Session of the French-Palestinian cooperation

Paris, 3-4 December 2007

Speech of Jean-Claude Frécon, Vice President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Monsieur le Président,

Excellences,

Mesdames et Messieurs,

First of all, let me tell you how delighted I am to be here today and to address this audience, in which I see and welcome many partners of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe which I represent – many partners in our cooperation and joint action in the Middle East. I speak about our colleagues from the Network of Decentralised Cooperation in the Middle East, Cités Unies France, the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities – which, together with the Union of Local Authorities in Israel, has an observer status with the Congress. But I also think about the Municipal Alliance for Peace in the Middle East, or the Arab Towns Organisation, with which we closely cooperate.

Over the recent years, the Council of Europe Congress, which represents today more than 200,000 territorial communities from 47 European countries, has gained a great deal of experience dealing with the issues related to the Middle East. The Congress has been associated with many peace initiatives put forward by local authorities and their networks, such as, for example, the Municipalities for Peace in the Middle East (MAP) or the Network for Decentralised Cooperation in the Middle East, which I have already mentioned, much as the fact that both the Union of Local Authorities in Israel (ULAI) and the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) have observer status with the Congress, making it possible to develop tripartite cooperation for the sake of peace. As Israeli and Palestinian local authorities often have trouble meeting on the spot, organisations such as MAP, the Network for Decentralised Cooperation or Cités Unies France, together with the Council of Europe Congress, provide for them a forum for discussions and a platform for launching trilateral cooperation projects.

The Congress also observed two rounds of local elections in the Palestinian Territories in 2005 – indeed, I had the privilege to be the Head of Observation Mission for the second phase of elections and prepared a report on the subject.

The Congress’ Chamber of Local Authorities organised, in November last year, a round table to discuss ways of bringing European and Middle Eastern municipalities together for joint action. Together with the Arab Towns Organisation, we are currently preparing a Euro-Arab Cities Forum, to be held in February 2008 in Dubai, under the theme “New dialogue for development”. I could also mention our current work on City Diplomacy, which reflects the growing role of cities as full-fledged actors on the international scene.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We in the Congress strongly believe that, having secured, to a large extent, democratic and peaceful development on our continent, we must see it as our task and duty to share our experience and spread the democratic values beyond Europe, first and foremost to our immediate neighbours on the southern rim of the Mediterranean, including the Middle East. And, of course, it is clear that democracy is only effective when it begins at the grassroots level, at the level of territorial communities, both local and regional. And it will only be effective if we succeed in establishing a genuine dialogue within our multiethnic, multilinguistic and multicultural communities – a dialogue of cultures, a dialogue of religions.

This conference has highlighted once again the need for more assertive action to foster and maintain dialogue within our communities – a dialogue which naturally begins at grassroots level, in our cities and regions. This is why the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has made the promotion of intercultural and interreligious dialogue at local and regional level one of its top priorities, which takes on a particular importance in the Middle East.

For us, dialogue is not just an instrument in the service of joint action, for it is already a value in its own right.  It provides an opportunity not only to open up to others, but also to listen and to make suggestions, on the basis of solidarity and collective activity. Thus others become partners in a structured dialogue intended to deepen mutual understanding and knowledge, showing respect for different views and for various beliefs and convictions.

It is in this spirit that the Congress organised, in November 2006 in Montchanin, France, a colloquy on the role of local authorities in promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogue. The colloquy adopted in particular twelve principles for local authorities, aimed at improving knowledge and understanding of the local religious situation, promoting understanding between participants in the dialogue, establishing partnerships, and evaluating the effectiveness of the measures taken. These twelve principles form part of the Congress’ contribution to the Council of Europe’s White Paper on intercultural dialogue.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year we are celebrating fifty years of local democracy in Europe. The European Conference of Local Authorities, established by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, held its first session in January 1957. Since then, territorial democracy has been constantly on the rise on our continent. The fall of Communist regimes paved the way for pan-European unification, bringing under one roof 47 European democracies. As the European integration process goes forward and the administrative borders are disappearing, we are witnessing a shift of power from national to interterritorial level in political, economic and social fields. With this shift in the national/local balance, the role of the Congress is also increasing, opening new opportunities for its action in favour of local and regional democracy.

We would like to share our experience with our neighbours, to inspire similar action to ensure that local democracy, without which there is no democracy at all, is thriving on the southern rim of the Mediterranean, including the Middle East, for the benefit of our citizens and for the sake of peace. We have already mounted some joint activities but we must go further, and we must go together building up partnerships with our sister organisations. This is another reason why I appreciate so much to be able to address this conference, in the hope that it will boost our cooperation and increase it even further.

Thank you very much.