Speech by Giovanni Di Stasi at the General Assembly and the 20^th anniversary of the Assembly of European Regions (Strasbourg, 24 November 2005)

Mr Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,

It is a pleasure and indeed an honour for me to address you today on the occasion of the 20^th anniversary of your Assembly – the Assembly of European Regions.

Anniversaries are always a good occasion to bring together families and friends and to mark the continuity between the past, the present and the future – to take stock of the past achievements and to reflect upon further steps. This is exactly what is happening here today – you are gathered in this hemicycle as a big family of European regions, with your friends from other organisations and bodies such as the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, which I represent together with my colleague, Mr Yavuz Mildon, President of the Chamber of Regions of our Congress, who is also here with us today.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Twenty years counting from birth is only a period of growth and formation for a human being, from childhood through adolescence to become a young adult – but it can be a period of remarkable achievements for an organisation such as your Assembly. Over the twenty years, the Assembly of European Regions has evolved to become a truly representative body bringing together 12 interregional organisations and 250 regions from 30 countries of our continent. The Assembly’s strategic goals and principles, its vision of a grassroots Europe are perfectly in line with the goals and principles of the Council of Europe and its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, and it comes as no surprise that our organisations have been actively cooperating since the foundation of the Assembly – first, in the framework of the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, then in the framework of the Congress established in 1994. This cooperation is also reflected in the fact that many AER member regions have their representatives in our Congress.

Much as your Assembly, we in the Congress strongly believe that the future of Europe lies in reinforcing local and regional democracy, fostering cross-border cooperation and dialogue between Europe’s towns and regions, and promoting regional diversity. Much as your Assembly, we recognise the regions as key partners in the European project, if we are to build a Europe at the level closest to the citizen, a more humane and inclusive Europe of fairness and social cohesion, if we are to enhance participatory democracy on our continent.

What we need today is a shift from central power towards a network of powers, including regional powers, while making sure that the transfer of competences and regionalisation processes are matched with the necessary means for regional authorities to fulfil their tasks for the benefit of our citizens. The Assembly of European Regions has been playing a very important role in this process. For our part, we in the Congress have been actively involved in boosting regionalisation processes across our continent, especially in central and eastern Europe, and in monitoring the development of regional democracy in our 46 member states.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Regions today are also taking on a growing importance as far as economic and social development is concerned. Economic cooperation – and competition – is shifting from national to inter-territorial level, making possible, and indeed necessary, the creation of Euro-regions involving regions from both EU and non-EU member states. This is why your Assembly and our Congress have been giving our full support to this process, and I am proud to announce that early next year, the first Euro-region of the new type will be launched – the Adriatic Euro-region. We will also begin preparations for the creation of the Black Sea Euro-region and, in 2007, the Baltic Sea Euro-region.

We have also been discussing the idea of establishing a Council of Europe Centre for interregional and cross-border cooperation in order to encourage the development of local and regional self-government and give an opportunity to promote and strengthen cooperation between regions in Europe on the subjects of competence of the Council of Europe and in the sphere of economy. We are aiming to launch this Centre, to be located in Russia, under the Russian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers between May and November 2006. I am sure that this project will have full support of the Assembly of European Regions, and will serve as yet another example of our cooperation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I said at the outset, anniversaries are a good occasion to look back at the past and reflect upon the future. As we are shaping today the future of European democracy, let us remember the words of Hans Mommsen, distinguished Professor of Contemporary History who wrote just before the Assembly of European Regions was founded 20 years ago: “The nation died, long live the region”. The past 20 years your Assembly has been working to make this vision a reality, and as we all join in the celebrations of this anniversary, I should like to congratulate you on the excellent work already accomplished, and to wish you every success in the years to come. I have no doubt that the Assembly of European Regions and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will remain key partners in empowering the regions and promoting regional self-government, and that we have many joint projects ahead of us.

On behalf of the Congress, I wish you a very Happy Birthday. Long live the region!

Thank you.