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Deciding Together on the Future of Europe

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After the European elections in May, the EU has embarked on a number of institutional and personal changes. EU leaders meet in Brussels to set out a common future direction: On June 20 and 21, the European Council adopted the Strategic Agenda ahead of the new political cycle. These documents outline the future policy direction for 2019-2024 and guides the work of the EU Institutions. The Strategic Agenda reflects changes and challenges from the recent years which do not only affect the EU but are also relevant for international political decision-makers. Next to this, the EU leaders will also discuss key topics such as climate, disinformation, the long-term EU budget and external relations.

Specifically, the new 2019-2024 Strategic Agenda sets out four main priorities:

  • protecting citizens and freedoms;
  • developing a strong and vibrant economic base;
  • building a climate-neutral, green, fair and social Europe;
  • promoting European interests and values on the global stage

The AER Manifesto sets out the direction Europe should be going from the perspective of European regions and the priorities the EU should focus on in order to deliver on the Europe that our citizens want to see. In our manifesto, European regions called for a greener, more fair and democratic Europe, with a strong cohesion policy at its heart. Our member regions urged EU leaders to actively apply the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, enabling regional authorities to effectively contribute to the EU policy-making and meaningfully engage in the design and implementation of the Union legislation and policies on the ground. 

Our key recommendations, greater confidence in regions as well as strengthened cohesion policy, are key factors in forging a revitalised European project. Supporting the role of regions is instrumental in bringing the 2030 Agenda and its sustainable development goals forward and in building-up the smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe that citizens want to see. 

Read our full Manifesto here: 

Photo by Yolanda Sun / Unsplash

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Regions for peace-building

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On June 4th, 2019, AER co-organized a debate with the Congress of the Council of Europe about the role of local and regional authorities in peace-building. This debate took place in the context of the World Forum Normandy for Peace. It consisted of a vivid discussion between speakers of a debate panel and afterward with the public.

Different perspectives on peace-building

Moderated by Thomas Andersson, President of the Regional Council of Jämtland (SE) and active member of AER, the debate turned around the question of how local and regional authorities can contribute to peace-building and create stability in their respective region.

Three speakers from different backgrounds were invited and shared their experiences and opinions on the topic. Ms. Kelly McBride, director of the Democratic Society, a non-profit organization seeking more dialogues and deliberation in democracy shared her view from an angle of a civil society representative. In her opinion, one of the most important things local and regional entities can do for peace is making sure that all forms of democracy are given in a territory. All the people living there should have the possibility to influence what happens in their surroundings. McBride suggested, that a more open and participative government, amongst other actions, is advantageous for peace-building.

Mr. Xavier Cadoret, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress and mayor of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (FR) emphasizes the fact of how important the subsidiary principle is to build sustainable peace. It means to give certain competencies to a more immediate and local level so that tasks can be acted out more effectively. The link to peace would be that subsidiarity could guarantee that all the regions of a state feel included in the decision-making processes of a government.

At last, Ms. Dörte Liebetruth, a member of the Chamber of Regions of the Congress and of the state parliament of Lower Saxony in Germany stresses the importance of the local and regional level. Because it is closest to the people, where “we live our everyday life” and experience first-hand what the “decision-makers” conclude, be it on the European or the national level.

Left to right: Kelly McBride, Xavier Cadoret, Dörte Liebetruth, Thomas Andersson

Challenges and the future involvement of regions in peace

When it comes to threats to peace, especially in Europe, everyone on the debate panel agreed on certain points. Forces aiming at disintegrating Europe, the crisis of representation and loss of trust in public authorities, the indifference of people, and fake news are big challenges to guarantee a peaceful coexistence. Another big challenge regarding region’s involvement in peace-building is the lack of financial resources of the local and regional authorities to contribute substantially to peace. Also, a lack of experts and professionals is missing in this field.

The panel discussion concluded, that the future involvement of regions and local governments in peace will be in more and more participative and collective leadership, dialogue and cooperation between regions and levels of government, and fostering cultural encounters. Regions should furthermore work for more empathy, encouragement, and empowerment of people to work towards peaceful and stable societies.

20 to 25 people participated in the discussion after the panel debate and came up with very concrete questions on, for example, town twinning and how to make the citizens participate more in decision-making processes.

Despite countries’ varying levels of decentralization, autonomy, and skills, local and regional authorities in Europe are working to foster ties and contribute to the continent’s stability. By focusing on local and regional issues, the dialogue can often be more fruitful than at the national level.

The World Forum Normandy for Peace took place at the Abbaye aux Dames in Caen, France.
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AER in Conversation: The Future of Europe – with Karl-Heinz Lambertz.

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During the Assembly of European Regions Bureau meeting in Larnaca, Cyprus, AER had the pleasure of welcoming President of the European Committee of the Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, to discuss the Future of Europe in conversation with newly re-elected AER President Magnus Berntsson.

Mr. Lambertz arrived in Cyprus a day earlier for a citizen’s dialogue, part of an ongoing consultation between European institutions and actors at local and regional level to discuss the future of the European Union. Mr. Lambertz has participated in more than 50 of these dialogues, putting him in an unparalleled position to share the views of Europe’s citizens with the members of the Assembly of European Regions.

AER President Magnus Berntsson led the conversation and opened with the current context of Europe in the wake of the 2019 European Parliament elections – what next for local and regional actors in Europe?

Mr. Berntsson took the opportunity to share the AER Manifesto for the European Elections and incoming MEPs and Commissioners with Mr. Lambertz.

The pair agreed that in many ways it is a moment for reflection and change as newly elected politicians from the regions of Europe will come to Brussels and Strasbourg to sit in the European Parliament and form part of the College of Commissioners.

Notwithstanding this, Mr. Lambertz emphasised that the European Union must belong to its citizens;

“Europe is not just Brussels and Strasbourg, it is every corner of the union, we must go there and speak to the citizens, to make them feel that Europe is theirs.”

