Mercedes Bresso: “In relations between the Committee of the Regions and the Congress, ‘complementarity’ is the key word”

Mercedes Bresso, President of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, will address the 19th Session of the Congress in Strasbourg on 27 October 2010. In her interview, she stresses the complementarity between the two institutions: whereas the Committee of the Regions is working within the EU decision-taking and law-making mechanisms, the Congress has direct access to people, in particular through national associations of regional and local authorities, and to national governments.

Interview – 22 October 2010

Question: What, in your view, should be the main thrust of local and regional action in Europe today?

Mercedes Bresso: The Lisbon Treaty answers this question in a perfect way. It recognizes, for the first time, the principle of local and regional autonomy in the EU member States. It also gives a bigger role to regional and local level in relation to the principle of subsidiarity. The Treaty ensures that any new EU legislation should be accompanied with a detailed review of its possible impact for local and regional authorities.

It also gives to the Committee of the Regions (CoR) greater powers to track a draft framework throughout all stages of the legislative process. The Treaty thus gives more political and legal means to the EU assembly of regional and local representatives. Across Europe, governments of all levels will have to work together more than they did before. Anticipating these challenges, the Committee of the Regions is prepared to help to give greater powers to local and regional authorities.

Therefore, I think the main thrust of the local and regional action consists in implementing what the Lisbon Treaty already recognizes.

Question: It is said that the Congress of the Council of Europe and the Committee of the Regions are natural partners in promoting local and regional democracy. How do you see their respective roles in today’s European political landscape?

Mercedes Bresso: I think the two institutions are rightly following the suggestions given by Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, in his report on relations between the EU and the Council of Europe. We both work with regional and local authorities, but our action differs not just due to the different size of the EU and the Council of Europe, but also because of the different composition of our two institutions, the Council being an inter-governmental body, the Union being a political supranational entity. This is not a handicap, quite the contrary. Whereas we are working within the EU decision-taking and law-making mechanisms, you have direct access to people, in particular through national associations of regional and local authorities, and to national governments, acting under the Council of Europe's authority. 'Complementarity' is the key word.

Question: The Committee and the Congress signed two co-operation agreements – the first one in 2005 and the revised agreement in November last year. How would you qualify the state of co-operation between the two institutions today? In what way can it be strengthened?

Mercedes Bresso: Our co-operation covers a wide range of areas, from the full involvement of the CoR in the European Local Democracy Week to the strengthening of our ties when it comes to tackling the issue of multi-level governance. We are currently cooperating to reach further steps forward, such as the elaboration of a Charter on Multi-Level Governance as proposed by the White Paper of the Committee of the Regions.

We co-operate better in the areas where common action can bring added value – take the elections' observation, for instance. We have to keep promoting local democracy in particular when we speak with our European Eastern partners, and to use the new political instruments which the CoR is putting forward to fully implement the EU's Eastern Partnership. Similar complementary actions could be useful in enhancing local democracy in the Balkans.

Moreover, and just beyond the European border, both institutions have recently developed structured dialogue with the Southern shore of the Mediterranean: another occasion to spread the idea of local democracy which should not be missed. Another field of common work could cover the need to draw up codes of conduct in order to promote, in particular in urban areas, integration of immigrants and intercultural dialogue, with a view to consolidating 'sustainable communities'.

Finally, the large experience of the Congress on Euroregions and the CoR's experience on the new legal instruments put forward by the EU for Euroregional groupings on territorial co-operation, the EGCT, could be complementary when it comes to tackling new forms of co-operation such as the macro-regions.

At the same time, we also must keep improving coordination of each other’s work in order to avoid misunderstanding or outright duplication.