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Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

You are here: Home / Archives for Decentralisation

This is the tag for all posts relating to decentralisation.

A step further towards decentralisation in France Twenty years after the first law on decentralisation

19 February, 2002 By Editor

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) welcomes the coming into effect of the law on the regionalisation of the SNCF (French national rail network) on 1st January 2002. This law allows the French Regions to organise their regional train networks (Regional Express Trains – TER). They will now be responsible for their own fares, new lines and the renovation of stations. The State government will provide a budget of 1.5 million Euros for 2002 for each Region in order to execute the new law. Twenty years after the first law on decentralisation, this transfer of competences in the field of transport is remarkable progress in the decentralisation process in France. The AER considers this law as going in the right direction for the building up of European Transport infrastructure – which requires the increased involvement of the Regions regarding planning, decision-making and execution – for the benefit of commerce, industry and the citizens.

On 13th February 2002, the French Senate also adopted a draft law on “grass-roots democracy”*. This law provides for the transfer of supplementary competences from the State to the Regions and local authorities (“départements”, “communes”…). The Regions will thereby gain new responsibilities in the fields of vocational training, the environment and its protection, tourism, ports and airports, economic assistance and culture to a certain extent. It may also be appropriate to mention that some of the competences transferred by the law are transferred “in a trial manner”, particularly the management of civil airfields, the development of national ports, the listing of monuments and items of artistic value.

The AER takes good note of the government’s efforts towards decentralisation on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the Deferre law of 2nd March 1982. This law on “grass-roots democracy” may not be the cure all for the French Regions, but it’s a step towards decentralisation in France. The AER is keeping a close eye on its implementation and hopes that these new “trial” prerogatives will rapidly become the responsibility of the Regions. The AER asks the French government to provide the Regions with powers of taxation, without which the new competences cannot be fully effective.

The AER will continue its initiatives with the same intensity alongside of the French Regions and the whole of Europe to make the voices of the citizens and their representatives heard in their respective State governments and the European institutions.

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Newsletter Spring 2001: Cohesion policy in an enlarged Union?

1 May, 2001 By Editor

Headlines:

  • Cohesion policy in an enlarged Union?
  • Bureau meeting in Oberkirch – Baden-Württemberg (D)
  • Greater decentralisation in the Czech Republic
  • Seminar on “profitable environmental awareness”
  • Ecological tourism: planning for a gain-gain relation
  • Environmental Care as a Key factor in development and spatial planning
  • Ecology as a basis for sustainable regional development
  • Centurio: launch on 2001 edition
  • Summer School >Constanta, host region for 2001
  • Caravan on regionalism in Hungary >“Regionalism, culture and youth”
  • Gender equality: slowly but surely!
  • Hearings on European Governance
  • Real regions for a modern France by Adrien Zeller
  • Cooperation between Wielkopolska (PL) and Noord-Brabant (NL)

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15th General Assembly of the Regions of Europe: 7–8th December 2000, Seinäjoki, Etelä-Pohjanmaa (FIN)

20 November, 2000 By Editor

At the invitation of Mr Kyösti Virrankoski, President of the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia, the representatives of around 270 Regions from 26 countries, members of the Assembly of European Regions (AER), will meet on 7th and 8th December 2000 in Seinäjoki, Finland, for their General Assembly.

The AER will take this occasion to open a debate on the new forms of governance in Europe. The “post-Nice” will also play an important role along with members Regions’ contribution to the White paper of the European Commission which is currently being prepared. Discussions will mainly deal with the role of the Committee of the Regions in the European Union, the Regions’ participation in the implementation of European policies with an impact at regional level, the direct participation of citizens in European affairs and the process of decentralisation which is currently underway in EU member States.

This years’ General Assembly will be marked by the sign of change in the AER. Members will elect their new President, Vice-Presidents, Committee Presidents as well as the 46 members of the executive Bureau and their alternates, for a two year mandate. One new item is on the agenda: in order to respect the balance between the Regions of Western Europe and the Regions of Eastern and Central Europe – which represent over 40% of AER members – a second Vice-President should be elected for the first time this year.

Also on the agenda: this 15th General Assembly is the first to take place in a Scandinavian country. Five years after the entry of Finland in the European Union and the creation of real regional bodies in this country, this is the occasion to present the level of regional administration in the Region of the Batic Sea to participants. This led to the idea of a seminar preceding the General Assembly, where the issues of the information society and the possibilities offered by information technologies in order to improve and develope democracy and cooperation in Europe would be discussed.

