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European Convention: Nominations for the EU Youth Convention!

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AER urges for a strong representation of young people from the Regions and local authorities in the EU Youth Convention

Call for lobbying of Convention members by the Regions and regional youth assemblies

The Convention on the Future of Europe, in its March and April sessions decided to set up a Youth Convention at is session in April. The Youth Convention of 210 young people will meet in the plenary session on the 9th – 14th July 2002 in Brussels. It will have a full Presidency and will also have its own rapporteurs to report back to the Convention. Costs will be met by the EU.

The Youth Convention is made up of 18 to 25 year olds and is open to all young people meaning that it should represent a cross-section of society and not only members or young officials of youth organisations, political organisations or parties.

Gender equality is another issue, so that young women should have an equal share of nominations. All members of the European Convention have the right to nominate young people for the Youth Convention. The procedure for how youth members will be finally selected is not very clear.

As with the exception of the representative of the German Bundesrat, the Minister-President Erwin Teufel, no other member participates with a specific regional mandate (representatives of the Committee of the Regions participate as observers), it will be difficult to have direct nominations from local and regional youth assemblies.

Nevertheless the AER asks all Regions to lobby their national representatives (Government and Parliament) to ensure that young people with a specific local or regional affiliation will be nominated. It would be detrimental to the concept of the Youth Convention if this new body consisted of a majority of representatives of established youth organisations and young politicians or young relatives of members. The EU Youth Convention needs high participation from young people from our regions in order to express their regional and local concerns.

For more information: [email protected]

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The Romanian people, free at long last…not if they go to Greece, says the AER

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The decision considering the suppression of Romanian visas was unanimously interpreted as the fall of one of the last obstacles to the freedom of movement. Since the 1st January 2002, Romanian citizens may enter the Schengen area without visas.

The AER considers itself as one of the European actors having contributed to this decision, especially in view of its resolution produced last year.

Recently, 70 Romanian citizens which fulfilled all requirements for entry into the country were stopped at Greek customs. Border police claimed that the tourists could not provide proof of having paid for accommodation for their stay in Greece. The AER expresses its concern regarding the unnecessary limits applicable to entry Greece. The situation seems to be unclear between the border police and the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hopefully, the Ministry will quickly publish the list of requirements for Romanians wishing to enter the country.

The decision concerning the suppression of visas must not remain symbolic, but have a 100% real impact.

For more information: [email protected]

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The AER working for equal opportunities for men and women

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Tällberg, Dalarna (Sweden), 2 November 2001

The annual Conference of the working group of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) responsible for equal opportunities for men and women took place on 2nd November 2001 in Tällberg (Dalarna, Sweden). Three issues were on the agenda for this working session which was chaired by Mrs Carin Palmcrantz, First Vice-President of the County Council of Dalarna: the role of men in gaining greater gender equality, trafficking in women from Eastern and Central Europe and domestic violence.

The meeting allowed delegates from the Regions of Europe to discuss their experience and good practices in the presence of representatives from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the International Office for Migration.

A final declaration was adopted and will be submitted to the AER General Assembly on 29th and 30th November 2001 in Sopron (Hungary). This text invites the Regions of Europe to actively and political practice gender quality within their political and administrative bodies whilst highlighting mens’ roles. “This is a society-wide problem which does not affect women only” states the final declaration whilst condemning the trafficking of women from Eastern and Central Europe and declaring that “it is thanks to the existance of a organised market and demand for prostitution in Western Europe that these women, hounded by poverty, are able to turn to this hideous trafficking which is both possible and profitable”. Finally, the declaration feels that domestic violence should not be considered as a private problem, but as a social one which requires action by the social services in the Regions.

Prior to this meeting, the working group held a working lunch in the company of Mrs Margareta Winberg, Swedish Minister for gender equality. This lunch-debate was held on 1st in Stockholm at the Swedish Government headquarters and allowed the delegates from the Regions of Europe attending this meeting to receive information on the initiatives taken by Sweden concerning gender equality.

For more information: [email protected]

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Mrs Propok, AER President, met the new Czech regions

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Budweis (CZ), 5 October 2001

Mrs Liese Prokop, Vice-Minister President of Niederösterreich (A) and AER President, met today in Budweis (CZ) the 14 new Czech regions, results from the administrative reform of the country that came into effect on January 1st, 2001. Mrs Prokop’s wish was to meet the new representatives of all these regions in order to win them over to the AER’s cause.