The CoR President reiterated the importance of citizen’s dialogue in encouraging participation and boosting a feeling of ownership among citizens. In doing so, he recalled;

“Subsidiarity is one of the most important European Principles. We must work at the level closest to the citizens. We must listen to citizens “

Wrapping up the conversation with AER members this afternoon in Larnaca, Mr Lambertz said:

We need a narrative based on values, developed by young and old, by people of different backgrounds, different viewpoints coming together to build a future for Europe.

Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President CoR

As a network of local and regional politicians and civil servants, AER’s views on the future of Europe are fully compatible with Mr. Lambertz’s vision for a diverse, representative and united Europe.

AER will continue its close cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions going forward.

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Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite! and…let’s kick-off

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When you say connection, you say cohesion. When you say cohesion policy you say regional policy. When you say regions you say the Assembly of European Regions. That’s the short way to say that one of the core reasons that led to the setting up of our network is to advocate the principles of regional cohesion at European level. This is how the action started and continues, as like in any complex narrative, challenges take the most interesting place.

Background of the project

Given that cohesion policy is a key EU’s investment tool to foster the development in Europe, regions could benefit of it in order to improve citizens’ quality life through job creation, business competitiveness, economic growth and sustainable development. Despite all that, the Eurobarometer surveys prove that there is a big discrepancy in the way citizens acknowledge the existence and the benefits of cohesion policy from one region to another all over Europe. The European Institutions along with different organisations have been constantly developing actions to improve this situation, but apparently there is still room to work on it.

Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite!

In this context the Assembly of European Regions designed the ambitious project “Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite!”, conceived as a communication campaign that aims to raise awareness about the importance of programmes, projects and services funded by the cohesion policy funds in terms of benefits on citizens’ life as well as to turn citizens and stakeholders in active players regarding the future debate on cohesion policy. At the heart of it, there is a bottom-up approach that leads regions, citizens and stakeholders to become main protagonists of the action. The campaign will mainly focus on 5 European countries: Croatia, Hungary, Romania Italy and Spain, while some projects initiatives will be also open to interested actors outside this geographical scope. The campaign is based on the stories of locals in each of these countries as focal points to convey the positive impact of cohesion policy in people’s everyday life.

Kick-off meeting & mc Group

The project “Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite!”, funded by DG REGIO (European Commission-Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy), officially started on 1st of April 2019 and will last for 12 months. In line with the European spirt of its consortium, we celebrated the 9th May – Europe Day – in a significant way, by having in Brussels the kick-off meeting of the project with our consortium partner: “media consultant International Holding AG” (mc Group). As a full-service international integrated communication agency network, mc Group is the top-ranked German public relations agency and ranked third among advertising agencies in Germany. With offices in all 28 EU member states and 82 countries globally, mc Group will play a key role in order to successfully reach the project’s objective and to provide professional expertise on communication and dissemination to the actors involved at different levels into the project.

The kick-off meeting has been a fruitful occasion to strengthen the cooperation among the project partners, to agree on the project’s values and objectives and to elaborate the detailed action plan of the forthcoming activities. 

Stay tuned to follow the next initiatives…

The first project activity is the Call for Engagement launched by AER on the 8th May. This call stands as an official invitation for the AER regions within the 5 target countries that sent us letters of support in the preparation phase of the project, thus expressing their interest in being directly involved in the campaign. Therefore, the very first step of our project is “Regions on board!”. The regions that will reply positively to the Call for Engagement will be the direct beneficiaries of a diverse typology of actions to foster the perception of cohesion policy in their territories. Nevertheless, other regions within AER network and beyond will benefit from the events and the outputs of the project.

The next step of the “Regions on board!” is the Call for Action. This is a public invitation for all AER members as well as other organisations not strictly in our network yet, in order to share with us information regarding:

  • communication campaigns developed in the regions related to any kind of activity (projects, programmes, etc) funded by the cohesion policy funds. The best 10 practices will then be selected and included in an on-line catalogue which will be widely disseminated
  • pre-existing local initiatives and events related to cohesion policy that are going to be included in the “European Cohesion Calendar” which could be linked and fostered by the project activities.

The initial mapping of good regional practices represents a crucial step in developing our communication campaign: giving us the state of art of the already existing and successful campaigns at local level which we are willing to scale up with innovate ways of communication in order to better reach the citizens and stakeholder in the regions.

Launching of the communication campaign on cohesion policy

The launching of the “Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite” campaign will take place on 5th June 2019 on occasion of the AER General Assembly in Larnaca (Cyprus). Anyone interested in joining us and eager to feel the enthusiasm of the moment, is more than welcome!

Given that this project will last for 12 months, the activities are intense but nice and we are happy to keep you posted very soon on the next steps of this Let’s rEUnite adventure!

See you in Larnaca!

photo by pexels

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52 E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu Skype ID: agnesepanta Languages: it, en, pt Articles by Agnese
  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

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AER at Democracy Alive

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From 11 to 13 April 2019, AER attended the Democracy Alive festival on the island of Texel, North Holland (NL). Organised by European Movement in collaboration with the European Parliament it brought together citizens, stakeholders and elected representatives for three days of discussions, workshops and entertainment on the Future of Europe and the importance of active citizenship at European level.

The festival opened with a performance by Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell before participants at the main stage were joined by Michel Barnier, EU Chief Negotiator for Brexit, fresh out of discussions the evening before which resulted in the United Kingdom and European Union extending the Brexit deadline to 31 October 2019.

Talking Europe with Michel Barnier at DemFest

Mr. Barnier spoke in-depth about the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, summing it up in five short words: “Le Brexit – c’est lose-lose” before urging the audience, largely young people active in civil society around Europe to “take care of Europe”.

The importance of safeguarding democracy was the underlying theme of the festival. In the opening discussion by the Alliance of Democracy, of which AER is a member, Magnus Berntsson, President of AER said: “Why do we face challenges in democratic processes across Europe? Our society needs to be built from the bottom: We need to pay more attention to local politics. Strengthening the regional levels within the political system is vital to implement democracy for citizens on an everyday basis.”

