SPRING SESSION
of the Chamber of Local Authorities
CPL/SP (14) PV 1
Strasbourg, 16 July 2008
DRAFT MINUTES of the meeting held on 13 March 2008 in Malaga
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With the participation of the Standing Committee
and the Committee on Sustainable Development
of the Chamber of Local Authorities
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Attendance list
1. STANDING COMMITTEE
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Present : |
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Mr A. LLOYD |
President of the Chamber |
United Kingdom |
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Mr O. VAN VELDHUIZEN |
Vice-President |
Netherlands |
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Mr RRUGEJA |
Albania |
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Mr YERITSYAN |
Armenia |
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Mr VÖGERLE |
Austria |
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Mr BABAYEV Mr KHALILOV |
Azerbaidjan Azerbaidjan |
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Mr GABRIELS Mr VAN VAERENBERGH Mr BESLIC Ms KAALUND |
Belgium Belgium Bos Bosnia and Her Herzegovina Denmark |
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Mr JUHKAMI |
Estonia |
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Mr TOIVANEN |
Finland |
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Mr CORNELOUP |
France |
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Mr ABULADZE Mr CHIKOVANI Mr KUSCHKE |
Georgia Georgia Germany |
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Ms OUSOUNTZOGLOU |
Greece |
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Mr SZABO Mr SIGURDSSON Mr. HALLDORSSON |
Hungary Iceland Ireland |
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Mr CONWAY |
Ireland |
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Mr PELLEGRINI |
Italy |
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Mr CERNECKIS Mr. ROPE |
Lithuania Lithuania |
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Mr PANCIUC Mr RAIMBERT Mr SKARD |
Moldova Monaco Norway |
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Mr WIENEN |
Netherlands |
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Mr SWIETALSKI |
Poland |
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Mr CHERNISHEV |
Russian Federation |
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Mr OZEGOVIC |
Serbia |
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Mr DE LA TORRE PRADOS Ms BESKOW Mr KNAPE Mr PETROV |
Spain Sweden Sweden “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ” |
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Mr UDOVYCHENKO |
Ukraine |
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Secretaries of national delegations : Mr Marc THOULEN, Belgium Mr Heikki TELAKIVI, Finland Ms Christina RYDBERG, Sweden Mr Jan SVOBODA Czech Republic Mr Fatos HODAJ Albania Other participants : Mr Mehmet ZAFER, maire de Lefka Cyprus Ms Hilde ZACH Austria 2. COMMITTEE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Mr KURTI Albania Mr KHALILOV Azerbaidjan Mr BORSUS Belgium Mr VAN VAERENBERGH Belgium Mr SAVVA Cyprus Ms KALEV Estonia Mr MELADZE Georgia Mr HIMMELSBACH Germany Mr ILLES Hungary Mr HALLDORSSON Iceland Mr SIGURDSSON Iceland Mr RUSSO Italy Mr ROZENBERGS Latvia Mr WIENEN Netherlands Mr GORODETSKIY Russian Federation Mr MISCHERIAKOV Russian Federation Mr. ROPERO MANCERA Spain Ms DOGANOGLU Turkey Mr ESEN Turkey Mr LUK’YANCHENKO Ukraine Secretaries of national delegations : Ms Lisa BREMNER United Kingdom Ms Despoina CHAMAKIOTI Greece Council of Europe |
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Secretariat |
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M. BOZOULS |
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M. LISNEY Guests : |
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Mr Carlos Alberto PINTO, Mayor of the City of Covilha Portugal Mr J. Wim Deetman Chair of the Committee “City Diplomacy” of UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments), former Mayor of The Hague, Netherlands
Mr Josep MAYORAL I ANTIGAS, Mayor of Granollers, President of the Natural Areas Department of the Province of Barcelona Spain Mr Claude FREY, President of the North South Centre - European Centre Coe/Lisbon for global interdependence and Solidarity
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1 OPENING OF THE MEETING BY THE VICE-PRESIDENT, Alan LLOYD |
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Mr Alan LLOYD, Vice-President of the Chamber, opened the Session and welcomed the participants. |
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2 DRAFT AGENDA |
[CPL/SP (14) OJ 1] |
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The President proposed to invert the items no.4 (Urban Charter) and no.7 (Biodiversity), to allow Mr Mayoral I Antigas time to make his presentation before he had to leave. The proposal was agreed. The draft agenda was adopted accordingly.
