EU regions call for wider role

Europe’s regional politicians have called for a greater role for local government in the future EU.

Meeting in Rome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the treaty signed there that gave birth to the EU, members of the Committee of the Regions made their own “declaration for Europe”, mirroring the official Berlin text.

The CoR, which represents Europe’s regions, cities and local authorities at the EU level, concentrated on five areas where it believed Europe needed to change.

Ideals such as the promotion of European values, completion of the single market and more democracy are shared by local and national politicians alike.

But the CoR also stressed the need for greater cohesion between Europe’s regions and for a larger role for regional authorities in European politics – a role that was enshrined in the now defunct European constitution.

“We are convinced that devolution and multi-level governance are among the best routes towards European integration,” the Rome declaration states.

“We are determined to support the heads of state and government in bringing the constitutional process and the necessary reform…to a rapid conclusion, without losing the ground gained by and for local and regional authorities.”

CoR president Michel Delebarre, speaking at the meeting in Rome, stressed that the EU’s regions had already grown in influence over the last 50 years.

“In 1957, only our national governments were represented at the signing of the treaty, and nobody could have imagined it to be otherwise.”

“Decentralisation and local autonomy were not among the major concerns of the founding fathers [yet] the progress in the field of European integration has gone hand-in-hand with an increase in the power of local authorities, in the name of democracy and greater social and economic efficiency.”

“It has become clear that Europe needs to count increasingly on its geographical diversity and on the dynamism of its regional stakeholders [and] that it must place greater emphasis on local and regional authorities in order to renew its ties with the citizens and to re-establish its legitimacy.”

Hans-Gert Pöttering, president of the European parliament, told CoR members in Rome that the committee would “play an increasing role in the Europe of tomorrow”.

“The new Europe we are building is one where regional and local authorities will matter more, not less, in years to come. The bodies you represent will be extremely important in delivering Europe on the ground.”

European commission president José Manuel Barroso echoed Pöttering’s thoughts, saying that local and regional authorities “continued to provide the basis of the bond of trust between the EU and its citizens”. 

Former commission president and current Italian leader Romano Prodi also underlined what he called the key role of local communities, urging them to do more to explain what the EU means, to push for more autonomy; and to strengthen cooperation with other levels of government.

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