We need to bring improvements in the living conditions and better opportunities to our citizens. Human rights and democracy go hand in hand. Cooperation between the various stakeholders, including local and regional authorities, civil society, businesses and academia, is essential to achieve progress. The implementation of the principle of subsidiarity is also key to ensure the EU delivers for its citizens.  “If we don’t vote, we can’t complain afterwards” The European elections are too important to leave to the others”

The AER President also spoke at the AER pavilion in a discussion with the European Parliament and Young European Federalists about the I Choose Europe campaign – part of AER’s ongoing Road to the Future EU-funded project. The consensus in this discussion was the importance of encouraging young people to get out to vote in the upcoming May 2019 European Parliament Elections.

Magnus Berntsson intervening at the Plastics…Not So Fantastic debate

On Thursday evening, Magnus also participated in a high-level panel discussion organised by a consortium of actors, led by Metro Public Policy, on responsible business and plastics at the beautiful Burghtkerk in Den Burg, Texel. In the debate he stressed the importance of subnational actors in transitioning to green growth and implementing the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, he highlighted that public bodies should use procurement as a means to incentivise a sustainable economy by creating new markets for green, bio-based plastics. In doing so he gave the example of the healthcare sector in Västra Götaland where his region leads by example.

On Friday morning, attention turned to the topics of cohesion and equality in Europe during a panel discussion hosted at the AER pavilion. Vania Freitas, responsible for institutional relations and advocacy at AER intervened in the discussion alongside representatives from the European Trade Union Confederation, European Women’s Lobby and AEGEE – the European Student’s Forum. The panel was also joined by Juan Camilo Roman Estrada, an Icelandic actor and activist of Argentinian origin, whose film Woman at War won the European Parliament Lux Film Prize in 2018. The discussion was moderated by Erica Lee, Event and Communications Coordinator for AER.

Vania Freitas, Advocacy & Institutional Relations, speaking at ‘Mind the Gap’ discussion

Throughout the festival, members of the AER team had the opportunity to speak to local people from Texel as well as holidaymakers visiting the island and participants who had arrived especially from across the EU for the festival. While promoting the AER EU-funded project “Road to the Future” and the “I choose Europe” campaign with JEF, we had the opportunity to meet Commissioner and Spitzenkandidat Margarethe Vestager for a brief chat.

The Eurodyssey programme was of particular interest to many of the young attendees, not only because of the stylish sunglasses that we prepared for the event, but also because of its nature as a wonderful opportunity to afford young people the chance to live and work in another European region. Adriana Andrés i Comas, from the Catalan Public Service of Employment, and Andrés Muñoz Rojo, AER Programmes Coordinator and a former Eurodyssey trainee himself, were on hand to provide answers to the many questions posed about the programme.

Visitors and passers-by alike were curious to see the many different regions of Europe highlighted on the AER regions maps and the AER team members were more than happy to spend time discussing our work on everything from education and e-health through to mobility and cohesion with the many guests who visited us and our EUnicorn at the AER pavilion.

On Saturday morning, AER was delighted to welcome new friends from OPENS 2019, the organisation behind the European Youth Capital 2019 in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia. The OPENS 2019 team brought great energy and warmth to a snowy morning on Texel as they explained their successful strategy that made Novi Sad this year’s European Youth Capital. Speaking to a full pavilion of interested listeners, they also invited the audience to see Novi Sad for themselves through the means of virtual reality goggles. AER’s Summer Academy will take place this July in Novi Sad so AER members too will soon have the opportunity to learn first hand about the great work OPENS 2019 are doing in the context of the European Youth Capital.

The workshop hosted by OPENS2019 – promoting AER Summer Academy and the European Youth Capital 2019 – Novi Sad

As a network of regions across Europe, AER is proud to have taken part in the Democracy Alive festival and to have had the chance to meet with local people on Texel to discuss issues close to their hearts relating to European affairs and the upcoming European elections. Subsidiarity is at the core of our work and we believe that it is important that discussions about the future of Europe take place not only in Brussels or Strasbourg but in every corner of the continent, every EU member state, every European region.

@europeanregions at #demfest

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Bureau Meeting in Gelderland: highlights and takeaways

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Bureau members discuss about migration, diversity and inclusion and adopt AER Manifesto on European Elections 2019 and positions on future cohesion policy and social innovation

 

A Regional Debate: Migration, Diversity and Integration

At AER’s Bureau Meeting on 22 November, regional leaders from across our membership discussed interrelated challenges facing regions in the areas of migration, diversity and integration and most effective approaches to promoting diversity and inclusion at regional level.

In a debate moderated by Oriol Amorós, Secretary for Equality, Migration and Citizenship of the Government of Catalonia (ES), our guest speakers Antonio Polosa, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration in the Netherlands, Laura Corrado, Head of Legal Migration and Integration Unit of the European Commission Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, Yoomi Renstrom, Rapporteur for the Reception of Refugees report of the Congress of the Council of Europe, and Mihaela Onofras, Project Manager at the European Association for Local Democracy, engaged with AER members in an exchange about the dynamics of migration, the European and global policies, funding instruments and programmes to manage migration and integration and the challenges and opportunities of a multi-level and multi-actor approach to migration and diversity management at regional level.

The debate will contribute to the AER position paper on migration and inclusion to be presented at the Spring Bureau Meeting 2019.

AER Manifesto for the European Elections 2019

In the run-up to the 2019 European Parliament elections and appointment of the new Commission, Bureau Members adopted the AER Manifesto on European Elections to inform candidates about the priorities of European regions for the upcoming mandate.

AER members stressed that supporting regions’ role in forging a revitalised European project is instrumental in bringing the 2030 Agenda and its sustainable development goals forward and building-up the smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe that citizens want to see.

