Strasbourg, 16 August 2011                                                                   LR-IC(2011)8

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL

GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS AND COOPERATION

(LR-IC)

MEETING REPORT

30-31 May 2011

1.         Opening of the meeting

The LR-IC Committee met in Strasbourg on 30-31 May 2011. The list of participants appears at Appendix 1.

2.         Election of Chair and the Vice-Chair

Mr Auke van der GOOT (Netherlands), was elected to the Chair and Mrs Viktória ZÖLD-NAGY (Hungary) Vice-Chair, both by acclamation.

3.         Adoption of the agenda

The Agenda as adopted appears at Appendix 2.

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

It was recalled that this activity is being conducted in collaboration with the LR-FS, and  the aim is to develop a reference framework of the features of the systems of local and regional government in member States, which will replace the Structure and Operation reports. The reference framework, once established, will 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.

The Committee reviewed and made a few changes to the second draft of the questionnaire that each member State would be invited to fill in, with the aim to standardise the replies in order to facilitate comparison. 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 final version of the questionnaire. 

Poland, Portugal, Norway, France and Estonia volunteered to test the questionnaire, starting from September 2011.

5.         Preparation of the 17th Session of the Ministerial Conference (Kyiv, 3-4 November 2011)

The Committee was informed of the state of preparation of the 17th Session of the Ministerial Conference which is to be held in Kyiv on 3-4 November 2011. The LR-IC members were informed that Ukrainian government will send the letters of invitations for the Ministerial Conference in the course of June.

The Committee took note of the draft programme, the draft agenda and the list of documents to be prepared.

6.         Intergovernmental work in the field of local and regional democracy (2012-2013)

Mr Alfonso Zardi (Head of the Department of Local and Regional Democracy and Good Governance) presented to the Committee the new intergovernmental set-up which the Secretary General has proposed as from 2012. He informed that all Steering Committees will receive new terms of reference from the Committee of Ministers as from 1 January 2012. The role of these bodies will be based on the strategic priority axes and will be linked to the two year programming cycle so as to allow the Committee of Ministers to create, discontinue or adapt their terms of reference to priorities or new challenges on a regular basis.

Under the proposal, the Steering Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) will continue to exist and its main challenge in 2012-2013 will be to take forward the Chaves review of the Council of Europe’s activities in the field of local and regional democracy in close co-operation with the Congress, the Parliamentary Assembly and relevant non governmental organisations.

The SG’s proposal does not envisage giving new terms of reference to the LR-GG, LR-IC and LR-FS committees. However, ad-hoc single purpose working groups may be proposed to the Ministers’ Deputies.

As concerns the budget, the SG’s proposal foresees a 34% cut in the overall resources of the intergovernmental sector on local and regional democracy. The Ministers’ Deputies are expected to decide on budget matters in principle by the end of June 2011.

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

The consultant-expert, professor Yves Lejeune, introduced document LR-IC(2011)5 highlighting both the methodological approach to the protocol and the selection of topics on which drafts could be prepared.

The Committee welcomed the representatives of the European Commission attending the meeting. It stressed that the purpose of the provisions to be drafted in the appendix to the protocol is to facilitate the implementation of ECGs in a spirit of full complementarity with EGTCs established under regulation 1082/2006. It appreciated the openness of the Commission as regards discussing issues of common interest and the promotion of crossborder co-operation as a tool to foster social and economic development and better living conditions across Europe.

The Committee agreed to consider first the topics on which drafts could be prepared, from article 3 to article 12 of the Protocol.

On articles 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 there was consensus about following the consultant’s suggestions.

On article 5 the Committee stressed that the provisions to be drafted should provide the legal framework within which the detailed provisions of individual ECGs’ statutes should be drafted. The drafts should take into account the fact that domestic legislation may already be in force in member states and therefore the perceived need is not of provisions in replacement of those already in force but of provisions enabling to derogate from domestic rules (if already in place) for the sake of facilitating the establishment of ECGs. The topics on which a first drafting exercise should be made are public procurements, employment contracts and taxation.

On article 7.2 the Committee agreed that the draft should address the modalities of ensuring the execution of ECGs’ decisions in general and not just in relation to members that may have voted against the decision. In this connection, reference was also made to the choice offered by the Additional Protocol to the Madrid Convention (ETS 159) of opting for the private-law (article 4) or the public-law (article 5) type of body with the ensuing legal consequences for their members (article 5 paragraph 2).