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3 DRAFT MINUTES OF THE AUTUMN SESSION |
[CPL/SA (14) PV 1] |
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4 BIODIVERSITY POLICIES FOR URBAN AREAS |
[CPL(14)11REP] |
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The rapporteur, Mr BORSUS (Belgium), presented the draft report, recommendation and resolution. While there was increasing awareness of biodiversity at a global level, there was a tendency to associate this with the countryside and to neglect the issue of the natural environment in towns and cities. He was convinced that maintaining biodiversity in urban areas was an important responsibility of local authorities and believed that, in issuing this report, the Congress was making a valuable contribution to the development of an urban biodiversity strategy at the European level. Cities had a key role to play in achieving the 2010 Biodiversity Targets. He called for vigorous action on the part of local authorities, urging them to promote town planning that incorporates the natural environment and to raise public awareness of the issues involved in declining biodiversity. The President gave the floor to Mr. Josep MAYORAL I ANTIGAS, Mayor de Granollers, President of the Natural Areas Commission of the Province of Barcelona. Mr. Josep MAYORAL I ANTIGAS expressed his conviction of the importance of preserving biodiversity for future generations. He outlined the measures taken in his province, notably the tree-planting programme, measures to improve sewage treatment and positive actions to favour the development of fauna in the region. The network set up by his authority now counted over 130 members. The Chair opened the floor for debate. Mr SAVVA (Cyprus) asked when the Congress would stop recommending and start insisting. The Chair informed the Chamber that two amendments had been tabled for the draft recommendation. Mr BORSUS presented Amendments nos.1 and 2 to the draft recommendation. In amendment no.1 he proposed, in paragraph 2, to replace "challenges facing our societies" with "problems it has generated" and to add "habitat loss due to land conversion". In amendment no.2 he proposed, in paragraph 10, to add the phrase "take into broader account the positive effects rich biodiversity and a balanced ecosystem can have for society and the economy". Mrs DOGANOGLU (Turkey), chair of the Committee on Sustainable Development, agreed with the proposed amendments. |
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Amendments nos.1 and 2 were adopted. The President the proposed that the draft recommendation be put to a vote. The draft recommendation contained in document CPL(14)11REC, as amended, was approved unanimously. The Chair informed the Chamber that eight amendments had been tabled for the draft resolution. Mr BORSUS presented Amendments nos.1 to 8 to the draft resolution, as follows: |
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Amendment no.1: to insert "and regulating water flow, especially floodwater" in paragraph 4; Amendment no.2: to insert the sentence " Although constituting a small fraction of the world’s overall biodiversity, urban biodiversity has particular importance because of its close proximity to the majority of the world’s population. This proximity is a key element for people’s knowledge and understanding of biodiversity." at the beginning of paragraph 5; Amendment no.3: to insert " and as part of an integrated sustainability management system" at the end of paragraph 12.a. Amendment no.4: to add a new sentence "sign the Aalborg Commitments which affirms “territorial authorities" responsibility to protect, to preserve, and to ensure equitable access to natural common goods” to paragraph 12; Amendment no.5: to add a new sentence "control the introduction, establishment and spread of invasive species" to paragraph 12; Amendment no.6: to add "and in public and private green spaces" in paragraph 12, after " encourage local communities to develop a sense of environmental ownership and empowerment by introducing both ornamental and productive biodiversity in buildings"; Amendment no.7: in paragraph 12, to replace "guiding" by " and offer incentives to guide"; Amendment no.8: to add a new sentence "inform the business community on the environmental and corporate benefits of biodiversity protection and development" to paragraph 12. Mrs DOGANOGLU, chair of the Committee on Sustainable Development, agreed with the proposed amendments. Amendments nos.1 to 8 were adopted. The President the proposed that the draft resolution be put to a vote. The draft resolution contained in document CPL(14)11RES, as amended, was approved unanimously. |
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5 CITY DIPLOMACY |
[CPL(14)12REP] [CPL(14)12REC] [CPL(14)12RES] |
