Emin Yeritsyan “ the Current Affairs Committee will ensure a quick response to the problems and challenges facing local and regional communities”

President of the new Current affairs Committee, Emin Yeritsyan (Armenia, EPP/CD) explains how the Committee will work, emphasizing especially on its capacity to respond to current challenges and to crisis and emergency situations.

Question: The Current Affairs Committee is a completely new committee.  How do you see its work in conceptual terms?

Emin Yeritsyan: Under its terms of reference the Current Affairs Committee has "inherited" the work topics of the previous committees on sustainable development, social cohesion and culture and education.  At the same time the novel feature of its terms of reference is that it must examine any pressing problems faced by local or regional communities and ensure a swift response from the Congress to emergency or crisis situations.  To a certain extent, our Committee must even foresee possible future problems.

I think that the Committee's work has to be configured around four basic areas where the greatest number of problems may arise at local and regional level, and also relating to our aims and vision for our communities: inclusive communities, intercultural communities, sustainable communities and communities that are peaceful, non-violent and safe for our citizens.

In this way we will be able to examine any proposed topic in terms of the extent to which it can help promote those aims, and to group thematic proposals accordingly.  And, of course, I am counting on active input from the committee members in drawing up its agenda and drawing our attention to current and potential future challenges for their communities which constitute the "burning issues of the day", so to speak.

Question: How will the most pressing issues be included in the Committee's agenda?

Emin Yeritsyan: In my view, there will be a number of key factors shaping the Committee's agenda.  Firstly, when drawing up the agenda we will be guided by the priorities of the Congress' work as a whole, which correspond to the broader objectives of the Council of Europe.  Secondly, we are confident that much of the initiative for determining specific issues at local level will come from the committee members themselves, who are essentially relays for our policies in their communities.  Thirdly, we will take account of the priorities set by the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, as well as the Conference of Ministers of Council of Europe member States responsible for local and regional government.  I do not want to get ahead of myself and predetermine the agenda before it is decided by the Committee, but I can already say with certainty that, in view of these factors, one of the priorities for this year's work will be the question of improving the situation of Roma in Europe and the role of local and regional authorities in that process.  Another priority issue may be increasing resilience of towns and cities and adapting them to cope with natural disasters, especially in the light of climate change.  But, as I have said, the Committee will be looking at a broad spectrum of issues, relating to social matters as well as questions of sustainable development and culture and education.

Question: During sessions, your Committee will be responsible for drawing the attention of the Congress to emergency situations affecting local and regional communities.  How do you envisage this contribution from your Committee?

Emin Yeritsyan: As I have already pointed out, the new feature of our Committee's terms of reference is that it must quickly respond to the problems and challenges facing local and regional communities and ensure a swift response from the Congress to crisis and emergency situations.  To an extent, our Committee must serve as a catalyst for debate, proposing both food for thought and discussion as well as concrete response measures. I am sure that the increased number of committee members, compared to the previous thematic committees, will enable us to broaden the scope for both determining general problems and exchanging concrete experience which has yielded positive results at local and regional level.  In turn, all this as a whole - current affairs debates, response measures to crisis situations, exchanges of positive experience - will make it possible to draw up concrete recommendations and proposals for improving local governance, improving the situation of local and regional democracy and implementing human rights at local and regional level.  I believe that this will be our Committee's main contribution to the priorities of the Congress' work.