Strasbourg, 24 June 2011                                                         CDLR-Bu(2011)12 rev.

Item 6 of the agenda

                                                                                                                         

BUREAU OF THE

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

AND THE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE

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

On 22 March 2011, the Minister of Public Administration and Local Government, Mr Tapani Tolli, sent to the Chair of the Committee of Ministers his proposal for a partnership between the Committee of Ministers and the Ministerial Conference (See Appendix 1 – doc DD(2011)288).

At their 121^st Session in Istanbul on 10-11 May 2011, the Committee of Ministers “took note of the proposal concerning a possible partnership between the Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government and the Committee of Ministers” (121^st Session, 10-11 May 2011, Item 2, The Council of Europe: a strategy for values in action –Activity report by the Secretary General).

The Ministers’ Deputies at their 1114^th meeting on 25 May 2011 (under item 1.5.) considered the follow-up to be given to the 121^st Session. The summing up by the Chairperson was:

“The Chairperson noted that the proposal concerning a possible partnership between the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional authorities and the Committee of Ministers calls for a reply which would be prepared by the Deputies in the context of the preparation of the 17th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (Kyiv, Ukraine, 3-4 November 2011)”

It appears that this matter is now to be considered by the GR-DEM at its meeting on 5 July 2011, as it has been added to the draft Agenda for that meeting. It is indicated that the item is for decision. However, the CDLR Secretariat has no more information about this matter at this stage. Should further information become available, the CDLR Secretariat will of course inform the Bureau at the meeting on 29 June.

In any case, the Bureau will want to consider how the issue of the possible partnership between the Committee of ministers and the Ministerial Conference is to be handled at the 17th Session of the Ministerial Conference. It is suggested that the following points could be considered:

-      the Chair of the Committee of Ministers (the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine) could be invited to present the reply by the committee of ministers;

-      the Finnish Minister of Public Administration could be invited to prepare a report on progress with the possible partnership, especially if a reply from the Committee of ministers is received in advance of the session;

-      the preparation of elements that could be included in the draft Kyiv Declaration pertaining to the possible partnership.

Action required

The Bureau is invited to consider and take any decisions it deems appropriate for the preparation of the item on the draft agenda of the 17th Session of the Ministerial Conference on the possible partnership between the Committee of ministers and the Ministerial Conference.