The European Pillar of Social Rights stipulates that everyone has the right to easy-to-use and affordable key services, including water, sanitation, energy, transport, financial services and digital communications. The first-ever European Commission’s "Access to Essential Services in the EU" report published in June 2023 indicated that people at risk of social exclusion and disadvantaged groups face particular challenges. Local and Regional administrations are in many cases at the forefront of delivering key public services.

In collaboration with the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the two-day seminar in Budapest aimed to explore the ways service delivery can be efficiently managed in lagging regions and regions which face particular development challenges. The second day of the seminar was dedicated to exploring the first major outcomes of the ESPON 2030 Programme’s research activities.

Highlights:

The key note speaker Greta Nasi (Bocconi University) emphasized the notion of value production. Traditionally, value in service delivery is seen from a perspective of having the service delivered in logistical terms (the service operates and is accessible). However, from public service logic, the service delivery process should focus on the value generated for citizens (perceived quality), not on cost containment or organizational efficiency. This entails that it is essential (I) Identify the activities with the highest added value for the user (II) Coordinate a network of public-private actors (III) Share information. Greta’s speech was an important reminder of importance of not being lost in the debate, which in many ways is driven by the analysis on accessibility.

The OECD research (2024) “Getting to Services in Towns and Villages” presented by Ana Moreno looked at the interaction between geography and access to services. The study, for instance, concluded that towns and villages located farther from cities tend to provide more services than similar-sized settlements closer to cities, as residents near cities often access services in the city itself rather than in their smaller suburban locations.

Zoltán Polyánszky on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency provided a concise overview on the current government's approach in addressing service delivery. The Catching-up Settlements Programme (Felzárkózó Települések Program, known as FeTe programme), was presented as one example, it is a large-scale programme to address social issues in marginalized rural settlements and communities situated in lagging regions of the country. It has proved to be an effective instrument thus far, for instance, the component of the FeTe programme, called Health Development Program – Telemedicine for the Most Deprived Settlements won the REGIOSTARS 2024 award of the European Commission in the category of Social and Inclusive Europe.

Patrizia Sulis from the Joint Research Centre presented a fresh reminder that even big and developed cities have challenges in delivering services within the city’s inner boundaries. The examples of Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam show that notable spatial discrepancy exists (based on grid analysis) between the location of elderly friendly amenities and where the higher share of older adults resides in the cities.

The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the ESPON Programme used the occasion to present results of a joint pan-European study (ESPON DESIRE) which showcased innovative examples on service delivery from local and regional administrations all across Europe. Based on the examples of Spain (Presented by Mar Ortega, chief coordinator of the ESPON DESIRE project) with regard to providing health care services in remote areas, participants learnt that the nature of rural services are different from the nature of urban services. It is not about quantities (e.g. number of hospitals) but qualities (e.g. how to provide emergency service for the inhabitants by the time they can be delivered to the nearest hospital). This approach has at least three major components: 

• People providing services in remote areas have to have a wider spectrum of knowledge to make the preliminary diagnosis and transport the clients to the most appropriate specialised hospitals.
• Due to the scarcity of public services, bottom up service provision has a higher importance in remote areas thus community service provision should be supported.
• As local services might be provided by different (public, private) actors, local authorities have a crucial role to make the coordination between these actors.   

Some national experience were brought in to supplement the finding of the ESPON DESIRE project. The Austrian example presented by Paul Hofstatter called attention to the need of defining the level of minimum services that has to be available in all locations. This is what is happening currently in Austria with the elaboration of a state of the art report on local services in the areas of health care, elderly care, transport, sports and local food supply. Case by case negotiations are needed with the regions to coordinate the sectors territorially. 

The Latvian example of merging the municipalities in 2022 (presented by Anita Livija Rozenvalde) emphasized the importance of flexibility in service provision and the challenge of efficiency versus the personalised approach that inhabitants are expecting.

Ivan Tosics summarized the outcomes of the seminar by providing  key takeaways:

• The quality of public services matter a lot in decisions of people whether to move, where to live. Essential services are interconnected. Without electricity no other services can function properly.

• It is important to judge pubic services not only from market point of view: to close down an uneconomic pharmacy in a village might have dramatic consequences.

• HOWEVER, service provision alone does not counteract negative demographic trends. Overall, access to city matters more for population growth than services locally provided. Transport connectivity to regional centers can help promote access to everyone.

• Equal services for all is not a realistic goal, equitable services or minimum service levels are the realistic approaches. Places are different and also the needs of people are different.

• Public services is a very complex topic, demographic trends cannot be reversed just by providing public services, improving of internet connections and speed or remote working.

• How can the EU set up a policy towards public services? The goals should be clearly defined and strategic framework should be offered within which national, regional and local governments can develop their strategies. The EU has to ensure that the subnational level gets substantial role in this process.

• Governments have to segment the needs, based on the helicopter view the governments have. Example: 40-65 year old residents want better public transport, while 18-25 year old ones better biking infrastructure. How to balance between these? Clear priorities are needed from the side of the government and honest communication – showing that not all needs can be satisfied.

• The Hungarian state will set up a national territorial minimum regarding essential services – this is an important step in the new territorial development policy. Territorial policies should be capable to cut through administrative borders and follow how people use the space, where they work, shop.

Photos day 1 (6 November)

Photos day 2 (7 November)