Calling for a greener, more fair and democratic Europe, with a strong cohesion policy at its heart, the manifesto urges candidates and EU leaders to actively apply the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, enabling regional authorities to effectively contribute to the EU policy-making and meaningfully engage in the design and implementation of the Union legislation and policies on the ground.

AER Position on future EU Cohesion Policy

Bureau Members also voted to adopt an updated position on the European Commission legislative proposals for the future EU cohesion policy, setting out the specific changes European regions propose to make to the new framework. The position was brought to the Bureau for discussion by the Chair of the Cohesion Policy Task Force, Michiel Rijsberman, Flevoland (NL).

AER Position on Social Innovation

As the EU sets the next Multiannual Financial Framework and spending programmes for the period 2021-2027, Bureau Members also adopted a position on how the EU can best boost social innovation across Europe, supporting regions’ leadership role in driving social innovation. The position was proposed by Albert Castellanos, Catalonia (ES), as Chair of the Social Innovation Task Force.Follow AER!

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Coming to Vojvodina? Join our Summer Academy meeting!

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If you have not yet heard about the AER Summer Academy, then you should join us at our next meeting on Thursday 27 September – during the AER Autumn Plenaries in Novi Sad (Vojvodina, SRB)– in order to find out more about what this initiative can offer your region. Registrations for the Plenaries are closing on Friday 14 September! 

What is AER Summer Academy’s mission?

According to its Statute –recently approved by the AER General Assembly– the programme aims to:

  • To facilitate the exchange of experience and good practices between regions on issues of common interest.
  • To facilitate exchanges between policy makers and young people.
  • To support mutual learning.
  • To promote regional democracy in Europe & implementation of the principle of subsidiarity.
  • To provide an opportunity for regional representatives to build networks with their peers across wider Europe.
  • To foster interregional co-operation.
  • To highlight regional good practices and promote the host region
  • To promote European construction, European identity, between young people

Join our Summer Academy Organising Committee !

The AER Summer Academy Organising Committee (SAOC) is looking for new regional partners. There are many benefits to hosting an AER Summer Academy, including opportunities to:

  • learn about EU affairs;
  • network with experts and European counterparts;
  • promote the cultural heritage of your region; and
  • empower young people.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday 27 September on the sidelines of the Plenary in Novi Sad. It will be a good opportunity for non-member regions of the Summer Academy to know more about this programme. You will have an opportunity to meet the members of the SAOC, watch a short video of the past edition in Maramures, listen to Vojvodina’s proposal for 2019, and provide comments and feedback to the committee members. Please, do not hesitate to contact Andrés Muñoz Rojo at the AER Secretariat for further information.

Looking forward to seeing you in Novi Sad!

Photo credits: @Maramures County Council

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YRN’s perspective on Cultural Heritage: preserving the old while facing the new

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As every year, the AER Youth Regional Network will actively participate in the AER Summer Academy in Maramures by organising a workshop that will focus on cultural heritage under the title “Preserving the old while facing the new”. The workshop aims to raise awareness of finding ways to preserve the unique traditions and cultural elements intrinsic to each region. The main focus of the workshop will be on how regions can enhance their traditions in a globalised world.

YRN’s approach to Cultural Heritage

The Youth Regional Network is a forum that brings together young people from diverse regions and gives them a collective voice on the European stage, and at the same time, introduces a European dimension to youth policy in those regions. YRN’s objectives include networking, influencing policy by involving young people in decision-making processes at regional and European level, exchanging best practice and experience by working together on European projects, and applying the principle of subsidiarity.

This past spring the YRN made concrete political decisions regarding cultural heritage at the YRN Plenary and General Assembly meetings in Nordland (Norway) and, therefore, this workshop will also be an occasion to get involved in their work and be an active part of their strategy to enhance youth participation at different levels.

Click below to look at YRN Political Statement on Cultural Heritage!

Take-away

This interactive workshop will be divided into the following agenda items:

  • General introduction about YRN and the workshop methodology;
  • YRN’s vision on key policy affairs;
  • Knowledge exchange and discussion with all the participants;
  • Wrap-up of the discussions.

The participants will get more acquainted with the YRN’s political vision and will have the opportunity to share good practices.

Registrations open!

If you want to participate in this workshop and in many others, just check the Summer Academy practical information and then fill in the registration form available at the AER event page for the 2018 Summer Academy in Maramures (RO).

Check every detail of the event by clicking on the link below!

2018 AER Summer Academy in Maramures

Photo credits: Rob Walsh on Unsplash

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Regionalisation in Slovenia: regions may fill the gap between the central government and the local level #RoR2017

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Slovenia has only one tier of sub-national government, i.e. municipalities. Currently, there are 212 municipalities. This means that there are no other tiers of government, like counties, regions etc. Some other forms of regional segmentation exist (voting, police, financial, statistical districts), but not in the form of sub-national government.

Local government prevails

According to the Local Self-Government Act (2007), municipalities perform local matters of public interest in order to meet the needs of their citizens. Specifically, municipalities manage the municipal assets and organise municipal administration, develop conditions for the economic development of the municipality, provide spatial development plans and create conditions for housing, manage and regulate local public utilities and local public services provision, provide social services, and organise local road maintenance, and fire safety etc.

Centralisation on the run

The administrative reforms in the 1990s and 2000s also involved pressures to create an intermediate tier of government, the so-called regions. The reforms began in June 2006, when the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia was amended, in order to enable the transfer of responsibilities from the central government to the second tier of sub-national government, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. The main issue under consideration was that of fulfilling the existing gap between the central government and the very fragmented local level of government, where very small municipalities prevailed.

When Slovenia entered into the economic downturn in 2009, and when this downturn contributed to the mounting fiscal problems of the country, it became evident that the imposed cutback measures pushed for additional centralisation, rather than decentralisation of the country. In essence, since 2010, the debates on the possible introduction of the regions in Slovenia practically do not exist anymore. Similarly, the political process related to this issue has been stopped almost entirely.

