Final declaration of the 6th Forum of Cities and Regions of South-East Europe
SINAIA (Romania), 8-9 December 2005
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adopted on 9 December 2005
The participants at the 6th Forum of Cities and Regions of South-East Europe meeting in Sinaia on 8 and 9 December 2005 at the invitation of Prahova County Council, under the Romanian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers and at the initiative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, with the support of the Stability Pact for South-East Europe and Dexia,
1. Extend their thanks to Prahova County Council for its warm welcome;
2. Recognise that local and regional authorities in South-East Europe are to a high degree dependent on their geo-political framework and context and therefore:
a. congratulate Bulgaria and Romania on their imminent accession to the European Union;
b. welcome Croatia’s status as candidate for accession and the European Union’s recent favourable opinion on progress made in democratic reform by “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” which includes a recommendation that it be granted candidate status;
c. welcome the second round of talks on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement of the European Union with Serbia and Montenegro scheduled for December 2005, and the start of talks with Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina;
d. express the hope that relations between the European Union and Moldova will be improved in the near future;
3. a. Reaffirm the fundamental role played by local and regional authorities in South-East Europe in the promotion of democracy and stability, and therefore of economic development in the region;
b. welcome the positive developments in legislation relating to local and regional authorities that have taken place in South-East Europe in accordance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government and in particular expect that:
i. the constitutional reforms planned in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall reinforce the unity of the country, while developing local democracy;
ii. the process of decentralisation underway in “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” will contribute to stability in this country;
iii. the talks resulting from the United Nations’ decision to start discussions on Kosovo’s future status – which they welcome – will lead to a peaceful solution, acceptable to all parties concerned and fully respecting human rights;
4. Welcome, as a positive example for other countries in democratic transition, the conclusion by the Government of Romania of a set of laws on public administration reform – the result of an active partnership between the associations of local public authorities and the Ministry of Administration and the Interior and following consultation with the main opposition party. Thus, the adequate legal framework for increasing the decision-making power at local level has been established;
5. With regard to associations of local and regional authorities of South-East Europe:
a. call for their strengthening, and recommend that these associations, in consultation with their members:
i. develop their role and capacities in strengthening local authorities’ leadership, service provision, community participation and public ethics;
ii. ensure that local authorities and citizens are aware of the responsibilities of transparency and accountability incumbent upon public officials through wide distribution and knowledge of relevant international instruments such as the European Code of Conduct for Local and Regional Elected Representatives ;
iii. promote on-going self-improvement and good governance throughout local government;
iv. research, plan, implement and evaluate capacity-building programmes, collect and disseminate best practice (high-quality models and service methods exist in a number of countries and can be shared at international level, thus enabling national and local authorities to learn from each other);
v. make the best possible use of the Council of Europe’s planned Centre of Expertise on Local Government Reform, its expertise and its Capacity-Building Toolkit(s) in developing their own capacity-building programmes;
vi. and, in particular in this respect, make full use of the expertise of the European Network of Training Organisations (ENTO) and support the project of a joint seminar between the Congress and ENTO in Osijek (Croatia) in 2006;
b. with regard to the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS):
i. reiterate their backing for the newly-official network following its first General Assembly in Skopje, on 6 September 2005, and encourage it to reinforce the role of its member associations in relation to central government, improve their ability to provide services to their members and help to develop local self-government and financial and fiscal decentralisation in South-East Europe;
ii. invite NALAS members, following their active participation at the Conference on “Effective Democratic Governance at Local and Regional Level” (Zagreb, 25-26 October 2004), to work in close partnership with central government in the preparation of their respective National Work Programmes with a view to the follow-up conference in 2006;
iii. invite the network to consolidate their position by finding steadier sources of finance thereby ensuring their long-term sustainability;
iv. invite the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to continue to support the network and to allocate funding, means permitting, at this crucial time in its development;
