Communication of the President of the Congress, Halvdan Skard to the Committee of Ministers’ Deputies at the 973rd meeting

(13 September 2006)

Since the latest communication to the Committee of Ministers’ Deputies, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities held its 13th annual plenary session, which is presented in greater detail below. The Congress is grateful to have received, following the session, a reply from the Russian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, concerning the timetable of the work on the revision of the Congress Charter, which is of a truly political nature.

However, Congress members are still worried about the delay in reply to Congress Recommendation 162 (2005) dealing with the Charter. The Committee of Ministers consulted with the Steering Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR), in particular with regard to the word “consultative” describing the Congress which will or will not remain in the Charter. Because of the present power-shift towards the inter-territorial level, the involvement of the Congress in observing local and regional elections across Europe, its contribution to the setting up of national associations of local authorities and its monitoring of local and regional democracy in Council of Europe member states, we believe that the Congress carries out tasks which go beyond that of a purely consultative nature.

I. 13TH PLENARY SESSION OF THE CONGRESS

The Congress held its 13th plenary session from 30 May to 1 June 2006. The session was preceded by the meetings of the Bureaux of the Congress and of its two Chambers on 29 May.

The session began by the election of the new President of the Congress, the Presidents of its Chambers of Regions and of Local Authorities, their Vice Presidents, as well as the new constitution of the Congress Committees, as follows:

Halvdan Skard (Norway, SOC) was unanimously elected Congress President for a two-year term. He has served as President of the Congress’ Chamber of Local Authorities since 2002. Halvdan Skard succeeded Giovanni Di Stasi (Italy, SOC), who held this position for the past two years as a representative of the Chamber of Regions.

The Congress also unanimously elected Ian Micallef (Malta, EPP/CD) as President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, and Yavuz Mildon (EPP/CD) was re-elected President of the Chamber of Regions, a post he has held since 2004.

Institutional Committee

Chair: WHITMORE Keith, United Kingdom (ILDG)

Vice-Chair: BEHR Karsten, Germany (EPP/CD)

Vice-Chair PEREVERZEVA Irina, Russian Federation (SOC)

Committee on culture and education

Chair: ZACH Hilde Austria (EPP/CD)

Vice-Chair: FÄLDT Brith, Sweden (SOC)

Vice-Chair: MUKHAMETSHIN Farid, Russian Federation (ILDG)

Committee on sustainable development

Chair: DOGANOGLU Gaye, Turkey (EPP/CD)

Vice-Chair: KADOKHOV Valery, Russian Federation (SOC)

Vice-Chair: VAN VAERENBERGH Etienne, Belgium (ILDG)

Committee on social cohesion

Chair: PRIGNACHI Valerio, Italy (EPP/CD)

Vice-Chair: HAIDER Erich, Austria (SOC)

Vice-Chair: ROGOV Viatcheslav, Russian Federation (ILDG)

The members of the Congress reviewed the recent initiatives of the Congress, such as the setting up of a Council of Europe centre for interregional and transfrontier cooperation in St Petersburg, and the creation of new types of Euroregions, including the Adriatic Euroregion and the Black Sea Euroregion.

The members also assessed the state of local and regional democracy in Europe. They examined reports on the local elections in Ukraine on 26 March 2006 and on the Referendum on self-determination for Montenegro (Serbia & Montenegro) on 21 May 2006, and debated urban security, access for migrants to social rights and the management of water and waste. The presentation of a report on combating trafficking in human beings was followed by the signing of a declaration by representatives of municipalities. After the session, the declaration was posted on the Congress website, with a possibility of online signature.

The guest speakers who addressed the session included Terry Davis, Council of Europe Secretary General, Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michel Delebarre, newly elected President of the European Union's Committee of the Regions, and Jan Olbrycht, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Regional Development of the European Parliament.

During the session, there were an impressive number of reports and follow-up discussions on Congress monitoring recommendations in eight countries and two entire regions. The session discussed the state of local and regional democracy in Norway, Albania and the three countries of South Caucasus, as well as local and regional democracy in Ukraine, and follow-up to the 6th Forum of cities and regions in South-East Europe. At the local level, there were debates on local democracy in Cyprus, Liechtenstein and Moldova, and on the state of local finances in the Netherlands.

