Strasbourg, 23 June 2011                                                                CDLR-Bu(2011)16

Item 10.3 of the agenda

                                                                                                                         

BUREAU OF THE

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO

TRANSFRONTIER CO-OPERATION

Proposals for an event in preparation of

the Kyiv 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

The Bureau is aware that, following a proposal by the Ukrainian chair of the CDLR, the holding of a conference on removing obstacles to transfrontier co-operation, in preparation of the Kyiv ministerial conference, was extensively discussed in the LR-IC committee (29-30 October 2010, 30-31 May 2011) and the CDLR (28-30 March 2011).

Preparatory work included the establishment and dissemination of a questionnaire, the analysis of the replies received and identification of the topics for the conference. The venues suggested (the city of Kharkiv, in Ukraine) was not confirmed nor were the dates originally envisaged (June 2011).

At the LR-IC meeting in May 2011 it was tentatively agreed that in the event of Ukraine not being able to confirm the hosting of the conference, the conference could take place in Strasbourg, on 12-13 September 2011.

According to information officially disclosed by the Ukrainian Permanent Representation, the “Kharkiv conference” is not among the events to be organised by the Chair of the Committee of Ministers. The finalisation of the SWOT 0 report, which was to be presented at the same event, is also taking longer than expected, due to editing work necessary before the document is disseminated to delegations for comments.

The only item that could and should therefore be discussed at the conference  is the analysis of the replies to the questionnaire on “obstacles to crossborder co-operation”, with a view to identifying practices and lessons for the consideration by the Ministers at the Kyiv conference.

Having regard also to the time constraints and the need for all preparatory papers of the conference to be reviewed and approved by the CDLR at its next meeting (19-21 September 2011), it is therefore suggested that the conference:

-        is held in Strasbourg on 12 (and 13, if necessary) September 2011;

-        takes the format of a consultation of all CDLR delegations that wish to attend, at their          own costs;

-         discusses the draft of the relevant section of the “Kyiv declaration” to be adopted by the Ministers, on removing obstacles to crossborder co-operation, with a view to providing the CDLR – that meets on 19-21 September - with additional input prior to the finalisation of the drafts for the conference.


The document will be established by the Secretariat and distributed to all CDLR delegations in the framework of the preparation of the drafts of the “Kyiv Declaration”, following the instructions of the Bureau.  The consultation will thus enable member States to comment on and enrich the part of the Kyiv Declaration on crossborder co-operation. The CDLR will be provided with those additional contributions when it meets on 19-21 September.

As regards SWOT 0 , the provisional version will be circulated shortly and delegations given ample time for comments. If this is deemed desirable , an event at which to present the report could be organised later in the year – and in any case after the Kyiv Ministerial Session  – in co-operation with the ISIG institute that drafted it.

Action required

The Bureau is invited to consider and decide on the proposals above and to give any instructions it deems appropriate to the Secretariat.