Conference on sustainable development of the Carpathians and other European mountain regions

Uzhgorod, Ukraine, 8-10 September 2010

Welcome speech by Gaye Doganoglu,

President of the Committee on Sustainable Development of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Dear President of Ukraine,

Dear Speaker of the Parliament,

Dear Head of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to open this Conference on behalf of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, which was pleased to give its patronage to this important event.

It is an honour because over the years, the Congress has been paying particular attention to the situation of mountain regions in Europe, which – along with other regions that have specific geographical or social characteristics – find themselves at a disadvantage against the background of economic and social development.

I am particularly pleased to be here as President of the Congress Committee on Sustainable Development, because it is this Committee that has carried out most of the Congress’ work in this area. I wish to express our appreciation to Mr Mykhaylo Kichkovsky, Committee member and Congress Rapporteur on this subject, for his energy and commitment to improving and protecting these mountains and for organising this Conference today.

Our latest contribution to the issue will be Mr Kichkovsky’s report on the sustainable development of mountain regions and the Carpathians in particular, which, together with a resolution and recommendation, will be put to the 19^th Session of the Congress in October for adoption. We look forward to receiving the conclusions and declaration from this Conference, which will provide an important input into our work.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The importance of mountains in the European landscape is often undervalued. Mountain regions are not only important centres of natural and cultural heritage, they also provide crucial ecosystem services for the entire population. The mountain ranges in Europe play an important life-giving role for the continent and can also directly influence the impacts of climate change, one of the themes of our Conference today. At the same time, mountain regions are facing a number of obstacles to development linked to low accessibility, difficult terrain and dispersal of the population, which result in a lack of cohesion and economic disadvantage.

Against this background, the Congress has been advocating an integrated approach to the environmental, socio-economic development and transport challenges facing mountain regions. While we are fully aware that the current priority for these regions is economic development,.we in the Congress are convinced that the right balance has to be struck between economic development and environmental protection if we are to achieve sustainability. This approach is reflected in the European Charter for Mountains, to which the Congress remains committed, and we can only regret that the Charter did not become a binding legal instrument.

The Congress continues to call for an integrated sustainable development strategy to conserve European mountain regions’ natural resources and enhance their balanced development. We need policies that address a whole range of issues – from management of natural resources, in particular water, and development of sustainable agriculture and forestry, to a carefully planned reinforcement of transport infrastructure and the maintenance of services of general interest, without forgetting the preservation of cultural heritage and traditions.

The Congress is convinced that European legislation is needed which is designed to reduce the economic and structural disadvantages inherent in mountain regions. With this in mind, the Congress supports the call of the Committee of the Regions, our partner within the European Union, to put in place an integrated European policy for all mountains regions which respects their diversity. This policy should recognise the diverse and positive contribution that local and regional authorities make to the sustainable development of mountain areas.

While raising awareness of these issues, we must seek to implement policies that treat mountain ranges, which often spread across national boundaries, as macro-regions. Most mountain chains lie in border regions and policies need to be applied to the entire massif to be effective. This calls for increased and closer transfrontier and interregional co-operation, which the Congress actively promotes. The European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities, or Madrid Convention, provides a legal basis for such co-operation models, while its 3^rd Additional Protocol, adopted last year, makes it easier to establish Euroregional groupings between EU and non-EU countries.

In this regard, I am pleased to welcome today so many members of the Carpathian Euroregion. We in the Congress are convinced that this Euroregion has great potential for providing solutions to many of the region’s problems, and that it needs to be further strengthened and expanded, with local and regional authorities becoming more proactive, in particular in implementing cross-border co-operation projects. We believe that local and regional authorities have a primary responsibility for addressing the problems faced by their mountain regions in order to ensure the well-being of their citizens.

We firmly believe that the Carpathian Euroregion has the potential to serve as a model for macro-regional development and to take its due place in the European landscape.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Congress would like the sustainable development of mountain regions to be at the centre of discussions in international organisations and events such as this Conference.

As you know, the European Commission is preparing a European Union Strategy for the Danube Region. The Congress believes it is essential that this Strategy includes a specific chapter on the Carpathian mountain region so that the sustainable development priorities of all the Carpathian countries are fully addressed by the European Union.

We fully support the input into the Danube Strategy that was provided by the UNEP Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention. However, I would like to underline the importance of involving all local and regional authorities of the Carpathian countries, not just those from European Union member countries, in the future implementation of the Strategy.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate our conviction that to achieve sustainability of mountain regions, we need an integrated approach and development policies that span borders and engage national, regional and local authorities of all countries in the massif. Healthy and prosperous mountain regions is what our citizens want, it is also what we want to pass to our children as their future heritage.

I am confident this Conference will make a valuable contribution to these efforts.

Thank you.