Strasbourg, 27 January 2011                                                                LR-IC(2010)17

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)


COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL

GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS AND COOPERATION

(LR-IC)

MEETING REPORT

29-30 November 2010

1.         Opening of the meeting

Mr Auke van der GOOT (Netherlands), Chair of the Committee of Experts on Local and Regional Government Institutions and Cooperation opened the meeting and welcomed the participants (the list of participants appears at Appendix I).

2.         Adoption of the agenda

The Agenda as adopted appears at Appendix II.

3.         Briefing on the implementation of the Utrecht Declaration and Utrecht Agenda and programme of activities of the LR-IC for 2010-2013

The Committee took note of the state of play as regards the implementation of the Utrecht Declaration and Utrecht Agenda, with special focus on the programme of activities for 2010-2013, as contained in the documents MCL-16(2009)12 Final and CDLR(2010)26.


4.         "Local Government: responses to recession across Europe” Results of the Conference and preparation for the 17th session of the Ministerial Conference

The results of the Conference held in Strasbourg on 11 and 12 October 2010 were presented to the Committee by Professor Ken Davey of the OSI/LGI. It was agreed that they were extremely useful and should be taken forward in continued co-operation with OSI/LGI with a view to preparing the 17th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government in Kyiv in November 2011. CDLR, at its meeting in spring 2011, will determine the outputs to be proposed to Ministers (e.g. updated financial/economic analysis, review of policy guidelines in Utrecht Declaration).

5.         Reference framework of the features of systems of local and regional government in the member States

At the previous meeting the Committee agreed that this activity would be conducted in collaboration with the LR-FS Committee, which would address in particular the financial aspects of the issues.  Ms Victoria Jones (UK) as a Rapporteur from LR-FS will work along with the other Rapporteurs Mr Lukasz Krysztofiak (Poland) and Mr Auke van der Goot (The Netherlands).

It was recalled that the aim of the activity was to develop a reference framework of the features of the systems of local and regional government in member States, which would replace the Structure and Operation reports. The reference framework, once established, would provide member States with a basis for the identification of features of interest in other member States. It could also provide a basis for targeted exchange of experience and the identification of good practices.

A draft for the list of features had been drawn up by the Rapporteurs with the help of the Secretariat. The Committee reviewed the first draft of the questionnaire that each member State would be invited to fill in, with aim to standardise the replies in order to facilitate comparison.

The Committee reviewed the draft in detail and discussed the modalities for its improvement. It was agreed to allow delegations time until 15 January to give comments in writing on the proposal by Poland for additional questions in the questionnaire concerning efficiency in local and regional government.

The Rapporteurs, with the help of the Secretariat, were asked to ensure the co-ordination of inputs given by the two Committees (LR-IC and LR-FS), and to prepare the updated and consolidated version of the questionnaire. 


6.         Analytical tool for assessing the degree of autonomy of first-tier local authorities

The text of the analytical tool, developed by the consultant expert, Prof. Gérard Marcou.  had been adopted by the Committee at its meeting on 31 May – 1 June 2010 However, since the English version of the text was considered pretty complex, linguistic improvements were subsequently made to make the text more easily readable. The Committee took note and adopted the improved English version of the text.

The Hungarian delegation informed the members that a reform is taking place in the country to redistribute power between central and local government. The Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Local Government jointly lead the process and next year a decision will be taken at the political level whether to use the analytical tool again. Hungary will keep the Committee informed of developments.

7.         Cooperation and assistance programmes

           (Budva and Dubrovnik Declarations)

The Committee took note of the recommendations emanating from the regional conferences in Budva and Dubrovnik (contained in the document LR-IC(2010)11).

The two conferences were organised with partners in the framework of the cooperation programmes for local and regional democracy and as such contributed to the implementation of the Utrecht Agenda:

-        the Regional Conference "Good governance, Transparency and Ethics at the     Municipal Level, Budva - Becici, 2-4 June 2010;

-        the Conference on Inter-Municipal Co-operation, Dubrovnik, 23-24 September 2010.

The Secretariat also presented the IMC Toolkit developed in cooperation with UNDP and OSI/LGI.