New regional developments

Slovenia is a rather small country, which might limit the necessity to create an intermediate level of government. The historical evidence indicates that regions and regional affiliation existed and prevailed until the early 20th century, when the unification of the territory was established. The presented evidence suggests that pressures and initiatives to introduce regions existed recently, but this top-down approach was unsuccessful. The result is that there are no regions in Slovenia yet. However, although mainly political and technical considerations prevented the introduction of regions in the previous decade, it seems that the economic downturn reversed the process during the last few years.

Nevertheless, some kind of bottom-up initiatives started to emerge recently that might in the future lead to the potential introduction of regions in the future, although the final outcome of these initiatives is hard to predict. These initiatives are concentrated mostly on boosting the joint municipal provision of certain administrative services, and measures are placed that involve cost subsidisations for this kind of service provision. Interestingly, this form of cooperation has increased rapidly in recent years, both in volume as well as in the number of municipalities involved.

by Primož PEVCIN

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

More than 40 experts contributed to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.

  • The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
  • The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
  • The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
  • The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Over the next months, we will be focusing on a different European country’s approach to regionalisation. During these months, look out for #RoR2017 on Twitterand/or Facebook and follow us at @europeanregions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

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The Committees’ plenaries: it’s all about sharing & learning

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Twice a year the AER Committees meet to share recent achievements, launch new initiatives and learn from each others. At AER, Committees are the place where knowledge, needs, ideas, questions are shared in an open and trusted space. Trust and openess have made the Committees a space of mutual learning for regional policy makers, and indeed a lab for innovation. The Spring Plenary meetings in Arad in March 2018 were a good example of this.

Sharing

The joint plenary meeting was an opportunity to share initiatives which have been carried out since the Nancy plenaries. One of the main highlight being the work on Cohesion Policy post 2020, which is highly relevant to all regions. Cohesion Policy is a warrant for the ability of regions to implement policies which actually reflect the needs of their territories. In this context AER has joined the Cohesion Alliance which brings together all interregional networks and the Committee of the Regions for joint efforts to keep regions and subsidiarity high on the agenda.

Another strong commitment in AER is on Climate Action, with the R20 which provides support for regions to finance climate action.

AER is continuing to support regions with the development of projects, which has led to several successful project proposals, capacity building and the strengthening of links with regions across wider Europe. AER is indeed committed to increase and revitalise links between regions in order to make its priority “A Strong Europe” a reality. This also led to a series of meetings between AER President Magnus Berntsson, AER Secretary General Mathieu Mori and Presidents of regions in order to better assess needs and provide tailor-made support. Regions which would like to organise such meetings in real life or by phone can contact AER Coordinator for Members Relations Elin Berglie.

Learning

The Plenaries are also a moment were regions can exchange about initiatives they have implemented and the ways they are using the AER network. AER has three thematic Committees:

  1. Economy and regional development
  2. Social policy and public health
  3. Culture, education and youth

At the beginning of each of the different Committee Plenaries, members shared how they had successfully carried out an initiative and made use of the available services. These initiatives ranged from mutual learning on youth mental health to the development of a mutual learning event on artificial intelligence. The idea being to look at success factors and benefits for the region.

Building together

Spring is work programme definition season at AER! On the occasion of the Spring Plenary meetings in Arad, members of the three thematic Committees decided what they would like to do together and how they want to leverage regional initiatives via the network.

The actions members decided to implement via the committees are diverse. A few examples include the development of a project on youth for the dialogue with policy makers, mutual learning on mental health and the organisation of events on this topic, good practice sharing on the use of virtual reality for world heritage, the development of a training for civil servants to support territorial innovation, good practice sharing on the support to unaccompanied migrant children, leadership for the deployment of integrated care systems, mutual learning on new mobilities…

 

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Regionalisation in Bulgaria: reducing regional disparities #RoR2017

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Bulgaria covered a surface area of 111,000.9 sq. km and has a population of 7,153,784 inhabitants at the end of 2015. Over the years, the administrative and territorial division of the country was subject to multiple changes, reflecting the geopolitical, demographic and territorial dynamics. The principles of local self-government and a three level territorial organisation were established with the Tarnovo Constitution (1879).

The introduced European Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics went through several stages and took the current form in 2008 with 2 NUTS 1 regions, 6 NUTS 2 regions, 28 NUTS 3 districts, 265 LAU 1 municipalities, and 5,258 LAU 2 municipalities. The formal regions were established for planning, programming, management, supply of resources, monitoring and assessment of regional development. NUTS 1 and 2 regions are not administrative and territorial units; they have no administrative structures and are not autonomous. Regional Development Councils (RDC) are set up for all 6 NUTS 2 regions, and chaired by a district governor, designated on rotation principle for 6 months. Their operational funds are allocated from the budgets of the relevant district administrations to cover the urgent needs of the council for its main functions – consulting, approval, coordination, monitoring and control of strategic planning of regional and spatial development at the NUTS 2 and 3 levels. At the national level RDCs monitor the operational programmes with an impact on the development of the region, co- financed from the EU funds. The NUTS 3 regions are administrative and territorial units and cover the territories of 28 individual districts. District Development Councils are established in each of them, chaired by the district governor and comprised of the mayors of all municipalities within the respective district, the representatives of the municipal councils, the organisations of employers and employees. Representatives of legal entities, who have an interest in the development of the district, can attend the sessions of the council in advisory capacity.

Great disparities

There is a grave disparity in social and economic development between the centre and the periphery both within the country and at regional and local levels. The North-western region is the most scarcely populated, which is mostly affected by outgoing migration ows, with the poorest economic development, high unemployment and serious social problems. The Southwestern region is the most densely populated region due to better living and employment opportunities, offered by the capital city. Similar disparities exist at the district and municipal levels.

