Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on "The participation of regional government representatives in the work of the Council of the European Union, and of the CoR in informal Council meetings"

(2002/C 107/03)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to Article 203 of the EC Treaty, which opens up the possibility for full participation of regional government members in the activities of the Council of the European Union by stating that: "The Council shall consist of a representative of each Member State at ministerial level, authorised to commit the government of that Member State";

having regard to the fact that the right of regional and local authorities to take part in European Union policy and decision-making furthers the fundamental objective of Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union, according to which: "decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen", while also promoting the principle of subsidiarity, as laid down in Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, which stipulates that the Community shall take action in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence only if and insofar as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved at the national - and regional or local - level;

having regard to the Opinions and Resolutions in which it called for the full and generalised application of this right and thus a wider involvement of the regional and local authorities in European policy-making, and more specifically;

- its Opinion on the Revision of the Treaty on European Union and of the Treaty establishing the European Community (CdR 136/95)(1);

- its supplementary Opinion on The application of the principle of subsidiarity in the European Union (CdR 136/95);

- its Report on Regional and local authorities: protagonists in the political union of Europe (CdR 282/96 fin);

- its Opinion on Developing a genuine culture of subsidiarity. An appeal by the Committee of the Regions (CdR 302/98 fin)(2);

- its Resolution of 3 June 1999 on the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) (CdR 54/1999 fin)(3);

- its Opinion on the Implementation of EU law by the regions and local authorities (CdR 51/1999 fin)(4);

- the final declaration approved by the members of the Committee of the Regions and the leaders of Europe's regional, municipal and local authorities at the Conference on New forms of Governance in Europe: Towards more democracy and grass-roots representation, held in Lille on 9 November 2000 (CdR 379/2000 fin);

- its Resolution on The outcome of the 2000 intergovernmental conference and the discussion on the future of the European Union (CdR 430/2000 fin)(5);

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 12 December 2000, under the fifth paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to draw up an opinion on "The participation of regional government representatives in the work of the Council of the European Union, and of the CoR in informal Council meetings" and to assign its preparation to the Commission for Institutional Affairs;

having regard to the draft opinion adopted unanimously by the Commission for Institutional Affairs on 5 October 2001 (rapporteurs: Mr Martini, President of the Tuscany Region (I-PES) and Mr Schausberger, Governor of Salzburg (A-EPP) (CdR 431/2000 rev. 2);

having regard to point 12 of the final declaration (PE 219.693 / DEF) of the first conference of the European Parliament and the regional and local authorities of the European Union, held in October 1996 and entitled "For a Europe based on Democracy and Solidarity"; in this point the Member States are called upon to facilitate the participation of regional authorities with legislative powers in Council of Ministers' meetings;

whereas the participation of the regional and local authorities in EU policy and decision-making has been advocated in;

- the Declaration on Regionalism in Europe adopted by the Assembly of European Regions in 1996;

- the Draft European Charter of Regional Self-Government adopted in 1997 by the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe;

- the debate on the report of the working party set up by the secretary-general of the Council (Trumpf-Piris report): "Operation of the Council with an enlarged Union in prospect", Brussels 1999, during which the German and Austrian Länder argued in favour of the regions taking part in the work of the Council;

- the initiatives of the Assembly of European Regions and the Council of Europe, where, with the involvement of many applicant country regions, there has been a strong call for the participation of the regions, including those of the future Member States of the European Union, in European legislative activity;

- section 3.1 (Reaching out to citizens through regional and local democracy) of the Commission White Paper on European governance, COM(2001) 428 final of 25 July 2001;

whereas it is appropriate for the Committee of the Regions to express its opinion on this subject in order to contribute to the debate on the future of the European Union in the run-up to the 2004 intergovernmental conference, on which the debate has been opened in the White Paper on European governance,

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 41st plenary session held on 14 and 15 November 2001 (meeting of 14 November).