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The Rapporteur, Mr VAN VELDHUIZEN, presented the report. He admitted that he had initially been sceptical about the concept of city diplomacy, but had since come to realise its value. He outlined different definitions of city diplomacy; a restricted definition had been retained for the present report, which focused on the role of local governments in conflict situations. The aim was to create a stable environment for citizens to live together in peace, democracy and prosperity. However, for results to be achieved, there needed to be long-term commitment with no guarantee of political gain. City diplomacy initiatives could not stand alone, they required careful coordination with the other actors involved, such as governments, NGOs and international organisations. There was also an important role for individuals or "local heroes" to play in building bridges between communities. A detailed knowledge of the local context was another important factor. Local governments had much to offer in such situations, with their knowledge of managing local services and responding to the needs of citizens. |
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The report aimed to raise awareness of the importance of city diplomacy, to create platforms for supply and demand and to run carefully selected pilot projects. The report also called for a city diplomacy charter to be drawn up, outlining the main principles and conditions for city diplomacy. The Chair welcomed Mr Wim DEETMAN, Chair of the Committee “City Diplomacy” of UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments), former Mayor of The Hague, Netherlands. The text of Mr DEETMAN's speech is reproduced in Appendix 1. |
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The Chair welcomed Mr Claude FREY, president of the Council of Europe North-South Centre. Mr FREY emphasized the important role that local authorities have to play in city diplomacy, notably in the prevention and management of conflicts. He drew attention to the work of the Municipal Alliance for Peace (MAP) in bringing together the different parties in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The strength of the North-South Centre lay in its unique quadripartite management structure. The Centre had a long experience in dealing with conflicts at the local and regional level. It was also very active in developing cooperation at the local and regional level and had been involved with the programmes of a number of the Local Democracy Agencies. The President opened the debate. Mr PELLEGRINI (Italy) believed that city diplomacy had an enormous potential for bringing about positive change. In Italy, the constitution recognised the right of cities to conduct their own foreign relations. Important work was being done in the Middle East, where cities had established a healthy dialogue and set up joint projects. He drew attention to the work of the Standing Committee for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local and Regional Authorities (COPPEM) in this respect. Mr VAN VELDHUIZEN (Netherlands) believed that, by working together, cities could create a new dynamic for change. The strengths of such work lay in practical cooperation projects and also simply by being present in difficult situations and showing solidarity with municipalities which faced huge problems. There were many problems still to be solved, but progress was being made, and the current debate was a step in the right direction. |
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The President closed the debate and proposed that the draft recommendation be put to a vote. The draft recommendation contained in document CPL(14)12REC was approved unanimously. The President proposed that the draft resolution be put to a vote. The draft resolution contained in document CPL(14)12RES was approved unanimously. |
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6 INTEGRATION THROUGH SPORT |
[CPL(14)9REP] [CPL(14)9REC] [CPL(14)9RES] |
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She paid tribute to the commitment of Mr Schuster to this report, which highlighted the importance of sport for social integration and described some successful initiatives that had been introduced in the City of Stuttgart. The report also presented some guidelines for municipalities to use sporting activities as a motor for integration of groups that were at risk of social exclusion. It recognised the important role of the voluntary sector in such activities and advocated close cooperation between public authorities and associations. The Chair opened the floor for debate. Mr CORNELOUP (France) welcomed the report and underlined the importance of sporting activities for the young people in his municipality. |
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Ms OUSOUNTZOGLOU (Greece) agreed that sporting activities were of immense value when working with immigrant groups. Mr DE LA TORRE PRADOS (Spain), Mayor of Malaga, explained that Malaga had seen a large influx of African and Latin American immigrants The city had recently organised a mini "world cup" football competition to involve the different nationalities in a common activity. Mr WIENEN (Netherlands) underlined that, in his experience, sports clubs had a very important role to play in bringing different groups together.