Informal regions

The group of “informal” regions are formed by joining districts and/or municipalities, related to the specific zoning of the country or for specialised studies or programmes. First in this group are the “targeted support areas”, which pursuant to the RD Act can be differentiated in the territory of NUTS 3 regions and cover one or more neighbouring municipalities. They form the territorial base for the concentration of resources for narrowing intra-regional disparities.

Second in the informal regions group are the areas for cross-border cooperation. The priority areas are the Danube river and the Black Sea area, which are connected to the EU regional strategy for the Danube river and the Integrated Maritime Policy. This group includes also the Euroregions, established for the preservation of common cultural values and supporting social and economic cohesion. These regions have no direct political power, but have shared history, common interests and goals, developed strategic and multi-level partnerships.

Regions’ interactions and Governance

The interaction between regions and the central and local authorities in Bulgaria complies with the principles of subsidiarity. Local cooperation could be given a higher assessment at NUTS 3 and LAU 1 levels, due to the local initiatives and civil society structures supporting the cooperation.

The advantages in the field of regional policy, after the EU accession, are associated with the enhanced role of the regions, the introduction of new principles of planning and programming of regional development, and the integration of the sectoral policy priorities, which binds them to the national territory. With the introduction of a series of important, hierarchically related statutory strategic documents, some order and rhythm was established in regional and spatial planning, however a lot of work still needs to be done for institutional and expert capacity development.

The political life in the country is a result of the transition from one-party to multi-party system. The foundations of the electoral system were laid with the Tarnovo Constitution (1879). After 1989 different electoral systems were used in an attempt to find the most accurate expression of votes, to reduce the gap between voters and candidates, to reduce distortions and buying of votes, but the results were below expectations. No elections were held at the regional level. Reduced trust in political parties and voter turnout, and the political tensions in the country in recent years raised the issues of compulsory and electronic voting. The Direct Participation of Citizens in State Governance and Local Self-government Act provides the opportunity to express opinions on important national and local matters. Bulgaria is party to the EU Convention against Corruption since 2006. The legal framework in this field was subject to reform after the EU accession, and resulted in amendments to the legal and institutional framework. Although the legal framework is already finalised, in many areas its enforcement is unsatisfactory. This was confirmed by the Eurobarometer survey for the 2014 EU Anti-Corruption Report. More serious efforts and coordinated actions need to be made to eradicate corruption from different levels of government and from the NGO sector. A possible solution is to accelerate the introduction of e-government and to reduce the administrative burden of the regulations, which slow down development and create prerequisites for corruption practices. The 2015 report of Transparency International marks the approval of the National Strategy for Prevention and Combating Corruption in Bulgaria (2015–2020).

New efforts

Bulgaria is well known for its ethnic and religious tolerance. The National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Affairs was set up at the Council of Ministers as a consultative authority to support the implementation of the state ethnic and integration policy. Units with the same functions are set up at the district and municipal level. The National Roma Inclusion Strategy (2012–2020) was also developed. Currently the municipal administrations seek solutions to the problems of occupation, illegal construction, and undeveloped infrastructure, mainly through integrated plans for urban regeneration. Initiatives of NGOs also contribute to the improvement of education, living conditions and social inclusion of the Roma population. Additional efforts of the Bulgarian government the past few years were concentrated on reducing regional disparity and expanding integration, coordination and partnership in the overall regional policy.

by Vasselina Troeva

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

More than 40 experts contributed to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.

  • The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
  • The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
  • The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
  • The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Over the next months, we will be focusing on a different European country’s approach to regionalisation. During these months, look out for #RoR2017 on Twitter and/or Facebook and follow us at @europeanregions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

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Debate: “Europe: the way forward. What future for regions?”

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What are the main challenges of the European project? Is the EU still fit for purpose? What is the future of regions in a reformed Union? Here are some highlights of the “Europe: the way forward. What future for regions?” debate held in the City of Maastricht on 29 November as part of the AER Autumn Bureau meeting.

The future of Europe has been part of many conversations among AER member regions. Not surprising, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty and the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties, and the European Union steps up to set out a vision for the future of the Union at 27.

The debate, convened by AER and the City of Maastricht in the frame of the “Europe Calling” initiative, offered a truly engaging and insightful conversation on what the future Europe should be and the role regions should play in it.

Professor Ellen Vos focused on the topic of flexible and differentiated integration. Paying particular reference to the book Between Flexibility and Disintegration (De Witte et al. Eds., 2017), the co-director of the Centre for European Law of the Maastricht University argued that flexibility and differentiation are a tool that can further promote the European integration.

Moray Gilland, Head of Unit for Policy Development at the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, expanded on the role of cohesion policy in the wider discussions on the future of Europe. Stating that a strong cohesion policy is critically important to a strong Europe, Moray Gilland noted that cohesion policy should remain as the main investment instrument in the EU, covering all Member States and EU regions. However, he cautioned that business as usual is not an option and radical, genuine simplifications will be needed if we want to make it more effective.

The debate continued with Luc Van Den Brande, Member of the Committee of the Regions and Special Adviser of the President Jean-Claude Juncker for the outreach towards Citizens. Mr Van Den Brande emphasised the importance of building an European decision making process based on a multi-level governance and citizens-centred approach. A Europe with regions, where the subsidiarity principle is applied vertically and horizontally across different levels of action and actors, as he concluded.

The perspective from “generation Maastricht” – the younger generation of Europeans – was brought into the debate by Christopher Glück. The President of the Young European Federalists stated that while there is room for young people to engage in EU policy, they do not always have a real influence over decisions. Young people should be meaningfully involved in decision-making at all levels in an inclusive way, if Europe wants to successfully address the challenges facing today and its impact on current and future generations, he said.

During the ongoing political reflection on the future of Europe, AER will continue to stress the importance of European Regions’ voice being an integral part of the discussion. The debate underlined the crucial role played by regions in the European integration process and AER will reiterate the absolute necessity of taking into account the regional and local levels of governance in the future political and institutional reform, with a strong cohesion policy at its heart.