The session adopted Recommendation 197 (2006) on urban security in Europe; Recommendation 187 (2006) on the Adriatic Euroregion; Recommendation 193 (2006) on South-East Europe : 6th Forum of Cities and Regions (Sinaia, Romania 8-9 December 2005); Recommendation 188 (2006) on Good governance in European metropolitan areas; Recommendation 196 (2006) on local democracy in Liechtenstein; Recommendation 191 (2006) on Chernobyl, 20 years on: local and regional authorities dealing with disasters (The Slavutich Appeal, announcing five principles of nuclear plant management); Recommendation 190 (2006) on water management: a European contribution to the 4th World Water Forum; and Recommendation 199 (2006) on Inter-regional co-operation in the Black Sea Basin, aimed at creating a Black Sea Euro-region of the same type as the Adriatic Sea Euro-region.

The session also adopted the following resolutions:

Resolution 220 (2006) on urban security in Europe; Resolution 216 on local and regional elections in Ukraine observed on 26 March 2006; Resolution 217 (2006) on South-East Europe : 6th Forum of Cities and Regions (Sinaia, Romania 8-9 December 2005); Resolution 212 (2006) on the Adriatic Euroregion; Resolution 218 (2006) on effective access to social rights for immigrants: the role of local and regional authorities; Resolution 209 (2006) on the verification of new members' credentials and new appointment procedures; Resolution 211 (2006) on the follow-up to the Referendum on the state-status of Montenegro (Serbia and Montenegro) observed on 21 May 2006; Resolution 221 (2006)on promoting an entrepreneurial spirit among young people in Europe's regions; Resolution 219 (2006) on reconciling heritage and modernity; Resolution 214 (2006) on water management: a European contribution to the 4th World Water Forum; Resolution 215 (2006) on Chernobyl, 20 years on: local and regional authorities dealing with disasters; and Resolution 213 (2006) on local and regional waste management and the sitting of landfills.

The Congress session also had an exchange of views with Valentina MATVIENKO, Governor of St Petersburg (Russian Federation), and Gabriella CUNDARI, Minister responsible for Town and Country Planning of Campania Region (Italy). Several personalities intervened during the debate on the prospects of regionalisation, including statements by Eisaku SATO, Governor of the Fukushima Prefecture (Japan); Norbert MORIN, member of the Quebec National Assembly (Canada); Adrien ZELLER, President of the Region Alsace (France); Alessandro TESINI, President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Council and President of the Conference of the Italian Regional Councils; Antonio DA SILVA PAIVA, President of the Commission for Constitutional Affairs, European Governance and the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union; and Riccardo NENCINI, President of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE), President of the Parliament of Tuscany (Italy).

Lazaros S. Salvides, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior of Cyprus, participated in the debate on local democracy in his country, and Vitalie Vrabie, Minister of Local Public Administration of Moldova, did the same for his Republic. Paul van KALMTHOUT, Deputy Director General for Kingdom Relations and Governance, took part in the debate on the state of local finance in the Netherlands, where the proposed local finance reform received sharp criticism from Congress members.

Dag-Henrik SANDBAKKEN, Deputy Minister for Local Government and Regional Development (Norway), informed the Congress of recent developments in local and regional democracy in his country, and Deputy Minister of Interior Ferdinand PONI reported on the state of local and regional democracy in Albania.

The Congress session also debated the promotion of urban security in Europe, with the participation of Solange CHAREST, member of the Quebec National Assembly (Canada) and Jean-Marie BOCKEL, Mayor of the City of Mulhouse (France).

Other issues on the session’s agenda included a wide-ranging debate on the state of local and regional democracy in the South Caucasus, with the participation of high-level government officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and a discussion on the promotion of access to social rights for migrant workers, following which a Network of European cities for local integration policies (CLIP) was launched on 11 September 2006 in Dublin (Ireland), in cooperation with the European Foundation for Working and Living Conditions.

II. FUTURE ACTIVITIES

On 28 and 29 September 2006, the Congress will hold an international symposium in Dubrovnik (Croatia) on cultural tourism: economic benefit or loss of identity?

On 29 September, in Paris, the Congress is organising a meeting of representatives of national associations of local authorities, as a follow-up to the first conference of the Presidents and Secretaries-General of the associations held in Strasbourg in February this year.

At the beginning of October, Congress delegations will observe local elections in Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The Congress will also participate in a conference on the creation of the Black Sea Euro-region, to be held in Samsun (Turkey) on 3 November 2006.

At the invitation of the Russian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, the Congress will hold its Autumn Session in Moscow from 13 to 15 November 2006, with the participation of high-level representatives of all subjects of the Russian Federation. The agenda of the session will be approved by the Congress Bureau meeting on 15 September in Strasbourg.