II Forum of Euro-Arab Cities

“Cooperation  experiences and prospects for facing common challenges”

Malaga 25-26 February 2011

Declaration

The II Forum of Euro-Arab Cities^[1] is held at a particularly historic moment, as people from many countries are seeking democracy, progress, recognition and participation.  

1. The Forum pays tribute to the courage of the women and men, the cities and communities who are embarking on the path of democracy and the securing of basic freedoms, including the right to protest and freedom of expression.  The Forum demands the immediate cessation of all crimes against humanity perpetrated against the civilian population. In this context we commit ourselves to pursuing our action in order to guarantee peace in our countries.

2. This call for democracy is an opportunity. As the representatives of authorities that are closest to the people, we are ready to build a new model of participation of the citizens for the best development of our region. It is time to invent the future in the best interests of our people. We have met in Malaga on 25-26 February 2011 to express our common will to conduct new projects together and with our respective citizens to build the new model of development which the citizens are expecting. We are ready to drive forward the dialogue with our national governments and international organisations to better represent our citizens and support the movements for change in our cities.

3. Today we are seeing a period of profound social and political changes, where citizens demand a world respectful of the fundamental principles of democracy, participation, justice and peaceful coexistence, according to the UN Human Rights Council resolution of 25 February 2011, as well as all UN declarations concerning conflicts in the region. Our links and relations of friendship across our communities allow us to exchange on these extraordinary events and processes in the Arab world which must be consolidated by institutional changes.

4.  In the same spirit, we welcome the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ Regional Strategy for the Mediterranean, adopted in Malta in November 2010, which aims to improve understanding and relations of cooperation among nations and peoples across cultures and religions and, in the process, helps to combat the forces that fuel polarization and extremism. We acknowledge that the Regional Strategy opens up new means for cooperation as it considers city-to-city cooperation or city diplomacy in the Mediterranean region as one its ten interdependent priority domains of action and synergies for 2011-2013.

5. We reaffirm our commitment to promote and develop Euro-Arab municipal cooperation for better local governance around the issues addressed in the four sessions of the II Forum, namely:

- Local governance and new challenges;
- Urban management for sustainable development and municipal services;
- Culture, heritage and tourism;
- Financial instruments.

6. We, representatives of European and Arab cities, and of relevant Institutions and associations, have discussed these topics and have underlined that:

a) As a platform for improving partnership relations among European and Arab cities, at this particular time, the Forum is of the utmost importance for advancing the democratic development of our communities, exchanging and applying best practices and expertise, as well as providing assistance and support for improving standards of good local governance, living conditions in our communities and services to our citizens. We hope that the current situations affecting our counterparts in several Arab countries will lead to a higher level of public participation and strengthen local government and democracy, responding to the aspirations of the people.

b) We underline the importance of promoting the effective participation of citizens, in particular of young people and women, in their cities’ governance.

c) We recognize the necessity to make further efforts to preserve the environment and achieve a good balance between the economic, social and environmental dimension, taking into account key issues for sustainable development of our cities. We will seek to work for integrated solutions for urban and municipal service development.

d) We therefore emphasize the importance of prioritizing cooperation among our cities in order to find financial resources for project development, for strengthening infrastructure, public transportation services, housing, clean water resources, waste treatment, environmental protection, cultural heritage, tourism, etc.

e) We express our full support for establishing a competitive framework and the financial capacity corresponding to the new challenges, work and responsibilities of our local institutions, so that – in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity and the UCLG Gold report[2] – they can organise and manage a significant proportion of public affairs closer to the citizens, and strengthen the role of our cities in the economic and social development of the European and Arab nations, in accordance with the ten appended recommendations on the financing of cities.

f) We underline that cultural heritage, with its diverse elements and scope, is a unique asset not only for each city or country but for all humanity. We stress the need to build and implement strategies to preserve and give an added value to our cultural heritage for the sustainable development of our cities.

6. Convinced of the mutual interest of cooperation in these areas, the Organizers of the Forum (ATO, Council of Europe Congress, CEMR, Coppem and the City of Malaga) will work closely together to identify a possible action plan to meet the expectations of our populations seeking a better life.

7. The Forum welcomes the decision of the European Union to allocate funds to support the transition in the Mediterranean Region and asks the EU to dedicate part of these funds to supporting the emergence of local self-government. To this end, the Forum welcomes any initiative that provides opportunities for exchanges and cooperation, such as the proposal to hold an international conference on support for political and economic reforms. We ask that local governments are fully associated in this process. We urge the members of the Forum to maintain their close cooperation, in the spirit of solidarity.

8. In accordance with the decisions of the Dubai Forum, the next Forum will be convened in an Arab city in 2014.

9. We express our gratitude to the Mayor and the Municipality of Malaga for hosting and supporting this II Euro-Arab Cities Forum.

Appendix

Ten recommendations on the financing of cities

1.        Financial autonomy is a sine qua non condition for achieving real local autonomy. Central and regional governments must ensure the introduction of relevant measures to reach this goal.

2.        Any transfers of competences from central and regional governments towards cities must be accompanied by specific funding.

3.        Cities must be compensated for any reduction of local taxes that may be imposed by the central and regional level. In this way, the principle of loyalty between different institutional levels is to be respected.

4.        Cities must seek to ensure the possibility of creating taxes and resources for the provision of services targeted at specific groups of citizens.

5.        Cities must promote the development of economic activities through the creation of public companies. Where these are profitable and successful, they can constitute important local financing tools.

6.        All state and regional legislation must take into account, as a determining element, population size.

7.        Cities must promote public-private collaboration in the construction of new infrastructure.

8.        Cities must commit themselves to the efficient management of their resources in the public interest.

9.        Cities must be guaranteed that, as an essential criterion for providing sustainable public services, all transfers received from the central and regional governments are on an unconditional basis.

10.       Central and regional governments must provide cities with flexible taxing methods, and not only based on real estate taxes.