CoR Mission Statement sets priorities for next 15 years and beyond
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is celebrating
its 15th anniversary during the April Plenary session, and the occasion will be
marked by the launch of its Mission Statement, which outlines the role of the
CoR, its values and its aspirations.
"After 15 years on the European stage, it is time for the Committee of the
Regions to take stock of its achievements and to set out its stall for the next
15 years and beyond. The Mission Statement does just that, explaining in clear
and simple language what the CoR does and how it does it. It is a 'calling card'
for the CoR, a statement of our intent and a declaration of our hopes and
expectations. Like any teenager, we are asserting our independence but
also emphasising our maturity. We are now ready to assume new responsibilities
as the EU assembly of regional and local representatives," said CoR President
Luc Van den Brande.
The Mission Statement also reflects the CoR's ambition for the future. With
the Lisbon treaty, once it comes into force, the European Union will have taken
on board nearly all the institutional requests made by the CoR over the last 15
years. The treaty will give a greater role to the Committee of the Regions, in
particular by strengthening its political and institutional profile and its
relations with the European parliament, and the European Commission and by
giving the CoR new powers to defend subsidiarity, with the right to go to the
European Court of Justice in cases where the Committee believes the principle is
not being properly respected.
"The CoR has come a long way since it was created by the Treaty of Maastricht
in 1992. It has lived through three different treaties – Maastricht, Amsterdam
and Nice – and three successive enlargements that have taken the EU from 12 to
27 members. Each enlargement has brought not only new members to the CoR but
also new experiences, approaches and ideas, while the various treaties have
continuously strengthened the role of the CoR by installing it as a political
assembly of democratically elected representatives, giving it a say in an
increasing number of policy areas and granting it more autonomy. Today's
CoR is very different than the consultative body envisaged by EU leaders in
Maastricht. "Our Mission Statement describes a body that is fit for a Europe of
the 21st century, built on cooperation between each level of government,
connected with the daily life of the citizens, based on the principles of
subsidiarity and proportionality, and on a shared commitment to economic and
territorial cohesion," said President Van den Brande.
Among the other events celebrating the 15th anniversary taking place during
the Plenary session will be video presentation of the CoR's past achievements
featuring interviews with many of it presidents, showing how the young
institution has evolved over the years.
The full text of the Mission Statement can be found here.
For more information, please contact:
Athénais Cazalis de Fondouce
+32 0)2 282 24 47
+32 (0)2 282 20 85
Christopher Jones
+32 0)2 546 87 51
+32 (0)2 282 20 85
The social impact of the crisis and the EU's
Eastern partnership project will be at the heart of CoR's April Plenary Session
Looking ahead to the European Council on the EU's Eastern partnership initiative and the Ministerial meeting on employment organised by the Czech Presidency - both taking place in Prague on 7 May - members of the Committee of the Regions will adopt their position on how regional and local authorities should be integrated in these European strategies. CoR President Luc Van den Brande will take part in the European Council meeting and present the position taken by the Committee. Moreover, the CoR celebrates its 15th birthday during the Plenary Session on 21 April, with the launch of its new Mission Statement, a declaration of intent for the next 15 years and beyond.
Luc Van den Brande will host a press conference on Tuesday 21 April, 14.30-15.00, in the European Parliament press conference room (PHS 0 A 050).
Happy Birthday CoR!
The April Plenary Session will mark the 15th anniversary of the Committee of the Regions, which first met in March 1994, after its creation by the Treaty of Maastricht. The celebrations will include a video presentation of the history of the CoR, including interviews with the CoR's former presidents, showing how it has grown through three different treaties and three successive waves of enlargement. Looking ahead to the next 15 years and beyond, President Luc Van den Brande will present the CoR's new Mission Statement which defines the work of the Committee, how it operates and what it achieves, as well as setting out its priorities and aspirations.
