IVth European Conference of the Danube Cities and Regions - Founding Conference of the Council of the Danube Cities and Regions

Budapest, Hungary, 11 June 2009

Speech by Ludmila Sfirloaga, President of the Chamber of Regions, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Council of Europe

Lord Mayor of Budapest,

Lord Mayor of Ulm,

Mr Foreign Minister of Hungary,

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Witnessing the birth of a new creation always unleashes mixed feelings of joy and anxiety –

the joy of bringing something new into the world, something which will take on its own life, with its own endeavours, successes and setbacks;

and the anxiety of the unknown, a thrill of anticipation and discovery of all the novelty that will come with the new creation.

It is with these mixed feelings that I address you today as we are launching the Council of the Danube Cities and Regions, a new intermunicipal and interregional network which, I am sure, will become a new example of transfrontier cooperation in this region.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and its Chamber of Regions, of which I am President, can only welcome and express its full support to this initiative. Developing cooperation between cities and regions across the borders is one of the axes of priority action for the Congress, especially in South-East Europe – a region which is largely associated with the Danube and in which cross-border cooperation should come as a natural endeavour for municipalities and regions that have been linked by so many cultural, economic and social ties throughout their history.

South-East Europehas always been a region of special importance to the Congress because we are convinced that local and regional democracy plays a particular role here, as the strongest binding force holding together the region’s multiethnic quilt. Interaction and dialogue between communities, which is made easier and indeed encouraged by transfrontier cooperation, has a unique meaning in this tapestry of nations – and I speak from my personal experience, as the region of South-East Europe is home to my native country of Romania, also a nation on the banks of the Danube.

I am confident that Council of the Danube Cities and Regions, founded today, will be a step towards fostering such interaction and dialogue, towards harmonisation of relations between communities and joint management of affairs in addressing the problems common to all of them. I am also convinced that the Council will quickly become a new partner of the Congress both as a transfrontier cooperation network and as a new association of local and regional authorities.

I know that you share this conviction as well as it is reflected in the Final Declaration which will be adopted today. It is heartening to see that the areas in which the Council plans to develop joint projects – for example, economy and infrastructure, environment, culture and tourism – coincide with those in which multilateral cooperation has already been launched within the framework of the Adriatic and Black Sea Euroregions, the two earlier creations of the Congress. Some of their projects may be of particular interest to the Danube Council – the “Black Sea Cruise” project, for instance, which is geared towards developing tourism and socio-cultural infrastructures in the Black Sea Basin, involves building marinas on the Black Sea and on the Danube, developing tourism and ferry services, as well as a number of cultural projects. I am sure that there is a potential for developing partnership and cooperation on those projects between the Council and the Euroregion, which would be only welcome.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We in the Congress strongly believe that transfrontier cooperation between communities is increasingly supplementing inter-state relations. Today, it is manifesting itself in many forms, and the Council of the Danube Cities and Regions is another example of it.

It is not surprising because transfrontier cooperation offers an excellent opportunity for both boosting territorial development and achieving greater territorial cohesion as it strengthens regional and local economy, facilitates interaction and dialogue between communities, and helps to reduce regional disparities. Most importantly, it seeks to improve an exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practice between local and regional authorities, develop their competences and management skills and engage them in specific cooperation and investment projects, using also European and international financial instruments and mechanisms for their implementation.

Only yesterday, the Standing Committee of the Congress, which met in the Slovenian city of Brdo, held an open debate on the benefits of transfrontier cooperation for local and regional authorities in particular in South-East Europe.  This debate adds to the work which has been carried out by the Congress for many years – I have already mentioned the creation of the Adriatic Euroregion in 2006, governed by the Adriatic Council in Pula, Croatia, and of the Black Sea Euroregion in 2008, with the seat in Constanta, Romania, both of which are potential partners of the Danube Council.

I can also recall the contribution of the Congress to the International Conference on “Regional Cooperation in the Black Sea and Danube Regions: Addressing Challenges and Providing Perspectives”, held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in November 2007, and to the Conference on the role of territorial authorities in the management of river basins – the Danube, in Turnu Magurele, Romania, in April 2003, or the Congress’ opinion on the draft European Charter of the Danube Basin as far back as 1997. These efforts, I am sure, provided an input to the process which led to the founding of the Council of Danube Cities and Regions today, and I am pleased that Congress was able to be part of this process.

Our more specific proposals which can be taken up by the Danube Council are compiled in the Congress’ 2001 resolution 2001 on strengthening the capacity of territorial authorities for a co-operative and sustainable integrated management of transboundary water resources in Europe. In 2003, they were complemented by our resolution and recommendation on the role of territorial authorities in the management of river basins, in which we made concrete suggestions to local and regional authorities of the Rhine and Danube river basins and supported a number of initiatives, including the setting-up of a European network of major river management authorities.

We see the Danube Council as part of this framework, as a network of local and regional authorities and, as such, a partner for many national and European associations of this kind. Promoting the establishment and development of representative associations of local and regions authorities and their networks is one of the Congress’ objectives, and in this regard, we are proud to have succeeded in creating the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS), a representative body of the whole region today. It is clear that NALAS can be a source of support for the Danube Council and a platform for implementing many joint projects of common interest.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Once again, on behalf of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, I wish to welcome the creation of the Council of Danube Cities and Regions as a new structure in the European architecture of local and regional self-government, and to greet its members as new partners in the large and diverse network of territorial authorities on our continent.


We wish the Council bright future and successful life.

Thank you.