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Regionalisation in Germany: the advantages of a federal state

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Autonomous Länders

Germany is a federal state, composed of 16 regions (Länder). The federal structure of 1949 was designed by representatives of the already existing Länder in the Parliamentarian Council under Western Allied supervision. Some Länder could keep their traditional structures after 1945, like Bayern, Hamburg and Bremen. Others were formed out of smaller regions or were the result of the deconstruction of the former Prussian state. The federal principle is fixed in Article 20 of the Basic Law and cannot be changed (Article 79, III). The original intent was to establish a decentralised federal structure based on a strict separation of powers and own finances for each level of government, where all power is distributed to the Länder unless otherwise mentioned in the Basic Law (Article 30). But the most important policies that are mentioned are in the exclusive jurisdiction of the central state (Bund) or organised in a system of joint Bund-Länder responsibility. The Länder, as central political regions in Germany, are strong but confined to the boundaries of a centralising political culture which hasn’t changed profoundly since the previous history of the Second German Republic.

All Länder not only have full developed autonomous legislative, executive and juridical bodies, but also their own constitution. This reflects the own state character of each Land even though their constitutional regime has to be based on the principles of the Basic Law (Article 28). On the basis of Article 30 and Article 70 of the Basic Law, the following policies that effectively remain in the jurisdiction of the Länder are chiefly: culture, media, education, regional planning and inner security / police in the region. In the context of public finances, the Länder have no own autonomous tax authority. The taxes and their distribution are determined by the federal government and parliament, but only with the approval of the Bundesrat (Federal Council), the legislative chamber that represents the Länder, which is crucial in the federal legislative process.

System of financial equalisation

Another typical characteristic of the federation is the vertical and horizontal financial equalisation system. The first manages the allocation between the federal, state and the Länder as a whole; the second is an interregional mechanism between the Länder. Regarding matters of European integration, the Länder participate in addition via the Bundesrat if their sphere of responsibility is concerned (Article 23 Basic Law). As a result of the participation of the Land governments using the Bundesrat and the numerous conferences involving federal and Land officials, references are frequently made to the German system of “participatory federalism” or “executive federalism”. The interlocking system of political cooperation in Germany often gets in the way of a principle which is closely connected to regions and democracy: subsidiarity.

Governance and identity

The governments are the winners of the cooperative federalism in all of its dimensions. The party system is rather centralised and the regional divisions of all parties listen more or less to what the particular federal organisation claims. The electoral systems of the Länder are geared to the federal electoral system, the so called personalised or mixed member proportional representation, with a five percent barrier except for the national minorities. In Germany the cultural identity is quite homogenous. The traditional ethnic and respectively linguistic minorities cover only a few thousand people in a population of about 80 million (Danes, Frisians, Sorbs, Sinti and Romani). The history of the Federal Republic doesn’t know any separatism. The Länder, in contrast to the federal level, have developed different forms of direct democracy and fixed popular legislation in their constitutions.

Further collaboration

In the first years of EU regional policy the efforts of the national and regional levels on the one hand and of the European level on the other hand proceeded in parallel. Today, they are more linked to improve the situation in indigent regions. The Länder actually take part in 14 cross- border programs, five transnational programs and via REGLEG, a political network of regions with legislative power.

A central aspect of German federalism which needs to be reformed in the next years is the rearrangement of financial relations between Bund and Länder. Further issues would be a new form of cooperation in education policy, a better and clearer allocation of competences, and again the question of reshaping the Länder. Nevertheless, the strategies of the Länder in European politics in general will remain principally the same. Four paths can be distinguished finally: the further development of intra-state participation rights, especially by the Bundesrat, the collaboration in the Committee of Regions, a discrete “Länder foreign policy”, the defence of the Länder autonomy and the principle of subsidiarity.

by  Jan Grasnick

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

More than 40 experts contributed to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.

  • The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
  • The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
  • The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
  • The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Over the next months, we will be focusing on a different European country’s approach to regionalisation. During these months, look out for #RoR2017 on Twitter and/or Facebook and follow us at @europeanregions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

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Regionalisation in Albania: a must for EU Accession

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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 decentralisation – the transition from de-concentration to decentralisation and the creation of local government units. During this phase, political decentralisation prevailed over fiscal decentralisation and economic reforms. The Constitution, approved in 1998, sanctioned three levels of governance in Albania: national, second level-regional (qarks) and first level – local (municipalities and communes).

The period 1999-2003 marked the start of the second phase of decentralization with the presentation of the National Strategy for Decentralization and Local Autonomy, the adoption of Law No. 8652 (31.07.2000) “On the Organisation and Functioning of Local Government,” which institutionalised regions as the second level of local government. In this context, 12 regions were created instead of the 36 existing districts, but the district continued to appear in the Organic Law.

In 2000, Albania adopted and then ratified the European Charter of Local Self- Government. The adoption gave major impetus to the decentralization process in Albania. In fact, it was followed by the adoption of the Decentralization Strategy in 1999 and the Legislative Package in 2000 that included the New Organic Law on Local Government no. 8652, Law no. 8654 on the Organisation and Functioning of the Municipality of Tirana and the Law no. 8653 on Administrative-Territorial Division.

According to the Organic Law 8652, the role of regions consisted in the design and coordination of development policies and strategies at the regional level; coordination between central and local government levels; providing services delegated by the central government and region’s constituent local units. Anyway, this definition remained general and theoretic.

Last phase of decentralisation: empowering local government

The period from 2003 onwards marked the third phase – the continuing of economic reforms and fiscal decentralization.

The Cross-cutting Strategy for Regional Development, (CSRD, 2007) primarily dealt with the needed institutional setup and regional strategic planning and management processes, while nancial mechanisms were developed independently through the fiscal policy (competitive grants, since 2010 under the Regional Development Fund).