The draft recommendation contained in document CPL(14)9REC was approved unanimously. The President proposed that the draft resolution be put to a vote. The draft resolution contained in document CPL(14)9RES was approved unanimously.. |
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7 european URBAN CHARTER II |
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Mr BORSUS (Belgium), presented the draft text, on behalf of the rapporteur, Mr PINTO. |
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The draft European Urban Charter II had been approved the previous day by the Committee on Sustainable Development and would subsequently be presented for adoption at the plenary session of the Chamber of Local Authorities on 28 May. The original Urban Charter, adopted by the Congress in 1992, had been a pioneering text in its day, but now clearly needed to be updated to address the vital issues that faced cities today. The new text emphasised that cities should exist for the benefit of their citizens and that they therefore needed to take care of the environment and ensure that urban development was sustainable. They should be communities of mutual support and solidarity, rejecting all forms of discrimination and building bridges with less fortunate cities. They should also be a motor for social and economic development. The Chair opened the floor for debate. Mr JAMES (United Kingdom) welcomed the emphasis that the text put on the environment and sustainable development. It was also important to raise awareness of the role of cities in the new knowledge-based economy, while taking care not to exclude groups which did not yet have access to the new communications technologies. Mr CHERNISHEV (Russian Federation) believed that the new Urban Charter was extremely important and supported the main recommendations in the text. The Chair closed the debate. |
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8 ANY OTHER BUSINESS |
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9 CLOSURE OF THE SESSION |
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Appendix 1
Speech by Wim Deetman
Chair of the Committee “City Diplomacy” of UCLG
(United Cities and Local Governments),
former Mayor of The Hague, Netherlands.
I consider it a great honour to speak to you today during the spring session of the Congress. First of all I would like to thank Mr Micallef for inviting me to be a guest speaker at this meeting, and Mr. Van Veldhuizen for bringing the subject of City Diplomacy on the Congress agenda.
I will not speak to you in my role as Mayor of The Hague. The Dutch government asked me to take up the position of State Councillor, that I am fulfilling since 1 January of this year. The Council of State advises the Dutch government and parliament on legislation and governance and is the country’s highest administrative court. My successor in The Hague, Mr. Jozias van Aartsen, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands, will enter office at the end of this month. Until then, I remain Chair of the UCLG Committee on City Diplomacy. It is in that position that I would like to address you in this meeting.
Why are local governments involved in international affairs?
The involvement of local governments in addressing issues of world order is increasing, we can’t ignore it. Environmental problems caused by human action don’t respect national, nor municipal borders. The challenge to beat poverty must be looked at and taken from the local level. Human security is seen from an international perspective, but has to be dealt with on the ground.
Interstate and internal conflicts all over the world are felt mostly in the streets of our cities. This is why I believe that local governments should be involved in issues that effect human dignity and safety. Looking at the ‘whole of government approach’, local governments are, also when it comes to violent conflicts, important actors. And when national governments and the international community come to peace agreements, but don’t consider the local level in the implementation, this may lead to failure of the intentions of the parties involved.
Conflicts occur all over this world, also in Europe. Peace is the objective of cooperation of the members of the Council of Europe. The European Charter of Local Self-Government provides the local authorities in the member states the right to be involved in international cooperation. This is a great asset to our European local authorities, but is not at all undiscussed by member states of the Council of Europe, let alone outside.
I believe that local governments do not only have a right to work across borders, but even a responsibility to act, when the internal order of a city and the safety of the people is threatened by global conflicts. Mayors and vice-mayors can facilitate dialogue between citizens of different ethnic backgrounds, being natives or newcomers. The discussion in the Netherlands at this very moment with regard to the anti-Islam film by one of our members of Parliament illustrate this. We can see that local governments act in close cooperation with the national authorities in order to avoid escalation between different groups in local communities. Ignoring the problems that come with this debate is for local governments simply not an option.
I am happy to see that the Congress is putting so much attention to City Diplomacy. I congratulate Mr. Van Veldhuizen on his excellent report. I fully under scribe his conclusions, most of which I have often defended in earlier speeches. Allow me to emphasise two of his conclusions that are of particular importance to my opinion:
1. The efforts of local governments never stand alone, but are always complementary to those of other actors, to begin with our own national governments.
2. It is imperative for representatives of local governments that interfere in a conflict area, to have a good knowledge of that area and of all the stakeholders they deal with. The ‘do no harm principle’ must always be taken into account.
This brings me to the second point of my speech. As I have often stressed, I believe that City Diplomacy should work with the concept of multi-level governance so that together, each tier of government acts in accordance with its own responsibility and expertise. This means, in fact, that local governments should work together with their national governments to complement their agenda on peace building.
