21e Conférence annuelle de l'ENTO

10^th Annual Conference of REGLEG

5-6 November 2009 – Turin (Italy)

Speech by Ludmila Sfirloaga, President of the Chamber of Regions, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

First and foremost, I would like to thank the organizers of this 10th Annual Conference of European Presidents of Regions with Legislative Power (REGLEG) for having invited the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to address you today. The Congress’ on-going commitment to the REGLEG network and its activities shows our mutual interest in each other’s work and in creating synergies between our two organizations. The Congress’ Working Group “Regions with legislative powers” can bring an added value with its pan-European experience.

This is why I am very pleased today to present the Congress’ Chamber of Regions’ attention devoted to the regions with legislative powers, in the context of multi-level governance.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

May I recall that REGLEG was set up at the instigation of the Congress in 2000, and that since 1999, the Congress “Regions with legislative powers” Working Group has focused on identifying the particular requirements of these regions in the Council of Europe's activities.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities held a specific debate on regions with legislative powers, in the context of multi-level governance during our Plenary session last month, on the basis of an interesting report prepared in the framework of the Congress Working Group, and presented by the rapporteur Mr Bernd PETRISCH from Austria.

This report underlines the important role that regions with legislative powers should play in policy shaping and decision-making. Regional democracy is a strong element of constitutional checks and balances, and a guarantee for democratic and effective multi-level governance.

Following the debate, the Congress adopted on 15 October Resolution 293/2009 and Recommendation 278/2009, in which we recall that good regional governance brings an added value, and that multi-level governance must be guided by mutual co-operation and interaction between each level of government. Regional authorities must have the power to establish legislation with regard to the organisation and management of their competences on their territory. As a result, regions with legislative powers can be considered as a vanguard for other regions that do not have comparable powers.

Regions with legislative powers are key players in Europe. Therefore, we consider that the Council of Europe Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government, meeting in Utrecht on 16 and 17 November 2009, should confirm the important role of regions, and in particular regions with legislative powers. We also ask for the adoption of a very important political text for the Congress: a “reference framework on regional democracy”, on which Mr VAN CAUWENBERGHE will give you more details; and we invite Ministers to examine how the participation of regions with legislative powers in member states’ delegations to the Council of Europe could be increased.

The Congress’ commitment to get a binding instrument for regional democracy has not waned; and we appreciate the support of REGLEG in the pursuit of this aim.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the first Conference of REGLEG in 2000, we have maintained close relations with you. The Congress considers it of utmost importance to examine ways to intensify our present co-operation. This is the reason why we have proposed to formalize our co-operation through an agreement that we are ready to discuss, when you will find it appropriate.

As you know, our Working Group “Regions with legislative powers” has been chaired for several years by Jean Claude VAN CAUWENBERGHE, who is also President of the counterpart Intergroup of the Committee of the Regions. I would like to make use of this Conference to pay tribute to his personal involvement, his great competences in chairing our Group, and also to his tireless action in the political battle in favor of a draft European Charter on Regional Democracy, and now in the preparation of the Reference framework.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In publishing its White Paper on Multilevel governance in June 2009, the Committee of the Regions sets out the stakes and challenges of shared governance in Europe. It reminds us that the development of a European culture of multilevel governance is a permanent challenge. To reply to its general consultation, the Congress adopted on 12 October an Opinion, on the best way to implement multilevel governance in Europe.

First and foremost, the Congress welcomes the initiative to establish a pan-European consensus governance between the EU and the Council of Europe. It underlines the complementarity between the work of the Congress and the EU’s objective of multilevel governance.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities proposes to further deepen the cooperation with the Committee of the Regions on multilevel governance through concrete steps to foster synergies and avoid duplication.

We remain convinced that European democracy can be efficient only by a more inclusive, flexible and sustained political co-operation between institutions and the various levels of power.

Governance is one of the main keys to the success of the European integration, especially in the current context of global crisis. This economic crisis has to be tackled through a multilevel governance approach, taking into account the regions’ competences and specificities. Regional authorities must be closely involved, since they play an essential role in implementing the European Economic Recovery Plan. A new approach to European governance has to be set up.

Thank you for your attention.