1.
supports the EU Presidency in its commitment to
the process of reforming the European Union and the need to preserve the
substance of the Constitutional Treaty signed by all heads of state or
government on 29 October 2004 in Rome;
2.
welcomes the Berlin Declaration of 25 March
2007, which recognises, fifty years after the signature of the Treaties of
Rome, the goal of achieving a renewed common foundation for the European Union
before the elections to the European Parliament in 2009, and is pleased that it
enshrines the recognition of the territorial dimension of the EU and the
principles and values it holds dear;
3.
restates its determination, expressed in its
Declaration for Europe adopted on 23 March 2007 on the occasion of the
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, to work for an
ever closer union of the peoples of Europe, strengthened by its freedoms, its
values and its principles of solidarity and responsibility, and developing
common policies and joint actions whilst respecting local and regional
diversity, identity and autonomy, in keeping with the principles of
subsidiarity and good governance;
4.
calls on heads of state or government, at the
European Council of 21 and 22 June 2007, to commit to working towards bringing
the Treaty reform process to a conclusion without going back on the advances
obtained by and for local and regional authorities, inter alia with respect to
the principles of subsidiarity and good governance, and to the territorial
cohesion of the European Union;
5.
would therefore support the earliest possible
calling of a new Intergovernmental Conference with a precise mandate and
timetable so as to provide the European Union with a new Treaty that preserves
the substance and the balance of the Constitutional Treaty signed in 2004 and
enjoys the broadest possible support in the EU;
6.
recognises that for many citizens the purpose of
the EU in the 21st century is no longer clear and, in the spirit of Plan D,
believes that the EU must recognise that citizens cannot be expected to read
lengthy technical treaties and that the EU must be able to explain its
"raison d'être" in a clear and concise manner to today's citizens and
to future generations; therefore, calls on EU leaders to give the Union an
official one-page Mission Statement, valid for the long-term, which would
complement any future treaty and which the EU institutions could pro-actively
bring to the attention of citizens, now and in the future;
7.
asks to be consulted on and fully involved in the
next stages of the process of reforming the European Union, based on the road
map to be proposed by the European Council; would like to be involved in the
negotiation phase for a future IGC, as its involvement would be conducive to a
more inclusive result, which would benefit the public;
The CoR's contribution to analysing the
political cost of the non-Constitution
8.
supports the Commission's approach as regards to
the symbolic impact of a Constitution in terms of strengthening the sense of
ownership of European citizenship by the EU's citizens, based on shared values
and ambitions;
9.
believes that, with no Constitutional Treaty,
the European Union would deprive itself of significant advances in
representative and participatory democracy within the European Union, and would
have neither a relevant legal framework nor decision-making mechanisms
conducive to strengthening the Union's ability to act, in particular by the
extension of qualified majority voting, and its capacity to take in new
candidate countries;
10.
stresses that with no Constitutional Treaty, the
EU would deprive itself of a legal personality and of a common foundation for
its fundamental rights in the form of a binding charter, which would provide a
real legal and democratic guarantee for the citizens of the European Union;
11.
notes that with no Constitutional Treaty, the
European Union would not benefit from the recognition of regional and local
autonomy as a pillar of the democratic system of the European Union;
12.
believes that the absence of a Constitutional
Treaty would be detrimental to the recognition of the virtues of the model of
European integration, which seeks to respect and foster diversity within the
EU;
13.
recalls that with no Constitutional Treaty, the
Union would deprive itself of a clearer definition of competences and of a
political and judicial system that strengthens the implementation of and
compliance with the subsidiarity and proportionality principles, inter alia as
regards the explicit recognition of the local and regional dimension, thus
renouncing greater recognition by the Union of the competences of regional and
local authorities, greater involvement of the latter in the decision-making
process, thanks to their systematic involvement in the pre-legislative
consultation phase; and the legal guarantee of this participation, inter alia
thanks to the granting to the Committee of the Regions of a right of appeal to
the Court of Justice, which would strengthen transparency and democracy in the
Union;
14.
notes that, with the Constitutional Treaty, the
European Union would have a relevant capacity to act to guarantee territorial
cohesion and strengthen Community solidarity;
15.
stresses that, with no Constitutional treaty,
Europe would deprive itself of a common asylum policy and concrete tools to
fight illegal immigration, which are of particular relevance to local and
regional authorities who have to provide for the reception of immigrants in
their regions and cities;
16.
recalls that, with no Constitutional Treaty, the
Union would not be able to develop a broad energy policy; this would, inter
alia, penalise the commitment of local and regional authorities to renewable
energy and energy efficiency as part of efforts to reduce climate change;
Taking account of the regional and local
dimension in the institutional settlement
17.
