European Cities for Sustainable Public Finances - CSPF

A leap towards transparency, accountability and sustainability of public finances

European Cities for Sustainable Public Finances – CSPF – is a European reference group in local public financial management that unites the Chief Executive Officers/Chief Financial Officers and Finance Managers of the Cities of Amsterdam (NL), Barcelona (ES), Bordeaux (FR), Hamburg (DE), the City of London Corporation (UK) and Trondheim (NO) in order to

• Create a space for the exchange of experience and knowledge sharing on economic and financial local government topics
• Improve the comparability of financial data among European cities
• Enhance the quality, effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of public sector management.

This initiative is managed by KDZ and supported through active participation and partnership by the European Commission – Eurostat.

Presentation of the European CSPF Group to KDZ’s Scientific Advisory Group
23 November 2020

Robert Blöschl, Local Financial Management Expert at KDZ, presented the mission, objectives and approach of CSPF and its Financial Health Template with its 10 KPIs to KDZ’s Advisory Group.

CSPF’s financial health teamplate and KPIs presented at the smart, interactive talk of the PULSAR programme
11 November 2020

Alexander Heichlinger, Co-founder and Chair of CSPF, and Emanuele Padovani, External Key Expert and Associate Professor of Public Management and Accounting at the University of Bologna, presented the European CSPF Group at a webinar on “Interpretation of financial information and the use of performance indicators in the public sector” given by the Public Sector Accounting and Reporting (PULSAR) program organised by Worldbank.  (For more information, please see the announcement of the event.)

Closing address/lecture in the Master of Public Management and Innovation (PMI) of the Bologna Business School
18 July 2020

Alexander Heichlinger, Co-founder and Chair of CSPF, presented the CSPF network during a lecture of the Master of Public Management and Innovation (PMI), which targets leaders of the regional and local administrations of the Italian Region Emilia Romagna.

Mission

CSPF aims at creating a joint space for the exchange of experience and knowledge sharing in the field of economic and financial local government topics. It is a forum for thinking together and improving the comparability of financial data among European cities and for enhancing the quality, effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of public sector management.

CSPF unites larger European cities that build on the core values of the respective organisations and that strive towards a different way of doing politics – politics that are committed to quality management, sustainability, liquidity and resilience of public sector finances as guarantors of Europe’s economic competitiveness, its social policies and thus ultimately the wellbeing of its citizens.

Objectives

• To create real and practical dialogue about cutting-edge issues
• To advocate sound financial management, transparency and sustainability in European cities
• To maintain a strong link with and support of European policy formulation through showcasing strong local European experiences
• To contribute to European capacity building (knowledge transfer), i.e. regarding the EPSAS project of Eurostat.

The city members meet twice per year in one of the partner cities. Through practical presentations and discussions, the involvement of key thought leaders and a challenge-based approach (“Please help sessions“) a balanced mix of external input and peer learning is ensured. The success of the approach relies on building personal relationships among community members and developing an active passionate group. To this end, prior to each meeting, the city members are (often) asked to prepare specific inputs to facilitate discussions and the exchange. Joint lessons learned are captured and shared among the members and participants at the end of each meeting.

The uniqueness of this collaboration consists in the fact that fiscal and financial management issues are discussed for the first time from a cross-border perspective at city level. It is a timely initiative as public sector financial practices are still fragmented within Europe and its individual countries.

CSPF comprises the CEOs, CFOs and Finance Managers of the Cities of Amsterdam (NL), Barcelona (ES), Bordeaux (FR), Hamburg (DE), the City of London Corporation (UK) and Trondheim (NO).

It is managed by KDZ, which also accompanies and supports the group with its experts.

For a brief overview of the member cities, have a look at the "CSPF Chairpersons & City Members" and the “City Facts”.

European Cities for Sustainable Public Finances (CSPF) was officially launched under the auspices of KDZ on 26 June 2020. It brings together the CEOs, CFOs and Finance Managers of the Cities of Amsterdam (NL), Barcelona (ES), Bordeaux (FR), Hamburg (DE), the City of London Corporation (UK) and Trondheim (NO).

Moreover, as European reference group in local public financial management, it counts on the active participation of the European Commission – Eurostat.

CSPF is the successor of the so-called European City Economic and Financial Governance (CEFG) Group, which was created in 2014 by the City of Barcelona and the European Institute of Public Administration, Barcelona (EIPA Barcelona), as well as five further major European cities to discuss fiscal and financial management issues from a cross-border perspective at city level. Proven results and successes of the group led to various group extensions and a wealth of outputs and insights produced.