Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

You are here: Home / Archives for Mediterranean issues

This is the tag for all posts relating to Mediterranean issues.

Ongoing Decentralisation in Turkey

By


Strasbourg (F), 21 September 2006

Since last year, the Presidents of the Turkish Provinces* have been elected by the Provincial Council, the members of which are directly elected by the citizens. But this institutional reform in Turkey is only one step in an ongoing process. The role of the regions in Turkey will further increase. This was the main issue discussed between Riccardo Illy, President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER), and Mr Harput, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Interior.

Harput stressed that Turkey is committed to further decentralisation in order to serve the citizens and their needs in a better way. This would also lead to the development of solid links between Provinces and citizens. President Illy strongly welcomed this view and promised that the AER and its members will give its support to the Turkish provinces in reaching their goals. “The AER fully shares these values of proximity to the citizen which will result in concrete projects. This is what we experience each day in our 255 Member Regions” he said. As a proof of this involvement, the AER Bureau has already welcomed the Province of Kahramanmaras as first Turkish AER member. In meetings with the Secretary Generals of some Turkish Provinces President Illy and Secretary Klaus Klipp discussed ways of concrete cooperation between the regions of Turkey and the other European countries.

President Illy also met Ministers and representatives from the Government and the civil society. This three-day marathon confirmed to Riccardo Illy that “Turkey is a modern and democratic country with continuing economic development and growth. Turkey is definitely on the way to meet the standards set by the EU and must have a chance to become a full partner of the European Union. Finally, we have to keep in mind that Turkey is the natural link for the dialogue with the Middle-East and the southern Mediterranean”, President Illy concluded.

* According to the AER’s ‘Declaration on regionalism in Europe’, “the region is the territorial body of public law established at the level immediately below that of the State and endowed with political self-government. The region shall be recognised in the national constitution or in legislation which guarantees its autonomy, identity, powers and organisational structures.” The Turkish provinces correspond to this definition.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Scenario Europe 2010 – The AER launched its work on the White Paper on the role of the regions

By

Dubrovnik (HR), 29 Aprile 2005

‘EU enlargement and globalisation have created new opportunities and challenges for the European regions. The Constitutional Treaty currently in the process of being ratified in the Member States and the Lisbon Strategy imply the greater involvement of regions in all aspects of European governance in the next future, especially if we want to bring the European project closer to the citizens’ stated Lars-Gerhard Westberg (Västra-Götaland-S), Vice-President of the AER ‘Institutional Affairs’ Committee, at the conference on ‘The role of the regions in Europe: a Scenario for 2010’, organised by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) in Dubrovnik on 29th April.

‘European competitiveness and entrepreneurship will not improve unless they can build on existing conditions and opportunities in Europe’s regions, towns and municipalities’, said Mrs Catarina Segersten Larsson, Chair of the Värmland County Council Executive Committee (S). In her contribution “The Lisbon Strategy: the role of the regions in creating the world’s most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy by 2010”, Mrs Segersten Larsson pointed out that it is crucial for achieving the ambitious goals of the Lisbon Agenda, that the EU develop more grass-roots perspectives in all European policies and that the regions accept their responsibility in this process. Referring to the discussion paper by Mr Anders Gustâv, Chair of the ECOS, Committee of the Regions, which will be presented next week, Mrs Segersten Larsson insisted on a two-way approach to the implementation of the Lisbon Agenda on the regional level: improving regional competitiveness and developing public-private partnerships.

The conference also allowed regions to have an in-depth discussion on the impact of the Constitutional Treaty on the role of the regions in European governance, on new opportunities for regional participation in European policy making and on how the regions can contribute to the goal of bringing Europe closer to the citizens.

The conference was held in Croatia, a country where the issue of EU membership is currently at the forefront of the citizens’ minds. If the current stalemate between the EU and the Croatian government over co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ITCY) is settled, it will be the regions that will have a leading role to play in preparing the country for EU membership. Through drawing upon the expertise of its 250 member regions, the AER will assist the Croatian regions in preparing for this challenge.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Building bridges between Regions: The AER explores new opportunities for interregional cooperation

By

 


Palma de Mallorca, 4 October 2004

Developing its key role of bringing the European Regions closer together, the Assembly of European Regions (AER) has risen to a new challenge: to develop North-South cooperation between the regions of the European continent and their neighbours in the Southern Mediterranean. The Region of Illes Balears-E, living up to its geographical role as a link between Europe and the Southern Mediterranean, hosted 80 political representatives of the regions of the AER‘Institutional Affairs’ Committee.