“The Enlargement process of the European Union gives the regions an opportunity to put to the test the model promoted by the AER and to reinforce their political role in Europe. Within the context of the “After-Nice” process and the debate on the future of Europe, the AER, and with it the regions in Europe, draw the attention to the fact that a proper distribution of responsibilities as well as a clear and equitable separation of powers with well-adapted decision and control mechanisms are necessary in order to avoid centralization at European level”, Mrs. Prokop said.

“Now, more than ever, the time for Regions and States has come to convince the European citizens that in the long run only a federal structure can serve as a stable base for further developments of the Union. As regional leaders we have to persuade our populations that regionalism in its federal form is an efficient way to prevent the development of Europe with all power centralized in Brussels. Our way of seeing the rights of democratic participation and decision leaves the necessary margin for autonomous and independent territorial entities, which we cannot imagine functioning without self-responsibility, subsidiarity and competition” Mrs Prokop added in Budweis.

For more information: [email protected]

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The Regions of Europe wish to continue the EU reforms beyond the Intergovernmental Conference

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Nyon, Vaud (CH), 27 October 2000

At its meeting in Nyon, the political Bureau of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) debated the draft reform of the European Institutions in the context of the Intergovernmental Conference. This reform is indispensable to Union enlargement which has become a political necessity for applicant countries and for the Union itself.

Conscious of the fact that it would be become more and more difficult to make unanimous decisions, the AER Bureau recognised that in the future qualified majority voting would be necessary for the progress of Europe. However, the Bureau feels that as long as no clear definition of competences of the European institutions exists, drawn up on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, unanimous voting must be maintained in order to respect the current priorities of numerous European Regions, in particular in the field of culture, education and training, and in this way encourage their participation in European decisions.

The Bureau felt that this IGC was merely the first step towards an indepth reform which would take the interests of all governance levels in Europe into account. “The European Council in Nice must make a decision on the continuation of reforms aiming to simplify the Treaties, the inclusion of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights in the body of Treaties which constitutes a united Europe and a completely new definition of competences. The calendar and the direction to take must clearly appear in the outcome of the current Intergovernmental Conference” said Luc Van den Brande, AER President.

The following appeared among the main AER demands:

– the Committee of the Regions (CoR) should become a fully fledged body of the European Union with the right to appear in a legal court of justice in order to defend its own rights, as well as the right to question its members on affairs with a regional aspect;
– the right for the Regions with legislative powers to represent themselves within the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

For more information: [email protected]

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4th Summer School on East / West Cooperation

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Porec, Istra (HR), 3 September 1999 

150 delegates from 65 European regions and 19 countries will participate in this 4th Summer School, organised under the aegis of the Assembly of European Regions from 29th August to 3rd September 1999 in Porec (Istra). The Programme of this 4th Summer School takes up key issues such as :

• The EU Accession process in Central and Eastern European countries : the impact of this process on the regions of these countries, their hopes in the framework of the EastWest cooperation development and the training needs for the regional authorities.

• the EU Regional policies and the European programmes implemented in the context of the European Union enlargement process (Phare, Tacis), with interventions of European Commission representatives,

• the importance of partnerships at regional and interregional levels for strengthening social cohesion in an enlarged Europe,

• the responsability of the regions in the peace keeping process and the protection of minorities. Representatives of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will address the participants.

Established in 1996, the AER Summer School is a training programme which encourages dialogue, the exchange of experiences and the implementation of cooperation between the regions of Central and Eastern Europe and those of the West. To organise the programme, the AER is assisted by the following regions: Essex (GB), Friuli-Venezia Giulia & Veneto (I), Istra (HR), Krakow (PL), Noord-Brabant (NL), Pest (H), Stockholm & Uppsala (S), Thüringen (D), Vlaanderen (B) and Vilnius (LT). The region of Vilnius will welcome the Summer School 2000.

As last year, this year’s Summer School will welcome, among its participants, the AER Centurio Programme trainees. Established in 1994, Centurio is an AER Programme for government officers and political representatives from the regions of Central and Eastern Europe. Over 20 “Centurio” trainees from Poland, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldavia, Russia and Croatia will be taking part in the 1999 Summer School sessions. They will then go on to their work placements (1 or 2), each of four weeks, in two different regions in Western Europe.

For more information: [email protected]

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