8.         Preparation of the appendix(ces) to Protocol No 3 to the Madrid Outline Convention

The consultant-expert, Professor Yves Lejeune, of the Catholic University of Louvain, presented to the Committee a detailed assessment of the provisions of Protocol No 3 to the Madrid Outline Convention and of Regulation (EC) 1082/2006 with the aim to identify the similarities and differences between them and any issues not covered by either of the two instruments. In the light of this analysis, he suggested some subjects which could be covered by the optional appendix to the Protocol, with a view to filling any gaps in member states' national legislation or facilitating implementation of the said Protocol, taking account of existing legislation


The Committee expressed appreciation for this work. It emphasised that the need to draft an appendix stemmed from Article 13 of Protocol No 3 and that the criteria set out there should be complied with.  The Committee referred specifically to paragraphs 2 and 5 of that article to emphasise the optional nature of the appendix and the fact that it could not be relied on for interpreting the provisions of Protocol No 3. The consultant would have to take account of these aspects, so as not to include in the proposed provisions for inclusion in the appendix any elements which went beyond its scope. As concerns the documents already prepared byprofessor Lejeune, the Committee proposed to merge them – in a shorter version – by adding to the overview (document LR-IC(2010)12) a fourth column containing an assessment of the similarities or differences highlighed in column 3, this assessment being derived from document LR-IC(2010)13.

At the Committee's request, Professor Yves Lejeune will also draw up a detailed proposal for the provisions which could appear in the appendix to Protocol  No. 3 to the Madrid Outline Convention (contained in document LR-IC(2010)14).

The Committee agreed that the member States should check the accuracy of information and assessment done in document 14 (pages 5-6) by 15 January 2011.

It also agreed to consult all member states on the topics that could be covered by the appendix to Protocol No 3. It asked the Secretariat, in cooperation with professor Lejeune, to establish such a list, based on his suggestion and the text of Protocol No 3, and disseminate it by 31 December 2010. Replies should be sent in by 31 January 2011.

9.         Preparation of the Conference on removing obstacles and promoting good        practices on crossborder cooperation

The draft questionnaire developed by the Working Party through written consultation was presented to the Committee. The members examined the proposal in detail and asked the Secretariat to draft the revised version of the questionnaire by 15 December 2010, in co-operation with the Working Party. The revised version should be based on the comments from Netherlands and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. 

Hungary informed that the conference to be organised in the framework of the EU presidency will be held on 22-23 March 2011 and will cover multilevel governance as well as the experience of the European Grouping on Territorial Cooperation (EGTC). It could include a discussion of the first findings of the survey on obstacles to crossborder co-operation.


The Committee thanked Hungary for its readiness to make room for Council of Europe’s concerns in the March conference. It considered however that more time was necessary for a thorough investigation of experiences and lessons in overcoming obstacles. It agreed to propose that the conference be held in liaison with the forthcoming Ukrainian chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers but still in co-operation with Hungary. The event could then be scheduled for June 2011, when both countries still hold presidency/chairmanchip responsibilities, and be held in Ukraine.

The Conference is viewed as a pre-conference for the Ministerial Conference in Kyiv in November 2011.

10.      Follow-up to SWOT reports on transfrontier cooperation

The Committee took note of the information provided by the Secretariat on the preparation and dissemination of the SWOT analysis of cross border cooperation in the Balkan and Danube area (SWOT 3) following the publication of similar reports on cross border co-operation in Northern (SWOT 2) and Central (SWOT 1) Europe. It was also planned to publish a fourth report (SWOT 0) with the methodology of SWOT analysis, the concept of “Euroregion” and an overall assessment of crossborder cooperation across Europe, having regard to the three previous SWOTs.

The Greek delegation opposed the publication of the SWOT 3 report under the head of the Council of Europe.

The Committee agreed that SWOT 3 would be published under the responsibility of ISIG only. It requested that the provisional version of SWOT 0 be submitted to it for consideration before deciding on its publication.

11.         Other business

None.

12.         Date of the next meeting

The Committee confirmed the date of the next meeting.