North-South cooperation, a new way to build stable societies

The AER, always convinced of the importance of developing links between the regions of the European Union (EU) and their neighbours, is keen to support the development of democratic processes in the Southern Mediterranean. “Our goal is to support each of our Member Regions in building bridges with other regions. The AER will place its network of 250 regions from 30 countries at the disposal of the regions in the Southern Mediterranean, in order to support these regions in building democratic structures that meet the needs of their citizens. It will achieve this through the development of concrete programmes of exchange of experience and know-how, working together with key partners such as the Untied Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The EU’s new neighbours will benefit from the dissemination of examples of best practice in regional government, and the subsequent strengthening of subsidiarity will benefit all their citizens” stated Peter Straub, President of the AER’s ‘Institutional Affairs’ Committee and President of the Committee of the Regions. “This initiative will build upon the hard work that the AER has undertaken for many years on the issue of EU enlargement. We will now use our expertise to the benefit of its new neighbours in the Southern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans”.

Structural funds: the AER appeals to the EU for continued support

The AER welcomes the intention of the EU to support regional development in the new Member States through a reform of its Structural Funds programmes. However, the AER highlights the importance of ensuring that continued support is given to the least developed regions of the old EU Member States (EU 15), which are currently classified as “Objective 1”. The AER, through its 20 years of work with the European Regions, understands the specific difficulties that many of these regions still face. The AER will therefore continue to lobby the European institutions to ensure that support is provided to regions from the “EU-15” that are facing specific handicaps in their development, resulting, for example, from their situation as peripheral or island regions.

Let’s ratify the Constitutional Treaty

At the same time that the EU plays a key role in regional development, the regions have an increasingly important part to play in the development of the EU. The AER has strongly influenced the development of the Constitution. “We have had great success in ensuring that the interests of the regions and their citizens were reflected in the final text of the treaty. We must now ensure that citizens fully understand the significance and relevance of the new Constitution for them, so that they are able to make informed decisions during the ratification process” highlighted Klaus Klipp, Secretary General of the AER. “The AER will assist its member regions in successfully informing their citizens about this important issue. At the beginnig of the making of the institutional treaty in the so call Convention, lead by Valery Giscard d’Estaing, we would not have dreamt of only achieving half of what regions and citizens have achieved now with the Constitutional Treaty”.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Simplifying the management of structural funds

By

 


Strasbourg (F), 2 June 2003

The current system of managing structural funds is too complicated and excessively centralised, from the planning phase to the payment, monitoring and control phases. A decentralisation of procedures and a new definition of objectives and programmes are thus needed.

Well aware of these challenges the Assembly of European Regions (AER) is organising a conference titled “What future for regional policy? Regional proposals for the simplification, the decentralisation and the creation of new partnerships”. Within the context of an enlarged Europe, conference participants will debate needed reforms and ways to put them in place.

Furthermore, the experiences of regions will be presented in order to learn from the problems they have encountered, how they have dealt with them, and the solutions they have found. The AER will introduce the new edition of the Centurio programme for the training and the exchange of experiences in the area of the management of regional policy, as a concrete action for new regional partnerships.

The regional representatives will also look at the position of interregional and trans-national co-operation in the new European regional policy and the opportunities provided by the Interreg III programme.

The conference will bring together approximately 150 people including experts as well as regional, national and European political representatives.

The Italian region of Calabria will be hosting this AER conference on the 5th and 6th of June 2003.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Barcelona Conference: The future of Europe depends on gender equality

By

 

Barcelona, Catalunya (E), 26 October 2002

The conference organised in Barcelona by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the Institut Català de la Dona on 25th and 26th October 2002 under the heading “Women in decision-making in the Regions of Europe: women and men sharing power” led to several steps forward being made in terms of gender equality:

 

Women in politics…

“The balanced share of responsibilities and equal opportunities must be fully planned for, assessed and resolved. If we do not manage to reconcile the pillars of society, i.e. paid work and family obligations, via enhanced action for the reconciliation of politics and family life, female participation in this field will remain tedious and difficult” declared Carin Palmcrantz, President of the Equal opportunities for men and women group.