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Newsletter Autumn 2000: Saving regional cultural diversity in Europe

1 November, 2000 By Editor

Headlines:

  • Saving regional cultural diversity in Europe
  • Culture, a tool for peace in Europe
  • Respect for regional competences
  • Defining the mission of the European institutions
  • The denationalisation and decentralisation of culture
  • The importance of interregional cooperation
  • Post-Nice preparation
  • 15th General Assembly of the Regions of Europe 7th.-8th. December 2000 – Seinäjoki – South Ostrobothnia (FIN)
  • Etelä-Pohjanmaa welcomes the AER

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“The Regions’ contribution to the Enlargement process”

21 October, 1999 By Editor

 


Wroclaw, Woj. Dolnoslaskie (PL), 21 October 1999

Over 250 representatives from 64 Regions in 20 countries took part in this Conference which gave speakers from the European institutions, interregional organisations, EU and CEEC Regions the opportunity of giving their point of view on the role that the European Regions can or must play in the enlargement process.

Chaired by L. Van den Brande, President of the AER, and J. Waszkiewicz, President of Woj. Dolnoslaskie, the host Region, the conference proved that the issue of Enlargement and European integration arouses great interest in all European Regions. This was made clear by the very high participation rate and the commitment shown by many speakers from the East and West during the debates. The speachess presented sought answers to three key questions: how the territorial units within the applicant countries can be involved in this unprecedented historical process and contribute to its success; what role the EU Member Regions should play to sustain the initial impetus; and how the Regions from East and West can work together to prepare the future of an enlarged Europe.

In the East: pursuing decentralisation, developing training and cooperation

The Regions of the applicant countries believe it is absolutely essential to broaden and reinforce the democratisation process in their countries. Regionalisation and democratisation must be actively pursued in the perspective of Enlargement. The Regions of these countries must also convince their national Governments to involve them or their representatives in the negotiation process at a national level, since, in many fields (especially the domestic market and agriculture), the success of Enlargement will depend on regional policies implemented to smooth out restructuring problems and help economic actors in difficulty.

Priority must also be given to training: regional political and administrative representatives must become more familiar with the EU’s principles, operating methods and programmes in order to implement them, but also to be capable of assessing the impact of resulting changes at the regional level.

Developing cross-border and interregional cooperation with the EU regions, and even a constructive exchange of experiences with those who have recently experienced accession (e.g. Sweden and Austria), constitute the keystone to the success of Enlargement and should be actively supported, especially through stepping up personal exchanges. Regions in these countries must also become more involved in communication on European integration. Their very proximity means they can convey the import of an enlarged Europe, reassure people and foster the spirit of membership.

 

In the West: sweeping stereotypes aside and promoting enlargement

In hundreds of EU Regions, many people perceive Enlargement as a threat to their current prosperity. These Regions must learn to get to know and understand the situation of the CEECs so that they may sweep lingering stereotypes aside and provide reasoned support for accession. But above all, they must fulfil their role as advisors and experts in the field of regional development, and avoid repeating past mistakes, by fostering the transfer of know-how and exchanging experience not only before, but also after, accession.

 

Preparing the enlarged Union together

On this point, the representatives from Eastern and Western Regions stressed the importance of the forum for dialogue, experience exchange and training offered by the Assembly of European Regions in the run-up to EU Enlargement, through their theme-based Committees, European training programmes (Centurio and the Summer School), Internet network and initiatives such as the Wroclaw Conference. They also showed their determination to work together, within the AER, on the perspectives of regionalism in the enlarged, reformed Europe and developing relations with non-EU European regions.

For more information: [email protected]

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Newsletter Autumn 1999: The Regions’ contribution to the Enlargement process

1 October, 1999 By Editor

Headlines:

  • The Regions’ contribution to the Enlargement process
  • In the East: pursuing decentralisation, developing training and cooperation
  • In the West: sweeping stereotypes aside and promoting enlargement
  • Preparing the enlarged Union together
  • Committee A >“Interregional East-West Cooperation” Porec, 27-08-1999
  • Committee B >Debate on Fundamental Rights, the Information Society and the fight against exclusion
  • Committee D >Increasing the participation of young people in political life
  • Towards an EU Charter on Fundamental Rights
  • AER’s 4th Summer School >Exchanging experience and know-how
  • Structural funds 2000-2006 >Eligible regions and financial share-out
  • 14th General Assembly of the European Regions 2-3 December 1999 Lyon – Rhône-Alpes (F)
  • Limousin (F) – Pomerania (PL) >Nearly 10 years of East-West cooperation
  • Franch-Comté >A resource centre for decentralised cooperation
  • Council of Europe >Walter Schwimmer elected Secretary General
  • European Commission >Michel Barnier, the new Commissioner for Regional Policy

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Newsletter Summer 1998: The Regions play an important role in promoting Employment

1 July, 1998 By Editor

Headlines:

  • The Regions play an important role in promoting Employment
  • Help for SMEs
  • First steps towards decentralisation in Great Britain
  • The Amsterdam Treaty >Ratification in progress
  • 350 years of the Treaty of Westphalia
  • East-West Cooperation >Preparing the regions for EU enlargement
  • Social and employment affairs >The need for interregional action
  • Education & training >Creating partnerships and networks
  • Financial aid for candidate countries
  • Pre-accession financial aid for agriculture
  • Pre-accession Structural Instrument
  • The key role of the Phare programme
  • Ecos-Ouverture: Call for proposals – 1998 to 2000
  • The reform of the Structural Funds is launched
  • Employment and the regions >Creation of a data base
  • The Mediterranean >Action for the prevention of fires
  • The Danube Delta >The need for greater cooperation
  • Progress report on interregional cooperation between the AER member regions
  • Oberösterreich to host the 1998 General Assembly

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Regionalism in action: Poland

31 March, 1998 By Editor

At the end of 1997, the Polish Government launched a work programme for the administrative reform of the country. The bills which are currently being discussed in the Parliament propose introducing a decentralised system similar to that in France. This would mean a distribution of competencies between three administrative levels (there are only two at present): municipality, district, voivodeships as well as the creation of regional councils made up of elected members. In this context, the competencies of the municipalities will remain practically unchanged, the districts would cover inter-municipal administration responsibilities and a large part of those of the voivodeships. The voivodeships would then carry out the standard administration for the State at regional level.

The Regional Council would be elected through direct suffrage, which represents major progress when compared to the present system. It would be made up of an elected Assembly (legislative and control body) and an executive body. It would be responsible for the regional strategy and development policy and its implementation. The competencies of the Council would include: education and higher education, health, culture, social services, regional planning, the environment, management of water resources, infrastructures and transport. It would have its own financial resources (30% from income tax and 15% from VAT, collected at regional level etc.) and would prepare and vote its own annual budget.

The bill envisages that the voivode would supervise the Regional Council in legislative fields and foreign policy. It also envisages the suspension of activities or dissolution of the Council by the President of the Council of Ministers should the Constitution not be respected or if public commitments are not carried out.

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AER Declaration on Regionalism

30 August, 1996 By Editor

The “Declaration on Regionalism” in Europe was adopted by the AER in 1996 during the General Meeting of European Regions in Basel (CH). It is a reference document for new regions or those undergoing expansion. It defines the norms and criteria for regional development and fixes the different steps to be undertaken so that the region can beacknowledged as a fully-fledged political entity. There is currently awide range of different regional structures in Europe. The “Declaration” has not chosen to promote a specific type of regionalism but sets out ageneral framework within which the regions may develop.
“The Assembly of European Regions strives to have regionalism recognised not only within the European Union but also beyond. At a time when, within Europe, the strengthening of the European Union is being reflected upon, the role of the regions in the unification process is gaining importance. Themes such as the distribution of responsibilities and the cooperation through partnerships between the various policy levels have consequently come to the fore, subsidiarity being the basic principle to define everyone’s role. The movement for regionalism is strong within the European Union as well as beyond. It is fuelled by the belief that the powers vested in the European Union, the (Member-) States and the regions are complementary.Regions, federated states and autonomous communities are above all mainstays of democracy; they strongly support cultural diversity in Europe and they are major partners in socio-economic development. This is why they should be able to take responsibilities in the policy areas where they have a competitive advantage, amongst others, in economics (employment), culture, the environment, regional and country planning, scientific research etc.The Declaration on regionalism adopted by the Assembly of European Regions offers a reliable guide for regions on the way to enlargening and strengthening their powers. It is a document of norms and standards, an entity of beacons and stepping stones. It is not a charter that fixes the minimum norms for recognition of a region. The rich diversity of regions in the AER yields a great number of models and structures to streamline regional development. The Declaration on regionalism sets out the guidelines within which the AER member regions develop. Thus they endorse the AER objective: strengthening regional development.
By this Declaration the AER wants to show what it, together with its members, strives for. They can enrich and strengthen the AER. This is why the Declaration is distributed, presented and discussed within the AER as well as beyond. In our capacity as former and current Presidents of the AER, we want to further promote regionalism in Europe, thereby enabling regions to take up more responsibility in a Europe that is closer to the citizen”.

Other language versions

Declaration on regionalism – Basque 
Declaration on regionalism – Catalan
Declaration on regionalism – Deutsche
Declaration on regionalism – Español
Declaration on regionalism – Suomalainen
Declaration on regionalism – Français
Declaration on regionalism – Magyar
Declaration on regionalism – Italiano
Declaration on regionalism – Lietuva
Declaration on regionalism – Nederlands
Declaration on regionalism – Norsk
Declaration on regionalism – Polskie
Declaration on regionalism – Português
Declaration on regionalism – Română
Declaration on regionalism – Pусский
Declaration on regionalism – Svenska
Declaration on regionalism – український
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