NB: The date has subsequently been changed by the CDLR Bureau to 30-31 May 2011, because of other changes to the meeting schedule.


APPENDIX I

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

MEMBERS / MEMBRES

CHAIR / PRESIDENT

Mr Auke van der GOOT, Senior Adviser, Europe and Local and Regional Governance Unit, Directorate-General for Governance and Kingdom Relations, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, P.O Box 20011, NL - 2500 EA THE HAGUE

Tel: (31) 70 426 7386; Fax: (31) 70 426 7655; E-mail: [email protected]

AUSTRIA / AUTRICHE

Mr Thomas TANNHEIMER, Amt der Wiener Landesregierung/Office of the State Government of Vienna, Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz 1, A – 1010 WIEN

Tel: (43) 1 4000 82340; Fax: (43) 1 4000 99 82 340;

E-mail:[email protected]

AZERBAIJAN / AZERBAÏDJAN

Mr Habib YUSIFOV, Head of Department on Administrative Supervision, Centre of work with municipalities, Ministry of Justice, 1 Inshaatchilar avenue, 370073 BAKU

Tel: (99412)  596 34 07; Fax: (99412) 596 34 08; E-mail: [email protected]

BELGIUM / BELGIQUE

M. Paul-Henri PHILIPS, Adjoint du Directeur Général, Administration des pouvoirs locaux,  Ministère de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, 20, B – 1035 BRUXELLES

Tel : (32) 2 800 32 77; Cel-phone: (32) 499 58 81 05; Fax :(32) 2 800 38 00;

E-mail : [email protected]

Mr Edwin LEFEBRE, Deputy of the Director, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Flemish Region, Agency for Home Affairs, Boudewijnlaan 30, B - 1000 BRUSSELS

Tel : (32) 2 553 40 16; Fax :(32) 2 553 39 52; E-mail : [email protected]

M. Jean-Pol DELORY, Conseiller expert, Cabinet du Ministre des Pouvoirs locaux et de la Ville, Rue du Moulin de Meuse 4, 5000 NAMUR

Tél: (32) 81 234 725; Fax: (32) 81 234 782; E-mail: [email protected]

M. Xavier KALBUSCH, Ministerium der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Gospert 1, 4700 EUPEN

Tél : (32) (0)87 59 63 00 ; Fax : (32) (0)87 55 28 91 ; E-mail : [email protected]; [email protected]

BULGARIA / BULGARIE

Mrs Zornitsa HADZHIDIMITROVA-GEORGIEVA, Senior expert, Strategic Planning, Regional Development and Administrative Territorial Structure Directorate, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, 17-19 St. Kiril I Metodii Str., 1202 SOFIA

Tel : (359) 2 9405224 ; Fax : (359) 2 9877747 ;

E-mail : [email protected]

CROATIA / CROATIE

Mrs Miroslava-Nina MIŠKOVIĆ, Head of Independent Division for International Cooperation, Ministry of Public Administration, Maksimirska 63, 10000 ZAGREB

Tel: (385) 1 2357 532; Fax: (385) 1 2357 609; E-mail: [email protected]

CZECH REPUBLIC/ REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE

Mr Rudolf RYS, Administrative Advisor, Department for Territorial Public Administration, Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic, nám. Hrdinů 3, 140 21  Praha 4

Tel: +420 974 816 640; fax: +420 974 816 832; E-mail: [email protected]

ESTONIA / ESTONIE

Mr Kaur KAASIK-AASLAV, Adviser to the Local Government and Regional Administration Department, Ministry of the Interior, Pikk 61, TALLINN, 15065

Tel: (372) 612 5136; E-mail:[email protected]

FRANCE

Mme Séverine REYMUND, Bureau des structures territoriales, Direction Générale des Collectivités locales, Ministère de l'Intérieur, 1 bis, place des Saussaies, F - 75800 PARIS

Tél: (33) 01 49 27 31 78; Fax: (33) 01 49 27 49 79;

E-mail: [email protected]

GREECE / GRECE

Dr Stamatis GEORGOULIS, Special Advisor, Directorate of Development Projects and International Organisations, Ministry of the Interior, 27 Stadiou Str., GR - 10183 ATHENS