Participants unanimously criticised the bad example provided by the EU: the Convention on the future of Europe, responsible for drawing up the future Constitution, has very few female members. “It is our duty to put pressure on Convention members to ensure that the future Constitution pertinently includes gender equality. We must make the proposals of the Regions heard” stated Teresa Freixes Sanjúan, Professor in Constitutional law and President of the European Law Institute. This comes in addition to the AER survey showing significant change in terms of gender representation: in 1997, only 10% of members had Equality action programmes against 55% in 2002.

… and economics

“Claims for gender equality do not only concern women, all members of society are affected” stressed Margarida Álvarez i Álvarez, President of the Institut Català de la Dona. “The struggle for gender equality is not simply a question of justice, it’s profitable” she continued. World Bank statistics prove that countries which protect women’s rights and develop access to financial assistance achieve more rapid economic growth than other countries.

Participants generally agreed on the critical nature of re-organising labour systems in order to adapt the current situation and allow both men and women to live fulfilled professional and personal lives.

The AER Equal opportunities group now intends to distribute the final Declaration adopted in Barcelona to the European Institutions and to the regions themselves. They will also ensure the follow-up to their recommendations.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

The Regions and sustainable transport: What future for Common Transport Policy?

By

The Assembly of European Regions organised a workshop on “The Regions and sustainable transport” on 19th April in Florence, Toscana-I, in the aim of demonstrating the role which the Regions must play in future European transport policy.

Several examples of good regional practices in the field of sustainable transport, and their concrete impact and added value in comparison to European and national initiatives in particular, were looked at by over fifty participants at this workshop. In this context, participating Regions talked of their experience in the implementation of European and national policies and of European programmes (INTERREG IIIB, PHARE, ISPA…), gave their point of view on the advantages and drawbacks of these programmes and current legislation and laid out the content and objectives of the regional policies used towards sustainable development in transport by the Regions.

The President of the “Regional policy, Transport and Tourism” Committee of the European Parliament, Luciano Caveri, spoke on the theme “What future for Common Transport Policy? The European Parliament’s contribution of the definition of new Governance”. “Subsidiarity only currently exists at state level, and it is up to the Convention to give the Regions a real role” he declared. “There will be no sustainable development in any field as long as both local and regional levels of government are not the main actors. The reform of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) and the incorporation of new routes on these networks requires the involvement of the Regions” he concluded.

Riccardo Conti, coordinator for AER sub-Committee “Sustainable Transport Development and the Environment”, and Assessore for the Region of Toscana, host of the event, stressed that “Common Transport Policy is but an instrument for harmonisation, and the Regions must develop their own transport policies”. He added that “the transport network must allow for sustainable economic development and not simply turn the Regions into transit zones”.

This AER workshop is the first real step towards a long-term strategy aiming to: – bring the attention of national and European authorities to the efficient role of the Regions in the field of transport, – request that the Regions wield the necessary legal and financial means for the implementation of their policies in this field, – encourage the exchange of good practices and experience as well as cooperation between Regions in the EU and Regions in accession countries.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

AER supports the Italian initiative for mountain regions

By

“We encourage the initiative which aims at obtaining the recognition of the specific status for mountain regions in the EU Treaty, as presented by Enrico La Loggia, Italian Minister for Regional Policy, yesterday (13th March) to the President of the European Commission” declared Liese Prokop, President of the Assembly of European Regions. “Mountain regions suffer from demanding conditions for development and must therefore benefit, in this new phase of European integration, from the same status and European support as accorded to outermost maritime and peripheral regions since the Treaty of Amsterdam” she underlined.

“The AER requests that both the EU and member states support regional authorities in mountain areas in their action in favour of sustainable economic development, de-isolation, nature conservation, the improvement of the standard of living of local populations, particularly by the maintaining of public services and in their struggle against desertification” stressed Brian Greenslade, President of the AER Regional policies Committee.

