Speech by Giovanni Di Stasi at the International Seminar of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (Florence, 28 November 2005)

Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,

Just a few days ago, I had the privilege of addressing the Assembly of European Regions celebrating its 20th anniversary. I quoted then the distinguished Professor of contemporary history Hans Mommsen, who said some 20 years ago: “The nation died, long live the region.” Twenty years on, his words and his vision still ring true as we are witnessing today a clear shift of power – both political and economic – from the center towards the level closest to the citizen – the regions and municipalities.

This is why I strongly believe that the idea of holding this international seminar, organised by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies, was both timely and wise. We need to take stock of regional democracy on our continent, and we need to identify common objectives of its development as we embark on the overall reflection on the future of European democracy – an evolving democratic model which would lead us to a more humane and inclusive Europe, a Europe of citizens, a Europe of social cohesion.

As I welcome you today to this seminar, I would like to stress that our Congress has been actively supporting the Conference of Legislative Regional Assemblies, seeing in it as an equivalent of our own Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly – but at the regional level. In the Wider Europe of today, following the fall of totalitarian regimes which paved the way for pan-European integration, we need to bring together all the stake-holders of European future – national governments and parliaments, the private sector, civil society, and, of course, local and regional authorities. What we need today is the transformation of central power into a network of powers which would ensure interaction between all levels of governement – supranational, national, regional and local.

Among all the models of regional self-government, we in the Congress consider the regions with lesiglsative power to be the strongest model, which is why we believe that our Congress and your Conference of Legislative Regional Assemblies will remain key partners in shaping the future of regional democracy in Europe, involving both member and non-member countries of the European Union. A good example of this cooperaion is the fact that the Congress brought a very representative delegation from the Russian Federation to this seminar, which – we hope – will help to establish good working relations between the subjects of the Russian Federation and other European regions.

Another good example of our cooperation in promoting regional self-government is our project to foster Euro-regions of a new type – the Euro-regions combining the regions of both EU and non-EU countries. The first such Euro-region – the Adriatic Euro-region – will be launched early next year, to be followed by the Black Sea and Baltic Sea Euro-regions.

I would also like to announce to you another project of ours, the one of launching a centre of inter-territotial and cross-border cooperation, especialliy in the spheres of competence of the Council of Europe and economy. This is a very important project, and I surely hope you all will support it.

In conclusion, I would like to stress once again that regions have a very important role to play in the development of the modern Europe. “The nation is dead, lomg-live the region” – a good expression to show both the importance of the regions and the people living in them.

While wishing you a very successful meeting today, I would like to emphasise the importance which we attach to the regions – the future of our democracy.

Thank you.