The News (Site updated Friday, May 25, 2012 | 16:00)

Regional democracy the core topic of Congress events taking place in Innsbruck (Austria)

[25/05/2012 15:00:00] From 30 May to 2 June, Innsbruck (Tyrol, Austria) will be the venue for a series of events on regionalisation, multi-level governance and regional transfrontier cooperation. In particular, an International Conference on the Role of Regions with Legislative Power in Council of Europe and European Union member states will take place on 1 June. The conference, co-organised by the State Region of Tyrol, the Conference of European Regions with Legislative Power (REGLEG) and the Congress, will pay special attention to the development of various systems of regional democracy. In the run-up to the conference, a seminar on crossborder cooperation and the meeting of the Governance Committee of the Congress will take place on 30 and 31 May, respectively. On 2 June the President of the Congress, Keith Whitmore, will be awarded the Land of Tyrol and the City of Innsbruck’s Emperor Maximilian Prize for Regional and Local Politics.

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Press Release

Special Dossier

Keith Whitmore: ''The Congress is an active stakeholder in implementing the Council of Europe neighbourhood policy''

[23/05/2012 14:30:00] Addressing the 122nd Ministerial Session of the Committee of Ministers on 23 May 2012, Congress President Keith Whitmore presented the Congress’ involvement in the Council of Europe’s neighbourhood policy and in particular towards Morocco and Tunisia. ''Our action for the southern Mediterranean is built on our long-standing experience in the region, dating back to 1988 and designed in close co-operation with other actors and Council of Europe bodies. The Congress is pursuing two types of intervention: an immediate assistance to help establish an adequate legal framework for a real local and regional democracy, and the support to initiatives on democratic governance and co-operation with newly elected local representatives'', he explained. This includes for instance a continued assistance with the new legislation on regionalisation in Morocco, the contribution to the work of the National Constituent Assembly in Tunisia, and offering expertise to accompany the electoral processes or developing a “special partner status” for local and regional elected representatives and their associations in both countries. Photo: Keith Whitmore, Congress President and Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights of the COE at the 122nd Ministerial Session.

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John Warmisham presents the Alliance for Roma Inclusion to Council of Europe experts on Roma

[22/05/2012 16:30:00] ''The main objectives of the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion will be to improve local and regional capacity for project implementation and to help secure funding for these projects,'' stressed John Warmisham, Congress Thematic Rapporteur on Roma/Travellers, at the 3rd meeting of the ad hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM), held from 22 to 25 May 2012 in Skopje and Ohrid (the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”). He presented the work in building the Alliance, which will have two major functions: to serve as a platform for exchanging information, and to be a service provider and support mechanism for cities and regions. Its activities will be both thematic and transversal, focusing on priority issues specific for each community through exchanges of good practices, seminars, workshops, study visits and twinning programmes, among others.

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Congress visit to monitor local and regional democracy in Hungary

[23/05/2012 15:00:00] A Congress delegation led by Artur Torres Pereira (Portugal, SOC) and Devrim Çukur (Turkey, EPP/CD) is to carry out a monitoring mission from 23 to 25 May 2012 to assess the state of local and regional democracy in Hungary. This is the first general monitoring visit to the country since it ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1994. Meetings will be held in Budapest on 23 May with the Hungarian delegation to the Congress and with representatives of Local associations. An exchange of views with the Secretary of State for Municipal Affairs and with the President of the Constitutional Court is also foreseen. On 24 and 25 May the Congress Delegation will meet with Mayors and Municipal Councillors of the cities of Budapest, Gödöllö, Szentes and Szeged and with members of National Parliament. Photo: Artur Torres Pereira and Devrim Çukur together with the Secretary of State for Municipal Affairs, Andras Tallai

Congress visit to monitor local and regional democracy in Ukraine

[22/05/2012 14:00:00] A Congress delegation led by Fabio Pellegrini (Italy, SOC) and Pascal Mangin (France, EPP/CD) carried out a monitoring mission from 21 to 23 May to assess the state of local and regional democracy in Ukraine. This is the third general monitoring visit to the country since it ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1997. The delegation met the Mayor of Kyiv, Leonid Chernovetskyi, the Head of Kyiv City State Administration, Oleksandr Popov and members of his staff. Meetings were also held with local authorities associations, with Municipal Councillors of the cities of Simferopol and Chernivtsi, with members of Ivano-Frankivsk Council and Region and with Ministers and Members of Parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The delegation held a final exchange of views with Maryna Stavniychuk, Advisor to the President of Ukraine and Head of the Main Department of Constitutional and Legal Modernisation.

Andreas Kiefer: ''The Congress stands ready to develop concrete activities for local democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina''

[22/05/2012 12:00:00] ''The Congress monitoring visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2011 has paved the way for concrete cooperation for local democracy with the authorities of this country,'' stated Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress addressing the Meeting of the Working Group “Western Balkans” of the Committee of the Regions in Sarajevo on 22 May 2012. ''The Congress proposes to contribute to strengthen the basis on local democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina by assisting the authorities to revise or elaborate legislation related to local self-government, in particular by clarifying the distribution of competences, which is still unclear, enhancing intergovernmental and inter-municipal cooperation and interaction, and by increasing citizens oriented effective governance and services provision'', he added. He finally confirmed the Congress’ will to put into place action plans in order to bring the country’s local governance system in line with the Charter European Charter of Local Self-Government and the Council Of Europe Reference Framework for Regional Democracy.

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Agenda of the meeting

Recommendation 324 (2012) on Bosnia and Herzegovina

Congress Monitoring report - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Henrik Hammar: “Supporting migrant businesses is crucial for better integration at local level”

[21/05/2012 11:00:00] Strasbourg, 21 May 2012. Speaking at the 12th Meeting of the Cities for Local Integration Policy Network (CLIP) on 21 May in Wroclaw (Poland), Henrik Hammar (EPP/CD, Sweden), Rapporteur on Migrants’ Entrepreneurship of the Congress, highlighted the important role played at local level by immigrants running their own entrepreneurial activity. 'They in fact contribute directly to the local economy, reducing the social stress on the host community and help to dismantle the prejudices about migrants as living on public assistance or stealing jobs from native residents' he said. Therefore it becomes necessary for both the Council of Europe and the European Union to make it simpler and more flexible for immigrants to start and run businesses. Economic and administrative incentives, Mr. Hammar recalled, must always go hand in hand with political and social efforts aimed at fighting discrimination, ensuring equality and overcoming prejudice.

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Bulgaria signs the Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government

[14/05/2012 16:30:00] ''By signing the Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority, Bulgaria has given new impetus to its local democracy,” Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress said when he met with Lilyana Pavlova Nikolova, Bulgarian Minister for Regional Development and Public Works, on the occasion of the signing ceremony on 11 May 2012. ''The citizens’ participation is decisive because it helps to enhance the legitimacy of decisions, but also because it enables the public authorities to take fuller account of the citizens’ expectations in improving the policies and the services offered,'' he emphasised. This signature marks a tangible step in the implementation of Recommendation 310, which was adopted six months ago by the Congress following a monitoring visit to Bulgaria in November 2010. Photo: (from left to right) Lilyana Pavlova Nikolova, Bulgarian Minister for Regional Development and Public Works, and Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress

File ''European Charter of Local Self-Government''