At the occasion of the International year of Mountains 2002, the Assembly of European Regions calls for the rapid ratification of the Convention for the protection of the Alps in order to ensure its entry into force, and for the adoption of the European Convention on mountain Regions by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

At the Conference of Presidents of European interregional organisations, to be held in Linz on 21st March 2002, the AER will propose to the interregional organisations working in this field -Working Community of the Adriatic Alps (ALPEN ADRIA), Working Community of the Alpine Countries (ARGE Alps), Working Community of the Danube Countries (ARGE DONAULÄNDER), Working Community of the Western Alps (COTRAO), Working Community of the Jura (CTJ), Working Cmmunity of the Pyrenees (CTP) – the creation of an ad hoc structure aiming at providing political support for all mountain regions and at developing co-operation between mountain regions from the East and West of Europe.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

AER demands: “EU Presidency Programme, what about the regions and their citizens Mr Aznar?”

By

After having assessed the programme for the Spanish EU Presidency, Liese Prokop, President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER), and Mr Brian Greenslade, President of the AER Regional Policy Committee, announced their astonishment with the lack of regional policy on the list of priorities on the “More Europe” programme drawn up by the new EU Presidency.

“The future of European regional policy and common agricultural policy are two poles of strength behind the implementation of new governance in an enlarged Europe. These policies will also play a substantial role in accession negociations beginning under the Spanish Presidency. Our member Regions within the EU and those in applicant countries work as partners on an equal basis, within my AER Committee. We deal on the future of regional policy and these Regions question the evasive attitude taken by the Spanish Presidency. This hesitation is confirmed by the fact that the Spanish Agricultural Minister recently announced a 5 year transition period for the payment of funding to farmers in new member States. The lengthening of transition periods will not solve the real problems created by enlargement” said Brian Greenslade.

“Spain is one of the main beneficiaries of EU structural funds. Its Regions enjoy wide ranging powers of autonomous government. This is surprising that Prime Minister Aznar has made no reference to regional policy in the EU-Spanish Presidency programme. The Spanish regions have been able to rapidly develop thanks to funding received from the EU. They will once again benefit from the European market and common development in an enlarged European Union” Liese Prokop stressed today.

“Over and above financial considerations, enlargement must be built on solidarity in the EU. Solidarity is one of the main values of our Assembly which brings together 250 member Regions from the East and the West. It’s the only way to avoid a double track enlarged Europe leading to the failure of EU enlargement” she added.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

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

By

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]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

“Mosan EuroSalute” Event in Milan

By

Milan, Lombardy (I), 3 October 2001

Mrs Liese Prokop, as AER President, and the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mr Podesta, opened “Mosan EuroSalute” in Milan together.

The first meeting between regional ministers for social affairs and health took place within this Conference and the exhibition, which presented new developments in the social and health sectors.

President Prokop stressed the importance of interregional cooperation, a sine qua non condition for the development of joint projects in a sector of primordial consequence for the population.

These words were welcomed by the Minister of Health for Bayern, Mrs Stevens, by Senator Schöttler from Berlin and by the Secretary of State from Baden-Württemberg, Mrs Lichy, as opening up new prospects. The opening session showed to what extent, today, prevention for pensioners is a highly discussed current affair in all Regions.

It was unanimously recognised that training for medical personel must be at the same level in Regions as in European member States. This issue must continue to be treated in an indepth manner within the AER Committee for Social affairs and public health.

According to several observers, this Conference “Mosan EuroSalute” jointly organised by the AER, was a long awaited initiative which is expected to strengthen the impact of European cooperation in the Regions.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

The future of European regional policy: AER Action Plan

By

AER Committee C: “Regional Policies, Territorial planning, Infrastructures, Environment, Tourism”

Florence, Tuscany (I), 5-6 June 2000

On 5th and 6th June 2000, the Committee C of the Assembly of European Regions met in Florence, Tuscany (I) at a meeting which was chaired by Mr Brian Greenslade (Devonshire, UK), the Committee President. The meeting was attended by representatives of the citizens of 57 Regions from 17 countries. The meeting considered the regional aspects of a number of key issues affecting the citizens of the European Continent (membership includes Regions both from inside and outside of the EU).