Viewpoints and recommendations of the Committee of the Regions

1. General proposals

The Committee of the Regions

1.1. affirms the readiness of the regional and local authorities it represents to make their experience and specific skills available with a view to the full application of Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union, on the basis of which, in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, decisions are to be taken "as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen";

1.2. expresses its conviction that the direct participation of the regions, within the framework of the delegations of the Member States, in the work of the Council (Article 203 of the EC Treaty) would bring Europe closer to the public, by involving more tiers of government;

1.3. reminds Member States under whose legislation regions have legislative powers, that the final declaration of the first conference of the European Parliament and the regional and local authorities of the European Union: "For a Europe based on Democracy and Solidarity", called on them to institute suitable national mechanisms for enabling members of regional governments to effectively take part in meetings of the Council of Ministers;

1.4. maintains that by being more closely involved in the legislative process, regions with democratic legitimacy and legislative powers could secure greater transparency and proximity with regard to public demands, in accordance with the "Declaration on the future of the Union", and hopes that as a preliminary there will be a clearer definition/delimitation of their responsibilities before the 2004 intergovernmental conference;

1.5. recognises the differing tasks and responsibilities allocated to the local and regional authorities within the individual Member States. The Committee would refer specifically to the legislative powers of the regions in Finland (the Åland Islands), Belgium (three regions, three communities), Germany (16 Länder), Austria (nine Länder), Spain (17 autonomous communities), Portugal (two autonomous regions), United Kingdom (three parliaments, or regional assemblies), Italy (20 regions and two autonomous provinces). The above-mentioned regional authorities give policy a specific legitimacy, through legislation and because they are genuinely accountable to their own citizens;

1.6. draws the attention of all tiers of European government to the fact that stepping up the regions' participation in the policy and decision-making of the European institutions, and above all the Council, helps increase the democratic legitimacy of the institutions and provides a major opportunity to increase awareness in all the Member States of the European Union's ideals and capacity for development, while promoting the individuality and specific characteristics of each of Europe's regional and local authorities. The opportunities for the participation of the local and regional authorities should be developed and strengthened with due regard to the different situations in the Member States.

2. Coordinating the various tiers of national government

The Committee of the Regions

2.1. endorses the practice adopted in many Member States of making information on European policy development and the relevant national guidelines available to the regional and local authorities and of giving them the opportunity to express their views, but draws attention to the analysis in the White Paper on European governance, which suggests that the national governments are not involving the local and regional players appropriately in the preparation of their positions on EU policies;

2.2. hopes that within all the Member States, national positions on European issues will be reached by means of increased involvement and coordination of the national, regional and local tiers;

2.3. is persuaded that in the light of the above, all EU Member States should undertake to foster methods of involving regional and local authorities in the European policy and decision-making processes. This will make it possible, with due regard to the subsidiarity principle, to give all decentralised levels access to the benefits and opportunities of economic, social and regional development offered by European policies, while respecting the various constitutional arrangements of each State;

2.4. welcomes moves to extend the participation of regional and local authorities and their representative associations at national level when establishing national positions on EU-related matters within the Member States, in cases where EU law concerns the competences and areas of activity of the regional and local authorities as this improves the democratic legitimacy of the decisions; and recommends that such rights to information and participation be given a high level of legal guarantee;

2.5. urges the Member States to extend these information and consultation procedures to all areas that might concern the regional and local authorities;

2.6. notes that this direct participation presupposes an effective domestic system for reaching national standpoints. This system must not, however, stand in the way of direct, active participation of the regions at EU level, within the framework of the delegations of the Member States. Participatory processes and bodies differ from one country to another. Direct participation will bring the regions of individual States closer to each other and strengthen their bonds of solidarity as they define and defend their points of view; at the same time, direct participation must succeed in expressing the common interests voiced by the regions and by the associations of local authorities during the coordination process conducted within each country;

2.7. welcomes the support of the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs in its report on Reform of the Council (PE 294.777), which states that "efficient coordination upstream of Community decisions within each Member State must include mechanisms, in accordance with their respective constitutional rules, to involve the national parliaments and, in federal or highly regionalised States, the regional authorities, in preparations for the European legislative process, including, where appropriate, participation in the Council itself, according to Article 203 of the EC Treaty". This report also suggests the introduction, in connection with enhancing the role of the General Affairs Council, of "a special procedure for involving the regions in countries with a federal constitution or a high degree of regionalisation.";