Tel: (30) 210 374 4903; Fax: (30) 210 322 97 10; E-mail : [email protected] or [email protected]

HUNGARY / HONGRIE

Mrs Viktória ZÖLD-NAGY, Head of Department of Territorial Public Administration Development, Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, Kossuth Square 24, 1055 – BUDAPEST

Tel: +361 795 4905  Fax: +361 795 0121 Email: [email protected]

LATVIA / LETTONIE

Apologised for absence / Excusé

LITHUANIA / LITUANIE

Mr Paulius SKARDŽIUS, Director of Public Governance Policy Department, Ministry of the Interior, Ŝventaragio Str. 2, LT - 01510 VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

Tel: (370) 5 271 7071; Fax: (370) 5 271 8915; E-mail: [email protected]

MOLDOVA

Mme Victoria CUJBA, Chef adjoint, Direction des politiques de décentralisation, Chancellerie d’Etat, 1, Piaţa Marii Adunări Naţionale, MD – 2033 CHISINAU

Tel: (373) 22 250 583 / (373) 69480105; E-mail: [email protected]

NETHERLANDS / PAYS-BAS

Mr Tom LEEUWESTEIN, Head of Europe and Local and Regional Governance Unit, Directorate General for Governance and Kingdom Relations, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, P.O Box 20011, NL - 2500 EA THE HAGUE

Tel: (31) 70 426 6468; Fax : (31) 70 426 7655 ; E-mail: [email protected]

POLAND / POLOGNE

Mr Lukasz KRYSZTOFIAK, Head of Unit, Unit of Technical Assistance and Projects, Department of Public Administration, Ministry of the Interior and Administration, ul. Wspólna 2/4, PL – 00-505 WARSZAWA

Tel: (48) 22 661 87 38; Fax: (48) 22 661 94 08;

E-mail: [email protected]

SLOVAK REPUBLIC/ REPUBLIQUE SLOVAQUE

Ms Zuzana BARBORÍKOVÁ, Head of Unit, Department for co-ordination and modernisation of Public administration, Public administration section, Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, Drieňová 22, 826 86 BRATISLAVA

Tél : (421) 2 4859 2217 ; Fax: (421) 2 4333 46 74;

E-mail: [email protected]

SLOVENIA / SLOVENIE

Mr Andrej ČOKERT, Office for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy, Slovenska cesta 54, 1501 LJUBLJANA, Slovenia

Tel: + 386 1 434 15 28; Fax: + 386 1 43 41 538; e-mail: [email protected]

SPAIN / ESPAGNE

Ms Paqui SANTONJA, Special Adviser, Directorate General for Regional Cooperation, Ministry of Territorial Policy, MADRID

Tel: (34) 91 273 46 59; Fax: (34) 91 273 46 10; E-mail: [email protected]

SWEDEN / SUEDE

Mr Mats RUNDSTRÖM, Legal advisor, Ministry of Finance, Division for Local Government Affairs, SE – 103 33 STOCKHOLM

Tel: (46) 8 405 51 63; E-mail: [email protected]

SWITZERLAND / SUISSE

M. Fabrizio TASCHETTA, Chef Suppléant de la Section des Frontières et du Droit de voisinage, Direction du Droit international public, Département fédéral des Affaires étrangères, Bundeshaus Nord, CH-3003 BERNE

Tel. : 41 31 322 30 54; Fax : 41 31 323 16 47; Email : [email protected]

UNITED KINGDOM / ROYAUME-UNI

Ms Victoria JONES, Team Leader, Democratic Local Governance, Department for Communities and Local Government, 3/J1, Eland House, Bressenden Place, LONDON SW1E 5DU, GB

Tel: (44) 303 44 42585; E-mail: [email protected]


PARTICIPANTS

CONGRESS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE / CONGRES DES POUVOIRS LOCAUX ET REGIONAUX DU CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE

Mr Tim LISNEY, Deputy Secretary of the Chamber of Local Authorities / Adjoint au Secrétaire exécutif de la Chambre des pouvoirs locaux

Tel: (33) 3.88.41.35.73; Fax: (33) 3.88.41.27.51;  E-mail: [email protected]

