Informal Ministerial Meeting is the traditional format of political discussion between EU Member States and high-level representatives of the EU institutions.

Cohesion policy makes an important contribution to growth and creation of jobs in Europe, so it is important to ensure and maintain the stability of the cohesion policy’s long-term investments.

At the meeting on 9 June it is planned to discuss the issues such as implementation of reformed cohesion policy in practice, a wider use of financial instruments of cohesion policy and strengthening the administrative capacity.

On 10 June for the first time at political level the ministers will have an opportunity to discuss EU Urban Agenda, reaching the agreement on its basic elements. The aim of the informal ministerial meeting is to approve the declaration on EU Urban Agenda, prepared by the Latvian Presidency. The Declaration identifies the key elements and principles that should be taken into account in future work on development of the EU Urban Agenda under the next EU Presidencies. The declaration recognises that small and medium-sized towns have a substantial role in the context of overall regional development, which is a specific priority of the Latvian Presidency.