2.8. awaits with interest the report commissioned by the Helsinki European Council on Member States' internal coordination procedures for Community issues and stresses the need to enable Member States to be represented in each Council formation as they deem appropriate on the basis of their own internal organisation;

2.9. expects the regions of the Member States to be involved in the preparations for the Laeken European Summit at which, in accordance with point 17 of the Presidency Conclusions of the Gothenburg European Summit, recommendations for further measures for more efficient Council working procedures following enlargement are to be adopted. These procedures must ensure the involvement of the national and regional parliaments, as called for in the Declaration on the Future of the Union.

3. The participation of regional government representatives in the activities of the Council of the European Union and of the Committee of the Regions in informal Council meetings

The Committee of the Regions

3.1. calls for the direct participation of regional authority representatives in the Council, as part of the delegations of the Member States, as this is of fundamental importance for the smooth running of the Union and reflects the principles of fairness, collaboration, cooperation and trust between the regions and their respective national States. Differences in Member States' systems of government must be taken into account in developing the opportunities for participation by regional authority representatives;

3.2. calls for such participation in Council meetings in all cases involving regional competences of a legislative, regulatory or executive nature or where the issues concerned are of particular interest to the overall system of regional and local authorities;

3.3. confirms that the regional representatives should be made fully-fledged participants in Council meetings as members of the national delegations, and that they should be authorised to lead the national delegation and, if necessary, assume the presidency of the Council of Ministers. The regional participants in the Council represent all the regions with powers in the sectors concerned, and express positions agreed within the national delegation as a whole. The internal mechanisms for deciding the national delegation's position at the Council and the procedure for nominating the regional representatives of each Member State should be governed by the national legislative provisions of the Member States;

3.4. calls for the participation of regional representatives in the national delegations as this would bolster the position of the Member States, as they would be able to take account simultaneously of the national distribution of competences and interests, of the views expressed by local tiers of government during the national coordination process, and of the unitary action of the Member State within the Council of the European Union;

3.5. calls for the participation of regional representatives in the following Council bodies:

- Council working parties and ad hoc working parties;

- the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER);

- the various Council formations.

Participation in all the preparatory phases of Council decision-making is necessary to ensure that all issues that are the specific responsibility of the regional and local authorities or are of special interest to them, are dealt with jointly in a comprehensive and effective manner;

3.6. calls on Member States to ensure that they consider the positions of the regions and national federations of local authorities on areas of relevance to their competences or interests in cases where the regions have no opportunity for formal representation within the Council and its preparatory committees;

3.7. calls for the participation of the Committee of the Regions in the informal Councils dealing with Community policies that fall within its areas of mandatory consultation and that particularly concern the competences of local and regional authorities; this would strengthen the local and regional dimension within the Council and would be of great service to the objectives of transparency and proximity set by the Heads of State or Government in the Declaration on the future of the Union that is annexed to the Treaty of Nice;

3.8. calls, consequently, on the future presidencies of the Union, and the Belgian and Spanish presidencies in particular, to establish a long-term mechanism for the participation of the Committee of the Regions in the work of informal Council meetings, in order to enable the CoR to take part in the political debate of the Community in its capacity as a political body of the European Union;

3.9. calls, finally, for a protocol to be annexed to the Treaty following the 2004 intergovernmental conference guaranteeing the participation of the Committee of the Regions in informal Council meetings, and the formal as well as informal involvement of the regional and local authorities in the decision-making processes of the European Union.

Brussels, 14 November 2001.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos Chabert

(1) OJ C 100, 2.4.1996, p. 1.

(2) OJ C 198, 14.7.1999, p. 73.

(3) OJ C 293, 13.10.1999, p. 74.

(4) OJ C 374, 23.12.1999, p. 29.

(5) OJ C 253, 12.9.2001, p. 25.