asks that, in any case, the following provisions
be retained in any future Treaty:
-
the importance attached to the EU's aims, to
values and fundamental rights, and in particular to respect for local and
regional self-government and recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity,
(Articles I-3, I-5 and Preamble of the Charter of Fundamental Rights);
-
the new definition of the principle of
subsidiarity, (Article I-11(3));
-
consideration of the effects of Community
legislation on local and regional authorities (protocol on the application of
the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality);
-
recognition of the principle of consultation,
and consequently, closer cooperation between local and regional authorities in
drawing up, implementing and evaluating Community policies (protocol on the
application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality);
-
the possibility for regional parliaments with
legislative powers to be involved in the early warning process of ex-ante
monitoring of the application of the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality (Article 6 of the protocol on the application of the principles
of subsidiarity and proportionality);
-
the CoR's right to bring an action to defend its
own prerogatives (Article III-365) and for infringement of the principle of
subsidiarity (Article 8 of the protocol on the application of the principles of
subsidiarity and proportionality);
-
the acknowledgement of the importance of
grassroots democracy in the Union, (Article I-46);
-
the new provisions on participatory democracy,
which call upon the institutions of the Union to give representative
associations, including local and regional associations, the opportunity to
make known and publicly exchange their views on all areas of Union action and
hold a regular, open and transparent dialogue with them (Article I-47).
-
the inclusion of territorial cohesion among the
objectives of the Union (Article I-3) and the commitments made by Member States
with respect to the promotion of economic, social and territorial cohesion
(protocol on social, economic and territorial cohesion);
-
recognition of the special status of the
outermost regions (Article III-424);
-
the inclusion of the regional and local
dimension in matters relating to civil protection (Article III-284).
18.
therefore requests that the protocol on the
application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality be included
in any new treaty or maintained as Protocol 2 immediately after Protocol 1 on
the role of national parliaments;
19.
recognises the need to take into account the
following areas: climate change, energy, the European Social Model in the
context of demographic change and globalisation, migration policy, inter alia as regards the fight against illegal
immigration, economic policy in the Euro area, and stresses that EU action in
these areas can only be effective if it draws on and is supported by local and
regional authorities; therefore asks that any new Treaty provide for it to be
consulted in these new areas of EU action;
20.
points out that, in addition to the EU
communication problems which have been identified time and again, the public
wants the EU and the Member States to provide policies which are more geared
towards its interests. The public's question "What do I get out of the
EU?" is legitimate, and European politics must provide convincing answers
to these questions.
21.
asks, if the mandate of the IGC provides for the
re-examination of the legal bases contained in Part III of the Constitutional
Treaty, that provision be made for it to be consulted on measures relating to
civil protection (Article III-284), tourism (Article III-281) and
administrative cooperation (Article III-285);
Continuation of the CoR's commitment to
Plan D for Decentralisation
22.
notes that a consensus has emerged since the
beginning of the reflection period on the need to discuss Europe at the level
closest to the people, and to target information and give it a local and
regional slant;
23.
reiterates that it is convinced of the urgent
need to promote, via a decentralised communication policy, debate based on
shared values, the achievements of European integration and Community policies,
and the challenges for the future of the European Union;
24.
stresses that by adding a
fourth "D" – Decentralisation – to Plan D (Democracy, Dialogue and
Debate) proposed by the European Commission, it wanted to draw attention to the
relevance of the political and public debate on proximity and to the need to
promote a decentralised communication policy across Europe;
25.
recalls that it is developing a programme of
major events in Brussels (Open Days/European week of cities and regions,
forums, thematic weeks), thus giving the European institutions involved in
their organisation a real platform for communicating with representatives of
regional and local authorities, regional and local media, and the editors of
the publications of European and national associations of local and regional
authorities;
26.
also welcomes all the initiatives taken by its
political groups and local and regional authorities in the area of
communicating Europe, listed in its first two progress reports on the
implementation of Plan D for Decentralisation, thus promoting the creation of a public space for dialogue and
debate via the local and regional press;
27.
therefore reiterates the need to adopt a two-way
approach, as advocated by the European Commission in its White Paper on
European information policy; communication with local and regional authorities
is currently too unilateral and top-down;
28.
commits, in the current context of prolongation
of the Commission's action, to continuing the territorial approach already
developed with Plan D for Decentralisation and, with the aim of consolidating a
decentralised communication policy, calls for:
-
the
creation of a network between the press offices of local and regional
authorities which, by giving a local slant to news on European events, would
make for easier and more effective use of information on Europe by local and
regional media;
-
the
organisation in the various Member States, in cooperation with national
associations of local and regional authorities, of seminars for regional and
municipal representatives to discuss subjects of key national interest to them;
-
local
and regional councils to hold special sessions, open to Members of the European
Parliament and the Committee of the Regions coming from the same constituency,
dedicated to the achievements of European integration and the process of EU
institutional reform, for instance on Europe Day (9 May);
-
the holding of conference-debates in connection
with Plan D on the margins of its commissions’ external meetings, so as to
develop a dialogue between its members and the public targeting particular
themes;
-
the publication of a standard text on Plan D for
Decentralisation on the websites of European municipalities, cities and
regions, outlining the priorities of the Communication on Europe; and best use
to be made of the links to those sites on its Going local website and on
that of the European Commission, thus promoting the spread of good practice in
the area of communication and information about the EU at local and regional
level;
29.