v. invite donors active in the region to grant financial support to the priority projects defined by the Network;
vi. recognise the importance of co-operation with relevant international associations such as the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and its Black Sea Commission;
vi. invite other local government associations in South-East Europe and, in particular, the Central Union of Greek Cities and Municipalities (KEDKE) and the Union of the Association of Towns and Association of Municipalities of Croatia to seek membership of NALAS;
vii. invite local government associations in other parts of Europe – notably the Caucasus – to be inspired by the NALAS model of co-operation and seek to join forces in an attempt to give local authorities in their region a voice;
viii. Call on NALAS and the Congress to organise a conference on the situation of national minorities in Mostar in 2006;
6. Reaffirm the importance of the role of municipal banks in the strengthening of local and regional authorities’ capacity to finance local investments, and recommend that they:
a. operate on the basis of a long-lasting commitment with local governments;
b. assist in local institutional and legal development and help build a sound credit framework;
c. facilitate authorities’ access to long-term credit by raising resources on private financial markets;
d. provide local authorities with a wide range of services (long-term loans, project financing, liquidity guarantees, credit enhancement, budget planning and enhancement of management skills;
7. Emphasise the importance of giving young people, from an early age, the opportunity to influence and shape decisions, thus facilitating their social inclusion, the development of their socio-political awareness, and improving citizen participation at local and regional level in South-East Europe and recommend that:
a. the diverse needs, circumstances and aspirations of young people be taken into account by any policy or measure designed to promote youth participation, thus implementing the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People;
b. the lessons learned, at all levels, from the European Year of Citizenship through Education, be shared and fully implemented;
c. education for democratic citizenship and human rights be promoted by parliamentarians and local and regional elected representatives as one of the main tools for forming active and participative citizens and contributing to the sustainability of the Council of Europe’s project for democratic citizenship and human rights;
d. the parliaments of countries of South-East Europe sign and ratify the European Convention on the Promotion of a Transnational Long-Term Voluntary Service for Young People (ETS No. 175);
8. Affirm the importance, for true stability and democracy in the region, of developing sustainable minority communities in South-East Europe, and to this end believe that local and regional authorities should actively promote human rights and measures to counter discrimination against minorities and any population groups that may suffer from it, by:
a. promoting the development of sustainable multicultural communities through the integration of minorities;
b. not only taking account of minorities’ diverse needs and customs, cultures and lifestyles, but also using them as a springboard for co-operation;
c. encouraging initiatives enabling participation of minority communities in the political arena;
9. Recognise the sustained activities undertaken in the abovementioned fields by the Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs) both individually and as part of the network formed by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA);
10. Encourage interregional co-operation in Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and are convinced that the cities and towns of South-East Europe should work together with the whole of Europe to develop co-operation for the sake of stability and democracy;
11. Encourage associations and entities such as the Euroregions whose objective is the development of co-operation between municipalities and regions of South-East Europe to continue their work, and ask the Congress to further develop links with them and, in particular, to:
a. give its full support to the Adriatic Euroregion;
b. encourage the Romanian Chair of the Committee of Ministers to ensure that the Romanian accession to the European Union will serve as a bridge between the European Union and the countries of South-Eastern Europe and the Black Sea area, in order to promote a Europe without dividing lines as was requested by Heads of State and Government at the second Council of Europe Summit in 1997;
c. support, in this respect, the creation of the Black Sea Euroregion, which received the backing of the Romanian authorities, and contribute to the organisation of the first meeting which will take place in Constanta, Romania, in March 2006;
d. support the proposed creation of a Centre for interterritorial and transfrontier co-operation between regions in Europe – whether they are situated or not in the European Union. This centre, which has already received the support of the Russian Federation, will be a means of enhancing co-operation between regions in all priority fields of the Council of Europe and will also deal with regional economic development issues;
e. encourage the creation of a specific INTERREG programme in the Balkan and Black Sea area in synergy with the European Union regional policy and the new Neighbourhood policy.
12. Are grateful for the invitation to organise the 7th Forum of Cities and Regions of South-East Europe in Albania in 2006/2007.