15-16 May European summit of the regions and cities

Date: 22/05/1997

THE summit, organised by the Committee of the Regions (CoR), was held to discuss its demands for changes to the EU treaty at the Intergovernmental Conference. The Committee said that the more regional and local authorities were involved in shaping Europe, the better. It warned that without their involvement, they would be less able to “help ward off scepticism generated by a feeling of remoteness”.

IN ITS final declaration, the summit called for an expansion of the CoR's advisory duties so that regional and local authorities could have a greater involvement in EU affairs. The Committee said it must be granted more areas of mandatory consultation including, as a matter of priority, employment, vocational training, social policy, the environment and energy.

It also said the European Parliament should be given the right to consult the Committee of the Regions.

THE presidents and mayors of Europe's regional, municipal and local authorities demanded that the CoR be given administrative and budgetary autonomy from the Economic and Social Committee and the right to draw up its own rules of procedure.

THEY also insisted that the CoR should have the right to bring proceedings before the European Court of Justice, at least in cases where the CoR's own rights were infringed. They said the principle of subsidiarity should be strictly applied in the interest of regional and local autonomy, and regions with legislative power should thus have the right to initiate proceedings before the ECJ.

THE protocol on social policy should be incorporated into the revised Maastricht Treaty in order to preserve the European social model and complete the single market, the Committee declared.

ENLARGEMENT was a historic opportunity for all sides and a moral obligation, said the Committee, which added that Europe did not intend to turn itself into an isolated fortress. Openess and cooperation with other countries - in the first instance, Europe's Mediterranean and Baltic neighbours and Russia - should be fostered.

THE CoR called on member states to build a more integrated Europe, but with a bigger role for its regions and cities and with greater emphasis on proximity.

IN his closing speech, CoR president Pasqual Maragall, mayor of Barcelona, said the meeting had been described as the summit of the little ones, but warned: “These little ones may be small, but they are destined to grow, not in size nor number but in specific weight.” Maragall also emphasised the need for subsidiarity. “Europe must know how to stop at the frontier of its own responsibilities and allow each level of government to fulfil its obligations and exercise its capacities to the full,” he said.

Regional Policy Commissioner Monika Wulf-Mathies told the summit it was in the interests of both the EU and member states to have strong regions. “The process of greater regional autonomy currently under way offers an excellent opportunity for developing a new and dynamic economy,” she said. Wulf-Mathies added that the Commission agreed with many of the CoR's demands, but did not express support for the Committee's call for the right to initiate proceedings before the ECJ.