Centralised governance inherited from the Soviet times Ukraine is part of the Eastern Partnership, which is an initiative that enables closer political, economic and cultural relations among the EU, its member states and 6 eastern European partners. Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. For almost seventy years Ukraine had been under Soviet rule, which was … [Read more...]
This is the tag for all posts relating to decentralisation.
Regionalisation in Albania: a must for EU Accession
Albania derives from a deeply centralised tradition of the pre-pluralist era. The transition from a centralised to a democratic system led to the inclusion of Albania in a comprehensive process of political, economic, fiscal and administrative decentralisation. Albania's history of decentralisation The period from 1991 to 1998 marks the first phase of political … [Read more...]
Regionalisation in Luxembourg: municipalities reign, but are merging
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, one of the world smallest countries, is located in North- Western Europe. It lost part of its territories to France (1659), Prussia (later Germany, 1815) and Belgium (1839), whereas its independence was established by the Treaty of London of 1839. Luxembourg is a unitary State with a municipal level of decentralisation, established under the 1868 … [Read more...]
Regionalisation in Latvia: narrow range of competencies, but space for change
After the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia in 1918, two levels of territorial division were introduced: there were 19 districts and more than 500 rural or cities municipalities. Self- governments were abolished after the coup d’état, which established the regime of Kārlis Ulmanis on 15 May 1934. During WWII Latvia was occupied three times: in 1940 by the USSR, in … [Read more...]
Regionalisation in France: developed, but incomplete
French regionalisation, as developed as it may seem, is still incomplete. The phenomenon is surrounded by political controversies and marked by contradictory strategies. Decentralisation reforms, particularly the 2004 laws on regionalisation, were not of such a nature as to rectify the budgetary imbalances, the specialist knowledge, and the resources that cripple the French … [Read more...]
The state of regionalisation in Romania
Romanian administrative division into counties (judete) has been documented since the XIV century. In modern times, between 1918 and 1968, Romania’s administrative division suffered repeated changes. After World War II, when the communist regime reached power, Romania’s administrative division was changed five times. In this context, the new administrative-territorial … [Read more...]
#RoR2017 – This week’s focus: Regions in the UK
Relative to most other European countries, the governance of the United Kingdom has tended to be characterised by a high degree of centralisation. Some areas of policy-making social security, defence have typically been managed largely or exclusively from London, with a limited degree of administrative decentralisation to regional outposts. However, this general pattern of … [Read more...]
Outermost regions’ work in AER and worry about Guyana
It is with great worry that the Assembly of European Regions follows the situation in its French outermost member region, Guyana. After two weeks of unrest and the region’s activity put to a standstill, we look upon the start of the negotiations with the French government with trust and confidence. AER President Hande Özsan Bozatli : « I want to address to the President … [Read more...]
We’re hiring the perfect promoter of regionalisation ! (now closed)
Interested in advocating for the interests of the regions of Europe? We are looking for a colleague to help us advertise the regional dimension in Europe, create magic links with the European institutions and fight for regional policy. We offer a Belgian full-time employment contract (initially 6 months contract, with possibility of converting it to a permanent … [Read more...]
AER declaration: status quo is not an option
Political declaration Status quo is not an option for the European regions Adopted by the AER Bureau on 24 October 2016 in Vienna (AT) The Assembly of European Regions (AER) was deeply impacted by the results of the referendum held on 23 June 2016 on the United Kingdom’s membership to the European Union. Although AER expresses major concern over the outcome, it … [Read more...]
Building new ties with the French regions
On 10 and 11 October, a delegation from the Assembly of European Regions (AER) traveled to France to meet with four regions which are currently not members of AER: Bretagne, Pays de la Loire, Normandy and Ile-de-France. This field visit took place in the framework of this year's territorial reform in France, that reduced - by merging - the number of metropolitan regions from 22 … [Read more...]
AER Observatory on Regionalisation contribution on regional diversity
The AER Observatory on Regionalisation (Enrico Martial and Alexandre Brecx) took part on 21 April 2016 in the first Jean Monnet seminar in Lille focusing on the heterogeneity of the regions inside the EU. French author Edith Lormel wrote about the main findings in an interesting article recently published on the website La documentation française. The article makes a review of … [Read more...]
Regionalisation in Romania
Gratian Mihailescu, AER expert on regionalisation issues, was invited at Adevarul live to comment latests statements of Romanian prime minister Dacian Ciolos regarding decentralisation and reform of public administration. The Romanian government is concerned about three main aspects: a) fragmentation at decision level of local government, especially in rural areas, but … [Read more...]
Dutch EU Presidency focuses on four of AER’s main policies
An agenda in line with AER's The Netherlands Presidency of the European Union (from January to June 2016) aims to promote prosperity, freedom and security in the EU during the next half year, by focusing on Migration, Innovation, Economy and Energy Policies. The Assembly of European Regions can provide a wealth of knowledge and experience from the regions about these themes, … [Read more...]
Report on regionalisation: trends and challenges
The Observatory on Regionalisation is a network of some 40 experts, from Academy and research centres throughout Europe, passionate about the state of regions in their respective countries, independent from the AER and contributing on a voluntary basis to publish this comprehensive study and overview of the State of Regions in Europe. After publishing the individual country … [Read more...]
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