The Committee invited the consultant, in liaison with the Secretariat, to submit a first set of proposals for consideration at its next meeting.

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

The Committee examined the summary of the replies to the questionnaire on obstacles to crossborder co-operation and praised the number and richness of the replies and the quality of the summary. It agreed that it become a working paper for the conference.

As regards the programme, the conference could be organised around three working sessions. One session could deal with obstacles and measures that governments could take to overcome them. Examples of good practices should be proposed. Another session should discuss Protocol No 3 with a view to securing additional signatures and ratifications so that the ECG can be implemented as an instrument that would facilitate crossborder co-operation. A third session could examine the SWOT methodology as a tool enabling central state authorities and interested stakeholders to identify strong and weak points in crossborder co-operation so that the appropriate strategies are identified and put in place.

As regards this topic, the Committee agreed that the presentation of the methodology and the discussion could be based on the report under preparation by ISIG (Istituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia, Italy) which presents the SWOT approach, the “Euroregion” model and the strategies most suitable to various border areas across Europe. The report will be submitted for consideration and comments to all delegations and presented at the conference only if there are no objections to it.

In the absence of the Ukrainian delegation, the Committee could not discuss the possible venue and timing of the conference. It instructed the Secretariat to contact the Ukrainian delegation to that effect. It agreed however that the best timing would be 12 and 13 September and that Strasbourg, failing a venue in Ukraine, would be the second best option.

The Committee noted with satisfaction the interest expressed by the European Commission representatives in the conference and requested the secretariat to develop the appropriate contacts so that the Commission is invited and makes a contribution to it.

9.         Follow-up to SWOT reports on transfrontier cooperation

The Greek delegation stated its opposition to the SWOT 3 report – previously discussed in the LR-IC committee  (see LR-IC(2010)17) – being submitted to the conference on the removal of obstacles examined under the item above. The Committee took note of this statement.

The Committee agreed that it would not give any specific follow-up to the three SWOT reports produced so far.

It noted that the fourth and last report, to be disseminated shortly for consideration and approval by delegations (see above), would not contain any geographical or historical descriptions of frontiers and lands but a recapping of the analytical data (mathematical values) into which the various elements of the SWOT analysis have been translated. The report would also present in a comprehensive way the various strategies recommended for each frontier.

The Committee agreed that delegations be given six weeks after receiving the draft report for sending comments.

10.         Other business

None.

11.         Date of the next meeting

It was agreed that a second meeting in 2011 could be appropriate to examine the initial drafts for the Appendix to Protocol No 3. The date would be fixed by the Chair, in liaison with the Secretariat, towards the end of November, beginning of December 2011.

APPENDIX 1

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]

ARMENIA / ARMENIE

Mr Hrachya GEVORGYAN, Head of staff of the Aragatsotn regional administration

Mob: 37491001002; 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

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. 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]

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]

CYPRUS / CHYPRE

Mr Antonis ANTONIOU, Administrative officer, Ministry of the Interior, NICOSIA

E-mail: [email protected]

CZECH REPUBLIC / REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE

Apologised for absence / Excusé

DENMARK / DANEMARK

Mr Jesper LORENZ GRADERT, Head of Section, Ministry of the Interior and Health, Slotsholmsgade 10-12, 1216, COPENHAGEN K

Tel: (45) 7228 2524; 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, de l’outre-mer, des collectivités territoriales et de l’immigration, 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]

GERMANY / ALLEMAGNE

Mr Gottfried KONZENDORF, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Head of Division 02, Local Government Affairs, Alt Moabit 101d, D- 10559 BERLIN

Tel: (49) 30 18 681 2137; Fax: (49) 30 18 681 5 1431;

E-mail: [email protected]

GREECE / GRECE

Mrs Isidora PETROPOULOU, Deputy to the Permanent Representative, Permanent Representation of Greece, 21 place Broglie, 67000 STRASBOURG

Tel: 33 3 88 32 88 18; E-mail: [email protected]

HUNGARY / HONGRIE

Mrs Viktória ZÖLD-NAGY, Head of Department of Territorial Public Administration Development, Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, Kossuth Square 2-4, 1055 – BUDAPEST

