POLICY PAPER: ACTIVATION OF BROWNFIELDS

Business Metropole Ruhr (BMR), the regional development agency of Germany’s Ruhr region, in cooperation with the Savinja–Šalek Regional Development Agency and eleven other European partner regions, has published a strategic document on the future promotion of abandoned industrial and commercial areas in the European Union. The document, titled “Activation of Brownfields in the European Union: Creating New Opportunities through the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034,” brings together, for the first time, the shared demands and action proposals of regions facing similar challenges in reusing abandoned industrial and commercial sites.
https://www.business.ruhr/en/news/activation-of-brownfields.html

Results of the European dialogue

The published document is the result of several months of discussions, which intensified in autumn 2025 at the conference “Activation of Brownfields in Europe,” organised by BMR at the Representation of the German state of North Rhine–Westphalia (NRW) to the European Union in Brussels. There, representatives from politics, public administration, and industry discussed the first key foundations of a European land‑activation strategy. The findings were incorporated into a joint strategic document.

Key demands for the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034

The participating regions view the upcoming EU Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034) as a crucial opportunity to strengthen support for brownfield redevelopment. The document highlights four concrete demands:

1. Financing of early‑stage development as an independent component

Establishing a European financing mechanism to support the acquisition, planning, demolition, and soil remediation of brownfield sites.

2. Institutional strengthening through public development corporations

Regions advocate for structures that support municipal and regional actors in managing complex procedures and ownership issues.

3. Greater flexibility of existing EU programmes

Future funding criteria should better reflect the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of land reuse.

4. A dedicated instrument for land acquisition

To enable strategic action by local communities, land acquisition should be systematically included in EU programmes—without creating incentives for land speculation.

Broad European support

Thirteen regions are involved, including the Ruhr region, Metropolis GZM (Poland), regions in Spain, Austria, and the Czech Republic, as well as partners from France, Belgium, Greece, and Slovenia. They are united by a common goal: to safeguard degraded industrial areas and redevelop them for new economic, ecological, and spatial purposes.

The full document is available at the LINK.

Source: BMR