Strasbourg, 27 March 2008                                                                               CDLR(2009)1

Item 4 of the agenda

                                                                                                                               

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

DECISIONS OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

CONCERNING THE CDLR

Secretariat Memorandum

prepared by the

Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs

Directorate of Democratic Institutions


This document is public. It will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy.

Ce document est public. Il ne sera pas distribué en réunion. Prière de vous munir de cet exemplaire.


Introduction

The following table sets out the decisions concerning the CDLR taken by the Committee of Ministers since the last CDLR meeting of 8 – 10 December 2008. Only the decisions and texts in respect of which the CDLR is required to produce an output are appended to this document. All documents referred to may also be found on the Committee of Ministers web site.

Date and meeting

CM decision in respect of CDLR

Reference document

Proposed action by CDLR

1045th meeting, 14 January 2009

(Item 1.5)

Conferences of Specialised Ministers – State of preparation

The Deputies

[…]

b. Concerning the 16th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (16-17 November 2009, Utrecht, Netherlands)

3. noted that the themes of the conference would be:

      - “Good governance in the 21st century at local and regional level”;

      - “Transfrontier co-operation”;

4. noted that the responsible body for the conference would be the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR);

5. noted that the following would be invited to participate in the conference:

      - member states of the Council of Europe;

      - Committee of Ministers;

      - Parliamentary Assembly;

      - Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe;

      - Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe;

6. further noted that the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Secretariat General of the Council of the European Union and the Committee of the Regions would be invited to the conference;

7. noted that the following states would be invited to attend the conference as observers:

      - Canada;

      - Holy See;

      - Japan;

      - Mexico;

      - United States of America;

8. noted that the following organisations would be invited to attend the conference as observers:

    - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and    Development (OECD);

      - United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE);

- Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR-OSCE);

      - Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB);

      - United Cities and Local Government (UCLG);

      - Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR);

      - Assembly of European Regions (AER);

- International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP);

      - UN Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat);

      - Benelux Union;

CM/Del/Dec(2009)1045

The CDLR is to take note.

1045th meeting, 14 January 2009

(Item 12.1)

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe – Autumn Institutional Session of the Congress (Strasbourg, 1-3 December 2008) – Texts adopted

The Deputies

1. took note of Opinion 29 (2008) – “Preparation of a draft protocol to the European Charter on Local Self-Government on democratic participation at local level” and decided to forward it to the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) for information.

CM/Del/Dec(2009)1045

The CDLR is to take note.

1047th meeting, 4 February 2009

(Item 2.3)

European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR)

The Deputies approved the terms of reference of the following CDLR subordinate committees:

- Committee of Experts on good democratic governance at local and regional level (LR-GG);

- Committee of Experts on local and regional government institutions and co-operation (LR-IC);

- Committee of Experts on local and regional finance and public services (LR-FS);

as they appear at Appendices 3 to 5 to the present volume of Decisions.

CM/Del/Dec(2009)1047

The CDLR is to take note.

1048th meeting, 11-12 February 2009

(Item 2.4)

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe - The opening of the European Charter of Local Self-Government to the accession of the European Community and of non-member states of the Council of Europe –

Recommendation 218 (2007)

1. The Committee of Ministers refers to its reply to Congress Recommendation 218 (2007) on “The opening of the European Charter of Local Self-Government to the accession of the European Community and of non-member states of the Council of Europe” adopted on 21 May 2008 at the 1027th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies.

2. It recalls that at its 1022nd meeting (26 March 2008), it decided to instruct the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) to carry out, on the basis of the proposal by the Congress included in its Recommendation 218 (2007), a study on the desirability and feasibility of an amending protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government enabling accession by the European Community/European Union and non-member states.

3. The Committee of Ministers has since examined the report of the CDLR which appears in the Appendix to this addendum. In the light of these elements, and for the reasons presented in the report, it endorses the position of the CDLR that at present it would not be desirable to pursue the drafting of an amending protocol to the European Charter of Local Self–Government to enable accession either by the European Community/European Union or non-member states of the Council of Europe.

4. The Committee of Ministers nevertheless encourages efforts to promote the concept and value of local self-government beyond the borders of the Council of Europe member states. It acknowledges the role that local and regional authorities have to play in developing co-operation with countries bordering the Council of Europe, sharing its experiences, raising awareness and promoting the Council of Europe’s core values.

CM/Del/Dec(2009)1048

The CDLR is to take note.

1048th meeting, 11-12 February 2009

(Item 2.5)

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe - Draft Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government – Recommendation 228 (2007)

1. The Committee of Ministers has considered Congress Recommendation 228 (2007) on a “Draft Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government”. It forwarded the recommendation to the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR). The opinion received from the CDLR is appended to this interim reply.

2. The Committee of Ministers understands the Congress’ concerns that, for the Charter to maintain and develop its relevance in a contemporary context, it may benefit from an additional protocol reflecting issues relating to self-government that are not addressed in its current provisions. It also shares the views of the CDLR on the current text, particularly those outlined in paragraphs 5 to 7 of its opinion.

3. In the light of these elements, the Committee of Ministers has entrusted the CDLR to examine, by 31 December 2009, as to whether there are topics and issues that would be appropriate for inclusion in a possible additional protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, taking into account the elements prepared by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on this matter, and if so, to identify them, providing justification for their inclusion in an additional protocol.

4. The Committee of Ministers will examine closely the conclusions of the CDLR in due course, and will keep the Congress duly informed of the progress of this work.

5. The Committee of Ministers is also favourably disposed towards the suggestion of the CDLR that once the process of identification is complete and there is some broad support for the items to be included in an additional protocol, the drafting of the document might usefully be taken forward jointly by governments and representatives of the Congress.

CM/Del/Dec(2009)1048

The CDLR is to take note.

1050th meeting, 11 March 2009

(Item 2.3a,b)

European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR)

The Deputies

1. adopted Recommendation CM/Rec(2009)2 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the evaluation, auditing and monitoring of participation and participation policies at local and regional level, as it appears at Appendix 5 to the present volume of Decisions;

2. took note of the opinion of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) on Recommendation 240 (2008) of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, and agreed to adopt a reply to this recommendation in due course;

3. took note of the state of play as regards the preparation of a draft additional protocol on democratic participation to the European Charter on Local Self-Government and of the intention of the CDLR to finalise this work in time for the Committee of Ministers to adopt and open it for signature at the 16th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (Utrecht, 16-17 November 2009);

4. having regard to decisions 1 to 3 above, took note of the report of the 42nd meeting of the CDLR, as it appears in document CM(2009)8, as a whole.

CM/Del/Dec(2009)1050

The CDLR is to take note.