The CoR's commitment to the European election campaign will be seen in action during the Plenary session. On 21 April the CoR will host its 4th Communication Forum, bringing together representatives of the European institutions, journalists and editors from across Europe to discuss how citizens can be made aware of the upcoming European elections. The centre-piece of the Forum will be a political debate on 21 April from 9.30 to 10.15am featuring the heads of the main European political parties in the CoR and four CoR members who are standing in the European elections.
Two weeks ago, the CoR launched its own European election website containing useful information about how local and regional representatives can get involved in the election campaign. The site features 27 national pages with information tailored to each Member State, including video messages from 50 regional and local politicians across the EU calling on citizens to cast their vote for Europe in June 2009.
The social impact of the financial crisis: protecting citizens, boosting the economy
As the financial crisis begins to hit the real economy and to weaken the job market, the CoR's April Plenary Session will focus on how local and regional authorities can play their part in tackling the social effects of the current crisis. The various draft opinions will form part of the Committee of the Regions' message to the meeting of current and future EU presidency holders with the social partners, planned for 7 May in Prague, which will discuss employment issues in relation to the crisis.
The link between economic prosperity and social policy – specifically how social policy can suffer in times of economic recession and what must be done to minimise these negative social consequences – is highlighted in the draft opinion of Veikko Kumpumaki, member of Lapland Regional Council (FI/PES), on "The Renewed Social Agenda: Opportunities, Access and Solidarity in the 21st Century."
The direct impact of the crisis on regions is particularly visible in one specific sector of the economy – tourism. The knock-on effects for the many regions whose economies rely heavily on visitors, and the necessary measures to counteract them, will be debated in the draft outlook opinion on "The correlation between the labour market and regional needs in the area of tourism" by Konstantinos Tatsis, President of the Enlarged Prefectural Authority of Dramas-Kavalas-Xanthis (EL/EPP).
In two major lead opinions looking at the main European tools to fight the crisis, the CoR sets out its positions and proposals on how to promote recovery as swiftly as possible. The draft opinion on the "European economic recovery plan and the role of local and regional authorities" by Dietmar Brockes, member of the North Rhine Westphalia Landtag (DE/ALDE), underlines the vital importance of making sure that European money destined for the regional and local level is not delayed by excessive red tape. It also calls on the European Commission to be more flexible in interpreting the rule-book on regional state aid in order to allow support for regions at high risk of job losses. Uno Silberg, chairman of Kose Municipal Council (EE/EA-UEN), in his draft opinion on the "European Globalisation Adjustment Fund" agrees that measures to help workers who have lost their jobs as a result of globalisation need to be implemented more rapidly at the local level, and that the fund itself needs to be made more flexible in order to respond to the current crisis.
Eastern partnership and the Baltic Sea: the CoR takes up a position before the Council of Ministers
This plenary session will also be an opportunity for the CoR to take a firm political stance on the prospects offered by the EU to its eastern neighbours. With the adoption of two opinions, one on the Eastern partnership and the other on the strategy for the Baltic Sea, European local and regional authorities will encourage their institutional partners to adopt a mutually supportive, practical approach to their relations with the countries on the EU's eastern flank. For the CoR the adoption of these opinions primarily marks the launch of a series of political meetings in 2009.
The Czech presidency of the EU asked the CoR to issue an opinion on the Eastern partnership before the European summit on this subject on 7 May in Prague, to be attended by Luc Van den Brande. Speaking on behalf of the Committee of the Regions, the chair of the Commission for External Relations, Istvan Sertö-Radics, mayor of Uszka (ALDE/HU), supports stronger political dialogue between the EU and its eastern neighbours, which will be beneficial for EU regions on this border. However, the Committee is primarily concerned about the challenges arising from the various forms of social and territorial development in these countries, which used to be centralised in structure. European local and regional elected representatives want European solidarity to take the form of strong support for administrative capacity building in these countries, so that the European funds distributed for economic and social development can be used effectively. To achieve this, they will consider the European Commission's call for a joint, permanent platform of European and eastern local elected representatives. The conclusions of the meeting held on 27 May with the Association of the local democracy agencies (ALDA), which has been working for the past decade in the countries of the Eastern partnership, will feed into the Committee's position, as will the debates during the seminar to take place on 3 June at the invitation of Frantisek Knapik, mayor of Kosice (Slovakia), and during the Eastern partnership forum proposed by the CoR for 16-17 June.