In 2014, the Parliament approved the New Administrative-Territorial Reform that aimed at empowering the local level of government. This reform, upheld the actual number of regions sanctioning the division of Albania’s territory into 61 units, named municipalities, which included smaller territorial units (communes and smaller municipalities). With the local elections of 21 June 2015 the new territorial division will come into force as part of the ongoing reform process.

Regional development on hold

From 2003 to today, whereas the role, functions and competencies of first level, government units were clearly defined, the role, functions and competencies of the regions haven’t undergone thorough analysis, and remained controversial and subject to government initiatives under the framework of the decentralization and regional development reform. In general, the decentralization process has functioned normally for the first level government units, but it has stopped for the regions.

The phenomenon of “ financial gap” and the superposition of the risk of competence with de-concentrated structures of central government, constitute major drawbacks of regional self-government in Albania that require further consolidation of the regional level and a deep reform in regional finance system.

In this context, a lack of political will is evident as regards regions and the regionalisation process. The enhancement of their position is mentioned only under the framework of European Integration and Structural and Cohesion Policy Funds.

So far, the country has not effectively implemented a regional development policy, while the Candidate Country status and integration process into the European Union require the adoption of the EU cohesion policy principles and practices by the domestic RD policy framework. As of today, there is no special law about regions and regional development.

Respecting the subsidiarity principle, an administrative-territorial reform proposing a new territorial division cannot be considered apart from the redistribution of local unit functions.

In this regard, the reform of 2014 failed to define the number of local government tiers, the degree of government decentralisation, the fiscal decentralisation, the relations with the de-concentrated power and the election system modalities for local and regional authority bodies. Therefore, further steps need to be taken in order to correct what the reform failed to achieve as regards the regional level governance.

Albania and the EU

Finally, the vision of EU and Albanian regional actors for qark is its continuous empowerment and consolidation, considering it as an important institution that ensures a sustainable regional and economic development.

In this context, the Albania EU Candidate Status requiring policies and regional development processes, encourages the presence of a second tier with appropriate competencies. This presence should increase the efficiency of the LGU functions, ensure scale for economic development, proper planning in areas such as territory and tourism, education, environmental protection, transport, rural mobility, while respecting at the same time historical boundaries, social interaction, common culture and traditions.

by Lorena Totoni & Kristo Frasheri

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

More than 40 experts contributed to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.

  • The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
  • The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
  • The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
  • The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Over the next months, we will be focusing on a different European country’s approach to regionalisation. During these months, look out for #RoR2017 on Twitter and/or Facebook and follow us at @europeanregions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

Follow AER!

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The state of regionalisation in Romania

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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 organisation was shaped, through the adoption of the law of 17 February 1968 on the administrative organisation of the territory of the Socialist Republic of Romania. The counties, cities and communes represented the administrative territorial units, which were kept until present.

Now, the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is a standard imposed by the European Union for each member country which represents the regional division of the country for statistical purpose. For a better coordination of regional development, in 1998 eight regional divisions were created, which are called development regions, each region having several counties (NUTS II level) without administrative power.

From the administrative point of view, Romania is divided in counties, municipalities, and communes (NUTS III – 41 counties and one municipality, Bucharest – which has a similar statute to a county). The county is the administrative representation of a region from the legal point of view, and is the equivalent of NUTS III regions. Even if counties from Romania are part of the variety of Euro-regions, they don’t have intense activity in this type of collaboration, lacking in EU funds absorption and in regional lobbying in Brussels.

Although law number 215 of April 2001 clearly specifies the decentralised status and power of local and regional administration, in reality things are more centralised. The current legal and institutional framework do not stimulate the development of regional capacity to effectively manage regional development plans and programs. Political life at the local and regional level is strongly connected to and dependent on the political decisions from the central government.

Corruption in the form of nepotism, bribery or conflict of interest arises in all government structures at local, regional and national levels. The new typology of politicians, which were named by media “local barons,” have a negative impact on local and regional economic development. There is a lack of transparency at local and regional level, lack of democracy at local and regional elections, the media is weak and the subsidiarity principle is not functioning. Romania’s poor absorption of European funds (last place in the EU 52% in 2014) is strictly linked to the institutional capacity of the Romanian public administration.

The idea of reorganisation of the country’s regions with legal and administrative power has been made repeatedly in the last 15 years: several administrative proposals emanating from various forums were discussed on public agenda. Unfortunately, no political consensus was achieved.

The last proposal of a decentralisation law was rejected by the Romanian Constitutional Court early in 2014 as being unconstitutional. Romania continues to function under the 1968 law of territorial administrative organisation, with small modifications – NUTS 2 regions were established in 1998 without administrative power. Romania, compared with other countries of its size, is one of the most centralised states in Europe and the financial redistribution is not correlated; public funds are sent from Bucharest to counties and municipalities based on political clientelism.

For the full report on Romania, click here.

Summary by Gratian MIHAILESCU

 

The Report on the state of Regionalisation in Europe.

More than 40 experts contributed to this work, by delivering detailed reports about the state of regionalisation and multilevel governance in chosen European countries. The study covers 41 countries, and each country report is based on a similar structure, thereby allowing a comparative approach among all studied countries.

  • The first part of the report gives the political impetus from the main European stakeholders
  • The second part of this report entails a summarised version of the country reports. The objective is to provide interested readers with a short overview of the main features of regionalisation in various European countries. The complete versions of the country reports are available on the AER website, under LINK
  • The third part provides a thematic approach based on the main findings delivered by the country reports and the current state of regionalisation in Europe. The trends and outlooks lead to open questions on the future of the regions in the European landscape, and more broadly on the role of subnational authorities in the shaping of the continent.
  • The fourth part gives the floor to the actual regional decision-makers in Europe, across a series of interviews and statements by Presidents, Vice-Presidents and elected representatives of the European regions.

Over the next months, we will be focusing on a different European country’s approach to regionalisation. During these months, look out for #RoR2017 on Twitter and/or Facebook and follow us at @europeanregions.

Strong European regions are a pathway to a stronger Europe.

Follow AER!

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