Giovanni Kessler: “Co-operation means sharing not only the results but also the process of achieving them”

For Giovanni Kessler, President of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE), close co-operation between legislative and governmental dimensions at local and regional level is indispensable for strengthening territorial democracy. The co-operation agreement, signed between CALRE and the Congress on 17 September 2010, will help both institutions to achieve this objective, he says in an interview.

Interview – 17 September 2010

Question: What is the specific role played by CALRE in the European landscape? How does it differ from the Congress and other European institutions, and what do they have in common?

Giovanni Kessler: CALRE and the Congress share and promote the same values of democracy at local and regional level, and pursue the common goal of strengthening territorial self-governance. At the same time, regional legislative assemblies are an essential means for citizens’ participation in the European construction process at the level of their regions, which is the core mission of CALRE. This makes us different from other European institutions focusing primarily either on local governments, or on the control of the respect of specific legal obligations.

Question: What added value do the Congress and CALRE bring to each other’s activities?

Giovanni Kessler: If we are to increase the impact of our action, and to achieve our common objective which is strengthening territorial democracy, we need close co-operation between legislative and governmental dimensions at local and regional level. The Congress, which brings together representatives of both legislative and executive branches of territorial governance, represents a pan-European platform for such co-operation. For its part, CALRE is the voice of regional parliaments and can bring their common position and legislative expertise to this co-operation, in the defence of the interests of regional communities.

Question: What do you expect from the co-operation agreement with the Congress, signed today?

Giovanni Kessler: First, it will improve information-sharing on our respective activities, to avoid duplication. Second, it will give a boost to participation of CLARE working groups and Congress committees in each other’s meetings and activities, to be able to work together on the same issues and to coordinate our priorities. We expect some concrete outcome from our working groups by the end of next year. We also expect joint activities – not only participation in each other’s conferences, but also their co-organisation. Most importantly, we expect to share not only the results of our work, but also the process of achieving them.