In anticipation of the Swedish presidency of the EU and a European Commission communication on this subject, the CoR will also present its priorities in connection with the New strategy for the Baltic Sea. In this opinion, Uno Aldegren, president of the regional council of Skåne (PES/SE) and of the Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC), welcomes the measures to achieve further synergies between internal policies in this region, but hopes that the CoR's involvement will help ensure that infra-national cooperation, praised on several occasions by the Commission, is accorded a more important role. Although the Baltic Sea strategy is aimed at Member States in the region and is focused on territorial development, Russia is an important factor in the successful implementation of this new macro-regional approach. Dialogue must therefore be initiated with Russia so that tangible projects in the fields of transport, the environment, etc. may be set up to the benefit of both parties, providing real added value for citizens.
The opinions discussed by CoR members are summarised below:
Energy, transport and sustainable
development
Jean-Louis Joseph, mayor of Bastidonne (FR/PES), in his draft opinion on The energy performance of buildings and the second strategic energy review, regrets that the energy efficiency proposals outlined by the European Commission do not include any specific measures for industry despite the sector's high levels of energy consumption, and urges the European Commission to bring forward transport efficiency proposals in parallel with the Energy Efficiency Package. He also calls on the Member States to avoid any repeat of the implementation delays which occurred with the first version of this directive.
In his draft opinion on the Action plan on urban mobility, Sir Albert Bore, member of Birmingham City Council (UK/PES), welcomes the European Parliament's adoption of an own-initiative report and supports its proposal to establish a European financial instrument to co-finance urban travel plans and investment in urban mobility that meets the EU’s environmental and socio-economic objectives.
Local and regional authorities face up to the economic and social impact of the financial crisis
In his draft opinion on the Renewed social agenda: opportunities, access and solidarity in 21st century Europe, Veikko Kumpumäki (FI/PES), member of Lapland Regional Council, welcomes the Commission's undertaking to ensure that competition rules facilitate the development of good quality and universally accessible social services. He also stresses that systematic attention must be paid to the social effects of EU policies and points to the role and potential of social dialogue at European level in preparing initiatives and their implementation under the renewed social agenda. He believes that voluntary cooperation between Member States must be developed based on the social policy needs of each Member States, which in practice are better understood by the local and regional tiers of government.
Dietmar Brockes, member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Landtag (DE/ALDE), emphasises in his draft opinion on The economic recovery plan and the role of local and regional authorities that the EU Member States must act as a Community in this crisis and cannot relapse into nationalistic and protectionist behaviour, and supports the European Commission's approach of providing the massive support needed for economic recovery both by seeking to boost purchasing power and through measures in the key areas of the Lisbon Strategy (competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and social cohesion). However, economic recovery measures must be applied throughout the EU in line with the subsidiarity principle, and only if procedures are simplified significantly can infrastructure projects be implemented and paid for quickly using structural funds.
In his draft opinion on Establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, Chairman of Kose Municipal Council Uno Silberg (EE/UEN-EA) is concerned that, in the light of the global economic and financial crisis, the outermost regions and the economically weaker regions and countries (particularly in Eastern Europe) are not able to meet the conditions for access to the EGF, particularly the requirement for co-financing of 50%, and that use of the EGF will further increase disparities between the centre and the periphery, and suggests therefore that the EGF co-financing rate be raised to at least 85%.
In his opinion on The correlation between the labour market and regional needs in the area of tourism, President of the Enlarged Prefectural Authority of Dramas-Kavalas-Xanthis Konstantinos Tatsis (EL/EPP), notes that tourism is a key source of wealth creation for many regional economies, but that to date, the Community dimension has not been similarly visible, hence welcomes the emergence of tourism as an item for discussion on the EU agenda and work programme. This becomes the more important as the current crisis is particularly hitting the tourism sector and weakens the economy of regions strongly depending on it. The opinion also advocates to strike the right balance between developing business activity and exploiting the natural environment, and to support entrepreneurship in this sector, on account of the social dimension of tourism in the sphere of employment and social and regional cohesion.
