This interview may be freely published.

Roland Ries: “Creating a new form of European local governance in Strasbourg”

While wishing to continue and extend his co-operation with the Congress, the new mayor of Strasbourg, Senator Roland Ries, wants to associate local elected representatives from either side of the Rhine more closely in framing new common policies.

28.05.2008

Question: Strasbourg’s successive municipal councils have always worked in concert with the Congress, particularly by pursuing its programmes and actions locally. How can this sound collaboration be further amplified?

Roland Ries: Europe has to be built both at the level of nations and at that of local authorities, and the Congress is the ideal setting for this thanks to its experience and the exchanges which it allows. Strasbourg can bring to the Congress its location with the related problems, but also the wealth of its resources and contacts, as for example its 5 twin towns Stuttgart, Dresden, Leicester, Boston and Ramat-Gan ( Israel) and its partner towns, including Fez, Veliki Novgorod or Jacmel (Haiti). We want to associate these towns more closely with the programmes and activities of the Congress. Besides, many Congress initiatives are closely akin to our local programmes, such as our foreigners’ consultative council, which we wish to reactivate moreover. Finally, the development of local democracy in depth is a priority of my mandate, and I hope that the Congress will also help us get ahead in this area.

Question: Immediately you were elected, you floated the idea of making Strasbourg and its environs a “European district” indispensable to the lasting preservation of the European institutional presence in the town. What place may the local authorities of Alsace and Baden have in this future construction?

Roland Ries: There is already a Eurodistrict between Strasbourg and Kehl, carrying out actions of transfrontier co-operation which are most useful but insufficient in the long term. I want the Strasbourg and Ortenau regions either side of the Rhine to become a true European district, with a special legal and possibly fiscal status, in which the presence of Europe can be consolidated while attracting head offices of large enterprises. Of course it is not the mayors, French and German, who will have sole decision as to its creation, but we are actively stimulating their awareness so that they realise the advantages of this status for their municipalities and prevail upon their respective governments. Likewise, we shall soon be organising citizen referendums on this.

Question: Does this future district foreshadow a new form of “European” governance between the local authorities of different countries?

Roland Ries: We shall of course set up a Eurodistrict Council, which will bring together the participating municipalities on terms of transparency and democracy. The idea is indeed to create a new entity, a true transfrontier conurbation whose bond would be the Rhine. There are many services which, located on one side of the river, can serve both sides, and duplications should be dispensed with. This district may be a reference, even a model, in Europe even though its purpose, the retention and reinforcement of the European institutions, obviously makes it unique by nature.