Besides, local governments must be modest in what they can achieve. They can never reach the kind of agreements that their central governments and international bodies (like the UN) can do: local governments can never provide national wide solutions. The objective of City Diplomacy actions is to build and achieve mutual trust and confidence at grassroots level. This means that people in the streets respect each other, even though they have different opinions; that they collaborate together, even though they have different backgrounds; that they live together and build their mutual future, even though their cultural heritage differs.
Moreover, City Diplomacy actions should be undertaken with a low profile of publicity by those mayors who have an intermediary role to fulfil. The publicity should be left to the local actors involved, and in close cooperation with each other. By doing so, you diminish the risk of a conflict of interest with national governments and international organisations. In some way, it is a matter of psychology. This is exactly what I wanted to say with the second conclusion of Mr. van Veldhuizen: the “do no harm principle” must always be respected.
Local governments can only be successful when they do what they are best at: to work directly at concrete projects and the development of concrete activities for the benefit of their citizens. When local governments take the wise decision to help local governments from abroad that face conflicts, their actions should eventually deliver concrete results for the citizens. When the citizens feel that they are listened at, and that they can live together in a harmonious society where human rights are respected, that is when local governments are successful in City Diplomacy.
It is important that City Diplomacy is conducted through official local government institutions such as the Congress, but also organisations as United Cities and Local Governments. These institutions can provide a solid basis where local governments can turn to when their democracies are challenged by violent conflicts. They can provide a platform where ‘demand and supply of City Diplomacy can be matched’, as Mr. Van Veldhuizen put it.
Furthermore, I speak from experience when I say that when local governments are working with conflicting parties, they should always remain politically neutral. Otherwise, it is impossible to get the trust of all the partners involved, which will eventually lead to failure of the efforts.
Now what can local government do?
We are aware of our intentions and our role, but how can we express our commitment?
In my opinion it is very simple. We can act in a wide variety of ways but the key issue is that the actions we take should contribute to building trust at grassroots level and should allow people to collaborate.
Our involvement may be about development or re-development in post conflict situations (for example in Lebanon), being involved in trilateral projects like the ones in the context of the Municipal Alliance for Peace, a cooperation platform between Israeli and Palestine municipalities together with other municipalities outside the region, providing expertise in the field of sound governance (as we did in the Balkans), sharing experiences about preventing or containing unrest among various population groups, and giving moral support (as we did in Colombia). We can lobby the international community with regard to specific conflict situations (as Mayors for Peace is doing).
As an annex to the City Diplomacy report of Mr. Van Veldhuizen, Mr. Klem wrote an interesting report about the role of local governments in creating sustainable peace in Eastern Croatia. He concluded that local authorities there, and to a limited extent from abroad, have contributed to the process of building positive peace after the war. I recall one particular quote by mayors in the region that came from different ethnicities and where forced to work together if they wanted to realise social cohesion in their communities. At first, they were hesitating, since the respective roles they played during the war where quite questionable. After some pressure of a Dutch municipality however, supported by a Dutch NGO, the mayors decided to work together. “They realised that they did not have to agree upon the past in order to agree about a joint future”.
I am glad to see that the Congress puts so much focus on the development of the concept of City Diplomacy. I thank the Congress for this important contribution. I am happy that you have just adopted the resolution on City Diplomacy and that you have decided to work in close cooperation with the other relevant international organizations to draw up a charter for City Diplomacy and to set up relevant pilot projects. I do hope that close cooperation with UCLG, and particularly the City Diplomacy Committee, will soon bear fruit.
As you may be aware, the UCLG Committee on City Diplomacy will host the first World conference on City Diplomacy in the Peace Palace in The Hague from 11 till 13 June of this year. VNG International is organising this conference, in cooperation with the City of The Hague. The conference aims to delimit what we think City Diplomacy is, but should also give concrete tools for local governments that want to be involved. Participants of the Conference are representatives of municipalities from around the world, the Secretary General of the UN, UNDP, and the World Bank. I hope that also your Congress – so much involved in the issue of City Diplomacy – will also participate actively. Therefore it is an honour for me to invite you to come to The Hague in June!
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you will have a fruitful meeting here in this beautiful city of Malaga.
Thank you.