welcomes the step the European Commission took
in holding the Berlin Conference on 18 and 19 January 2007 with a view to
developing a partnership between the European institutions and local and
regional authorities in the area of communication;
30.
draws particular attention to the proposals
contained in the conclusions of that conference, inter alia the need to:
-
guarantee an increase in the budgetary resources
available to local and regional authorities to enable them to play their part
in a renewed information and communication policy;Â
-
include European civic education classes in
school curricula;
-
encourage candidates for election at local and
regional level to include European themes in their manifestos by means of
appropriate information;
-
and spread good practice on information within
Member States at local and regional level;
31.
agrees with the Commission's view about future
targeting of communication to specific population groups, inter alia women and
young people;
32.
believes that the European Union's communication
policy will become more coherent and effective if the European institutions
find a legal framework or basis conducive to the implementation of a properly
targeted programme based on this policy and backed up by sufficient financial
resources; local and regional authorities and their networks should be eligible
for Community funding under these future programmes; welcomes in this context
the guidelines for the European Parliament's 2008 budget procedure calling for
greater involvement and new action plans for communication oriented to the
local and regional media;
33.
notes that both the Commission and the European Parliament recognise the need for cooperation between the EU institutions to
give the public a consistent message about Europe, and welcomes the fact that
cooperation with regional and local institutions has been relaunched with a
view to demonstrating the relevance and impact of the EU's decisions in
citizens' lives;
34.
supports the European Parliament's proposal
regarding an interinstitutional agreement setting out the common principles
that might govern cooperation between the institutions in the area of
communications, and asks that it be involved in drafting and implementing this
agreement;
35.
supports the European Parliament's proposal on
the evaluation of the activities of the Interinstitutional Information Group
(IIG) to establish whether there is scope for improvements and whether a group
responsible for coordinating the implementation of the guidelines set by the
IIG should be created, and would be willing to participate in such an
evaluation;
36.
also welcomes the addendum to the cooperation
agreement with the European Commission, signed in November 2005, relating to
information and communication policy, which strengthens this dimension of
interinstitutional cooperation in favour of a genuine decentralised
communication policy;
37.
supports the communication activities of
regional parliaments, and requests the participation of its members and of
regional parliaments and their representative associations in the Inter-parliamentary
forums on the future of Europe;
38.
welcomes the European Parliament's initiative
proposing the creation of a European journalism fund aimed at making European
themes relevant to regional and local circumstances;
39.
instructs its President to forward this opinion
to the members of the European Council, the Council, the European Parliament,
the Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee.
Brussels, 6 June 2007.
|
The President
of the Committee of the Regions
Michel Delebarre
|
|
|
|
The
Secretary-General
of the Committee of the Regions
Gerhard Stahl
|
II.A.   PROCEDURE
|
Title
|
Commission staff working paper: The cost of the non-Constitution,
21 November 2006
|
|
References
|
-
|
|
Legal basis
|
Own-initiative opinion (Article 265(5))
|
|
Procedural basis
|
-
|
|
Date of Bureau decision
|
12.2.2007
|
|
Commission responsible:
|
Commission for Constitutional Affairs, European Governance and the
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (CONST)
|
|
Rapporteur
|
Mr Paiva, Mayor of Tomar
(PT/EPP)
|
|
Analysis
|
CdR 12/2007
|
|
Discussed in commission
|
27.2.2007
|
|
Date adopted by commission
|
3.5.2007
|
|
Result of the vote in commission
|
Adopted by a
majority
|
|
Date adopted in plenary
|
6.6.2007
|
|
Previous Committee opinions
|
Opinion CdR
250/2005 of 13 October 2005 on The period of reflection: the structure,
subject and context for an assessment of the debate on the European Union,
rapporteurs: Mr Schausberger (AT/EPP) and Lord Tope (UK/ALDE).
|
II.B.   PROCEDURE
|
Title
|
Plan D – Wider
and deeper debate on Europe
|
|
References
|
SEC(2006) 1553
|
|
Legal basis
|
Own-initiative opinion (Article 265(5))
|
|
Procedural basis
|
-
|
|
Date of Bureau decision
|
12.2.2007
|
|
Commission responsible:
|
Commission for Constitutional Affairs, European Governance and the
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (CONST)
|
|
Rapporteur
|
Mr Paiva, Mayor of Tomar
(PT/EPP)
|
|
Analysis
|
CdR 12/2007
|
|
Discussed in commission
|
27.2.2007
|
|
Date adopted by commission
|
3.5.2007
|
|
Result of the vote in commission
|
Adopted by a
majority
|
|
Date adopted in plenary
|
6.6.2007
|
|
Previous Committee opinions
|
Opinion CdR
52/2006 of 15 June 2006 on the Communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee
and the Committee of the Regions on The Commission’s contribution to the
period of reflection and beyond: Plan-D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate
(COM(2005) 494 final) and on the White Paper on A European communication
policy (COM(2006) 35 final), rapporteur: Ms Bresso (IT/PES).
|
_____________