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

ITALY / ITALIE

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]

LUXEMBOURG

Mme Christiane LOUTSCH-JEMMING, Conseiller de Gouvernement 1ère classe, Ministère de l’Intérieur et à la Grande Région, 19 rue Beaumont, L – 1219 Luxembourg

Tél : (352) 247 84615 ;  Fax : (352) 26 20 26 93 ; 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) 22 250 580 / (373) 69480105; E-mail: [email protected]

NETHERLANDS / PAYS-BAS

Mr Thomas ZANDSTRA, 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 7704; Fax: (31) 70 426 7655; E-mail: [email protected]

POLAND / POLOGNE

Mr Lukasz KRYSZTOFIAK, Head of Unit, Unit of 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]

ROMANIA / ROUMANIE

Mrs Raluca ARION, Unit for Local Public Administration, Directorate General for the Relations with the Local Communities, Ministry of Administration and Interior, Piata Revolutiei Nr 1, BUCAREST BUCAREST

Email: [email protected]

RUSSIAN FEDERATION / FEDERATION DE RUSSIE

Mr Mikhail VINOGRADOV, Deputy Director, Department of International relations and Transfrontier Co-operation, Ministry of Regional Development, Sadovaya-Samotechnaya Street 10/23, 127994 MOSCOW, Russia

Tel : 7.495 9802547 (ext. 35003); 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

Tel : (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, Dunajska cesta 58, 1501 LJUBLJANA, Slovenia

Tel: + 386 1 320 1621; 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

Mrs Charlotte BRUNLID, Ministry of Finance, Division for Local Government Affairs and Gambling Regulation, SE – 103 33 STOCKHOLM

Tel: (46) 8 405 28 02; 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

Mr Paul ROWSELL, Deputy Director, Democracy, Department for Communities and Local Government, 3/J1, Eland House, Bressenden Place, LONDON SW1E 5DU, GB

Tel: (44) 303 44 42568; 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 / Secrétaire adjoint de la Chambre des pouvoirs locaux – Secretary of the Governance Committee / Secrétaire de la Commission de la gouvernance

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

Mrs Nichola HOWSON, co-secretary to the Governance Committee / co-secrétaire de la Commission de la gouvernance

Tel: (33) 3.88.41.22.39; 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

EUROPEAN COMMISSION / COMMISSION EUROPEENNE

Ms Simona POHLOVA, DG REGIO

E-mail : [email protected]

Mr Antonio RUIZ DE CASAS, DG REGIO

E-mail : [email protected]

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)

Mme Agnès CICCARONE, Responsable du Comité Permanent, Affaires Institutionnelles, 6 rue Oberlin, 67000 STRASBOURG

Tél : (33) (0)388 227 432 ; E-mail : [email protected]

M. Daniel ZABOROVSKYY, 6 rue Oberlin, 67000 STRASBOURG

E-mail : [email protected]

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN BORDER REGIONS (AEBR) / ASSOCIATION DES REGIONS FRONTALIERES EUROPEENNES (ARFE)

M. le Professeur Charles RICQ, Directeur du Centre d'Observation Européen des Régions (COEUR), Professeur à l’Université de Genève, Chemin de la Renardière, CH - 1272 GENOLIER (Genève)

Tel: (41) 22 366 40 66; Fax: (41) 22 366 40 65; E-mail: [email protected]

COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS (CEMR) / CONSEIL DES COMMUNES ET REGIONS D’EUROPE (CCRE)

Apologised for absence / Excusé

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]

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 2

AGENDA

                                                                          

1.

Opening of the meeting by the Secretariat

2.

Election of the Chair and the Vice-Chair

3.

Adoption of the agenda

[LR-IC(2011)OJ1]

4.

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

[LR-IC(2011)1]

5.

Preparation of the 17th session of the Ministerial Conference (Kyiv, 3-4 November 2011)

[LR-IC(2011)2]

6.

 

Intergovernmental work in the field of local and regional democracy (2012-2013)

[LR-IC(2011)3]

Transfrontier cooperation

7.

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

[LR-IC(2011)4 +

LR-IC(2011)5]

8.

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

[LR-IC(2011)6 + Addendum]

9.

Follow-up to SWOT reports on transfrontier cooperation

[LR-IC(2011)7]

10.

Other business

11.

Date of the next meeting