In the past, Committee C has succeeded in promoting the recognition of territorial cohesion as a fundamental principle of the construction of Europe which contributed to making sure that territorial cohesion was included in article 16 (former article 7d) of the European Union Treaty.

Today, the Committee C’s main fields of action cover the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Sustainable Rural Development, Regional transport and Communications, the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) and Environment, without forgetting Regional twinning (or cooperation) and specific matters linked to INTERREG III. The Committee also takes pride in its contribution to the enlargement process.

A multi-national working group has been established in order to draft a report on the AER’s perspective on the future of regional policies and European governance. The group is made up of Regions from Ireland, Italy, Great Britain, Norway, Finland and Romania among others. Their work will be completed by September 2000 (next Committee C meeting in Tulcea, 22nd – 23rd September 2000), in order to present the AER’s contribution to Commissioner Barnier before the adoption of the next EU report on social and economic cohesion.

Under the chairmanship of Mr Hjalmarsson (Norrbotten, Sweden), work is also progressing for the enhancement of the role and the future of regional airports, particularly regarding their contribution to regional economies and the reduction of peripheral areas. This work will include the development of a sub-TEN of regional air transport.

The Committee is developing a network on environment and tourism, coordinated by Västerbotten, which will collect case studies and enable Regions to share their good practices. The President of the Committee, Mr Brian Greenslade, will be seeking the involvement of the Regions in the consultation relating to the review of the transeuropean network and in particular the acknowledgement of the importance of the regional perspective in the development of these networks.

The Committee’s President will also address the EU Commission, on behalf of members, in order to announce the AER’s intention to actively cooperate in the observatory which was recently opened within INTERREG III and in which a number of AER members are interested. The AER will also try to cooperate in this field with other interregional organisations as already agreed in the Conference in Grado, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, I (April 1999).

Finally the quality of the members’ contributions and the direct relevance of the issues on the agenda for the Regions have greatly contributed to the ongoing process of the political relaunch of the AER.

This political movement which promotes regionalism and stimulates cooperation between regional authorities is providing to be, as President Martini of Tuscany (I) said, even more necessary in the interests of the Regions from all over the European Continent.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

The AER and the CLRAE: Mr L Cuatrecasas, elected President of the Congress

By

Strasbourg, Alsace (F), 23-25 March 2000

At the 7th Plenary session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 23-25th May 2000), Mr Llibert Cuatrecasas (Catalonia – E) was elected President of the Congress with the support of the AER and all the political groups.

Mr Cuatrecasas is an active member of the AER and is rapporteur for the draft European Charter on Region Self-Government. He will work, over his two year mandate, in favour of the adoption of this Charter by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The AER, which supports this project since the very beginning (1997), commits itself to supporting the Congress’ work in this field by undertaking, in particular, action to mobilise members, regarding the first draft, within national governments.

Elections also took place for the Presidence of the Chamber of the Regions of the Congress where Mr Risto Koivisto (Tampere-FIN) succeeded Mr J C Van Cauwenberghe (Wallonia-B). Mr Koivisto is rapporteur, with Mr Luc Van den Brande, President of the AER, on the Intergovernmental Conference within the Committee of the Regions of the European Union. In his nomination speech Mr Koivisto stressed the importance of the current debate on new forms of governance in Europe and spoke in favour of auto-governance at regional and local level.

The AER took the occasion of the annual session of the Congress to officially launch its Centurio in the Balkans programme; this programme aims to offer work traineeships in democracy and public administration, in EU Regions, to the representatives of local authorities in the Balkans. Indeed, since the end of April, many candidatures have been arriving at the AER, coming from, in particular, the Cantons of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Bosnian Canton of Sanjack in Serbia which is currently undertaking brave action against the discriminatory ethnical policies of Belgrade’s regime. The Italian Regions have already offered to take in some trainees. However, mobilisation in other European Regions is necessary in order to satisfy all of the requests and contribute, through this gest of solidarity, to stability in the Balkans.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Library

Statutory Documents
AER Strategies
Minutes
Media Kit
Activity Reports
Newsletters
European Regions Map

Join AER!

Become a Member

Job Opportunities

Sign up for our Newsletter

Search

Website map