Ms Lilit NIKOGHOSYAN, Co-Secretary of the Institutional Committee / Co-Secrétaire de la Commission institutionnelle

Tel: (33) 3.88.41.35.04; Fax: (33) 3.88.41.27.51;  E-mail: [email protected]

CONFERENCE OF INGOS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE / CONFERENCE DES OING DU CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE

M. Rémy BERTHIER, 2 rue des marronniers, 67310 Wasselonne, France

Tél : 06 30 52 34 53 ; E-mail: [email protected]

OTHER PARTICIPANT / AUTRE PARTICIPANT

HOLY-SEE / SAINT-SIEGE

Apologised for absence / Excusé

BENELUX UNION/UNION BENELUX

Mr Hans MOOREN, Administrateur, Union Benelux, Rue de la Régence 39, 1000 Bruxelles

Tel: 32-2-519 38 43; E-mail: [email protected]

OBSERVERS / OBSERVATEURS

ASSEMBLY OF EUROPEAN REGIONS (AER) / ASSEMBLEE DES REGIONS D'EUROPE (ARE)

M. Adrian EPPEL, 6 rue Oberlin, 67000 STRASBOURG

E-mail : [email protected]

EXPERT-CONSULTANTS / CONSULTANT-EXPERTS

Prof. Yves LEJEUNE, Faculté de Droit UCL, Place Montesquieu, 2, B - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique

Tél.: + 32 10 47 47 02 ; Fax: + 32 10 47 47 09; E-mail : [email protected]

Prof. Ken DAVEY, Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI), Haymesbrook - Haymes Drive, Cleeve Hill – Cheltenham GL52 3QQ, UK

Tel : +44 (0) 124 25 26 232; E-Mail: [email protected]


SECRETARIAT

Mr Alfonso ZARDI, Head of the Department of Local and Regional Democracy and Good Governance / Chef du Service de la démocratie locale et régionale et de la bonne gouvernance - Directotrate of Democratic Institutions/ Direction des institutions démocratiques, Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs / Direction générale de la démocratie et des affaires politiques

Tel : +33 (0)3 88 41 39 06; Fax : +33 (0)3 88 41 27 84; E-mail : [email protected]

Mr Frank STEKETEE, Administrator / Administrateur – Directorate of Democratic Institutions/ Direction des institutions démocratiques, Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs / Direction générale de la démocratie et des affaires politiques

Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 39 61; Fax: +33 (0)3 88 41 27 84; E-mail: [email protected]

Mrs Vesna ATANASOVA, Administrator / Administratrice – Directorate of Democratic Institutions/ Direction des institutions démocratiques, Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs / Direction générale de la démocratie et des affaires politiques

Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 31 68; Fax: +33 (0)3 88 41 27 84;

E-mail: [email protected]


APPENDIX II

AGENDA

1.

Opening of the meeting

2.

Adoption of the agenda

[LR-IC(2010)OJ2 rev.]

3.

Briefing on the implementation of the Utrecht Declaration and Utrecht Agenda and programme of activities of the LR-IC for 2010-2013

[MCL-16(2009)12 Final]

[CDLR(2010)26]

4.

"Local Government: responses to recession across Europe” Results of the Conference and preparation for the 17th session of the Ministerial Conference

[LR-IC(2010)8]

5.

Reference framework of the features of systems of local and regional government in the member States

[LR-IC(2010)9]

6.

 

Analytical tool for assessing the degree of autonomy of

first-tier local authorities

[LR-IC(2010)10]

7.

Cooperation and assistance programmes

(Budva and Dubrovnik Declarations)

[LR-IC(2010)11]

Transfrontier cooperation

8.

Preparation of the appendix(ces) to Protocol No 3 to the Madrid Outline Convention

[LR-IC(2010)12]

[LR-IC(2010)13]

[LR-IC(2010)14]

9.

Preparation of the Conference on removing obstacles and promoting good practices on crossborder cooperation

[LR-IC(2010)15]

10.

Follow-up to SWOT reports on transfrontier cooperation

[LR-IC(2010)16]

11.

Other business

12.

Date of the next meeting