Relations with third countries at the eastern border of the EU
In his draft opinion on Local authorities: actors for development, Christophe Rouillon, Mayor of Coulaines (FR/PES), reiterates that cooperation by local and regional authorities is the local dimension of a global strategy of solidarity between the rich and the poor regions of our planet. Noting the Commission's support for the CoR's proposal that a mechanism be established to promote the exchange of information, the CoR proposes to establish and organise this "stock exchange" in the form of an Internet portal, which would in a way be an extension of the annual decentralised cooperation conferences by virtual means.
In preparation for the Swedish presidency of the EU in the second half of the year, Uno Aldegren, president of Skåne regional council (SE/PES), stresses in his opinion on The role of local and regional authorities within the new Baltic Sea strategy that the Baltic Sea Strategy must involve Russia and Norway in all stages from preparation to implementation and be integrated with the Northern Dimension. Furthermore, additional impetus should be given to the objective to develop the Baltic Sea region into Europe’s maritime best practice region as claimed by several Baltic Sea organisations.
István Sértő-Radics, Mayor of Uszka (HU/ALDE), proposes in his draft opinion on The role of local and regional authorities within the Eastern partnership that CoR members should support the Commission's call for the establishment of an Eastern Europe and South Caucasus Local and Regional Assembly as the institutional platform for dialogue and cooperation between local and regional authorities from the EU and Eastern partnership countries.
Cultural, scientific and technological cooperation
In his draft opinion on A strategic European Framework for international science and technology cooperation", Jyrki Myllyvirta, Mayor of Lahti (FI/EPP), emphasises the major importance of cities and regions in developing innovative environments :their policies have a substantial impact both on establishing the European Research Area in terms of the mobility of scientists and as centres of development for research infrastructure. The European Commission and Member States should take the necessary measures to ensure that local and regional authorities are fully and effectively involved in managing ERA-related initiatives.
The importance of the MEDIA Mundus programme lies in the fact that it will help to strengthen the competitiveness of the European audiovisual sector in international markets, while enhancing, at the same time, Europe's cultural and political role in the world. In his draft opinion on the Proposal for a decision on the establishment of the MEDIA Mundus Programme, Ioannis Sgouros (EL/ PSE) stresses the importance of focusing on the communication strategy of the programme, using local and regional authorities for its promotion as far as possible.
Veronica Ionită, Mayor of Gorgota (RO/EPP), in her draft opinion on Interoperability solutions for European public administrations (ISA), considers that local and regional authorities should not be regarded only as users of pan-European eServices, but also as major providers of services in the context of the Commission proposal.
Improving consumer rights and patient safety
In his draft opinion on Consumer Rights, Wolfgang Gibowski (DE/EPP) disputes whether full harmonisation on a broad scale – as proposed by the European Commission - is consistent with the basic tenets of subsidiarity, and rejects it on the grounds that Member States may thereby have to sacrifice particular consumer protection provisions in the name of standardisation, even where these have proved effective in the country concerned. He believes that full harmonisation should be considered selectively, i.e. in specific technical cases only, where the different national provisions in place up to now are genuinely and demonstrably placing a burden on cross-border businesses.
President of the Lazio Region, Piero Marrazzo (IT/PES) points out in his draft opinion on Patient Safety that patient safety is an area where
European cooperation can add particular value to the actions of the Member
States. He underlines that this Communication and the accompanying proposal for
a Council Recommendation, aims to put in place an integrated approach to patient
safety, offering the potential to maximise the scope for cooperation and mutual
support in this area across the EU as a whole, but should include a better
definition of the role of local and regional authorities, in line with the role
these play within the national arrangements for health services.