks across Europe gathered in Brussels for the first PlanningMatters Directors & Senior Managers Meeting, hosted by Perspective. Over two days, members met with EU institutions and exchanged on the shared challenges of urban planning today.

EU policy is increasingly shaping local land-use decisions, even though spatial planning remains a national or regional competence. Two key European topics dominated the agenda:

• The next EU budget (2028–2034) proposes to merge cohesion, agriculture and migration policies into a single national plan, with no guaranteed funding for urban development. MEP Marcos Ros Sempere explained that the European Parliament is calling for earmarked fundings for sustainable urban development, housing and territorial cohesion.
• The European Affordable Housing Plan, presented by Matthew Baldwin, Head of the European Commission's Housing Task Force, rests on four pillars: boosting supply, mobilizing investment, driving reforms and protecting those most affected. The Commission invited PlanningMatters members to join the new European Housing Alliance, to contribute to the housing simplification package (open until 30 September) and to submit projects to the Better Home Partnership (open until 21 August).

Participants also identified a set of common planning challenges across their cities and metropolitan areas 

• Growing pressure to deliver permits faster, and find the right balance to avoid that simplification becomes deregulation and creates more uncertainty for economic actors and citizens  
• Competing EU objectives in the same limited urban space: housing, industry, nature
• The growing role of AI in planning practice, with the proposal to create a dedicated working group within PlanningMatters to share experiences and explore EU funding opportunities

The participants were enthusiastic about the added value of this first PlanningMatters Directors & Senior Managers Meeting. Next meeting will be hosted by FNAU (French Federation of urban planning agencies) in Paris in 2027.