Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Local authorities and the Euro-Mediterranean partnership` (98/C 64/09)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to its decision of 12 March 1997, in accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to issue an Opinion on local authorities and the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and to entrust its preparation to Commission 4 for Urban Policies;

having regard to its opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on strengthening the Mediterranean policy of the European Union: Proposals for implementing a Euro-Mediterranean partnership ();

having regard to the Barcelona declaration and the work programme adopted by the Member States and the non-EU Mediterranean countries on 28 November 1995;

having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1488/96 on financial and technical measures to accompany (MEDA) the reform of economic and social structures in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership;

having regard to the Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the adoption of the guidelines for MEDA indicative programmes (COM(96) 441 final);

having regard to the joint report by the Presidency of the Council and the Commission on Mediterranean policy - follow-up to the Barcelona conference (7987/96 - C4-0414/96);

having regard to the European Parliament's proposed resolution of 12 March 1997 on the abovementioned report;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 125/97 rev.) adopted by Commission 4 on 30 May 1997 (rapporteur: Mr Rutelli),

adopted the following opinion at its 20th plenary session on 20 November 1997.

1. Local authorities and the Euro-Mediterranean partnership

1.1. Introduction

1.1.1. The establishment of a unitary, coherent framework for relations with non-member Mediterranean countries (NMC) is a priority objective of the EU's external relations. Hitherto, the building of a partnership has been limited to the twelve countries of the southern Mediterranean ().

The Mediterranean has a certain regional identity based on its main economic activities and dense trading network. Despite this, it is a fragmented and heterogeneous geopolitical area characterized by a wide variety of cultures, political systems, socio-economic structures and development levels. The efforts made by states and international organizations towards greater regional integration have not lived up to expectations. There remains a general imbalance, and this gives rise to social tensions, religious conflicts, unemployment and migration. It must be recognized that the growing interest in the Mediterranean springs partly from the perceived risks which the steady increase in international and domestic tensions poses for the region's stability and security.

1.1.2. The establishment of effective EU-NMC cooperation and partnership plans should also prompt a rethink of the parties and provisions underpinning the development process. Regional and local authorities today have more scope for direct action which can complement and transcend the traditional limits of centralized cooperation. Steps can thus be taken to overcome the problems of traditional development models, develop existing networking between cities, with a view to producing real tangible development projects and meet the challenges of sustainable development, in the urban and rural context notably under Local Agenda 21.

1.2. The Euro-Mediterranean conference

1.2.1. The Euro-Mediterranean conference held in Barcelona on 27 and 28 November 1995 defined new guidelines for the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (). The partnership covers three main fields: political and security cooperation; economic and financial cooperation; and cooperation in social, cultural and human affairs.

1.2.2. One of the distinguishing features of the Barcelona spirit is its provision for two complementary levels of action: initiatives taken centrally, and those conducted locally. Central governments have responsibility for strengthening political dialogue and developing economic and financial cooperation by establishing a common area of peace, stability and shared prosperity for all the partners. Hence central governments will mainly be involved in the first two fields of the partnership. Local and regional authorities and the various strands of civil society are accorded a front-line role in cooperation in cultural, social and human affairs (developing human resources, promoting understanding between cultures and exchanges between civil societies), although the possibility of their submitting suggestions or having a practical input in the other two fields is not ruled out.

1.2.3. Each of the two tiers of authority has a specific sphere of action. Government action is via the individual EU-NMC association agreements. The regional and local authorities and civil society are mainly active in decentralized cooperation schemes concerning local government and the promotion of human rights.

1.3. General features of cooperation between local and regional authorities

1.3.1. Local and regional authorities have tended to focus on technical cooperation involving the transfer of skills, professional expertise and know-how. Priority has naturally gone to the urban sector (improvement and upkeep of infrastructure, spatial planning) and local administration (training of municipal staff, organization of administrative procedures).

1.3.2. Such schemes seek to help all local development players to familiarize themselves with methodologies and instruments tailored to their local situations. To be effective, these must be underpinned by a detailed understanding of this situation and must address the need to adjust operating procedures to funding needs.

1.3.3. Whatever the content of the principal programmes concerned, it is fair to say that such schemes generally produce high-quality, representative results. Despite sometimes being too technical or involving too much red tape, decentralized cooperation is undoubtedly one of the most sophisticated forms of EU cooperation in the Mediterranean.

1.3.4. The cooperation schemes carried out by regional and local authorities on the two sides of the Mediterranean are a practical demonstration of the potential for action by these parties at international level.

Lastly, it is pleasing to note that the development of decentralized cooperation schemes enhances the role of ordinary citizens and helps to meet the local and regional authorities' call for participation in democratic decision-making.

This activity deserves to be supported and strengthened financially, on the basis of proper application of subsidiarity and the requisite level of resources.

1.4. The operating mechanism for Mediterranean programmes

1.4.1. The Community action undertaken by the Commission () complements that of the central and peripheral bodies in the NMC. The Commission's specialist offices (desks) prepare the indicative programmes for each country. These programmes, which are generally for a three-year period, set out the implementing priorities established jointly with the beneficiary country. They outline the political, economic and social situation in each country and analyse the main challenges facing it. They also set out guidelines for Community financial and technical cooperation, and indicate the main programmes selected for the 1996-1998 period and the corresponding financial allocations, which provide reference points for the subsequent drafting of invitations to tender. The Commission's general guidelines for the indicative programmes, under the MEDA programme, have offered useful pointers for setting priorities with the Mediterranean partners and for coordination with the Member States. ()

1.4.2. The main priorities mentioned in the MEDA regulation () as regards the national programmes are:

- support for economic transition and the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area, through the development of the private sector and job creation, including support for SMEs; promotion of European private investment, including industrial cooperation; modernization of economic infrastructure, and schemes to support the development of infrastructure;

- support for achieving a better socio-economic balance, by improving social services, promoting harmonious and integrated rural development, environmental cooperation, integrated development of human resources, strengthening of democracy and respect for human rights, cultural cooperation, technical assistance and cooperation to combat drug trafficking, international crime and illegal immigration;

- support for regional and cross-border cooperation by establishing and improving machinery for regional cooperation between Mediterranean partners, and establishing the infrastructure needed for regional trade (transport, communications, energy, and small-scale infrastructure projects in the context of border-crossing facilities).

1.4.3. The programmes are submitted to the EU's MED committee, made up of officials from the Member States (Article 11 of the MEDA regulation), for adoption, and are then included in the financial protocol-memorandum signed by the Commission and the NMC. The Commission can thus launch the implementing stage by preparing the terms of reference for specific projects, which are then submitted to the beneficiary country for approval.

For smaller projects such as 'micro-initiatives` (), direct contracts are drawn up. For service projects, which are subject to a tendering procedure, the Commission draws up a shortlist on the basis of initial screening or expressions of interest. Invitations to tender for the supply of goods or public works are always published in the EU's Official Journal ().

2. Multilateral partnership projects and local authority networks

2.1. These schemes seek to promote and transfer know-how between the EU and Mediterranean. A wide range of decentralized cooperation schemes are carried out by public and private organizations in the EU and NMC.

This is undoubtedly the main sphere of action for local authorities. The decentralized cooperation programmes in the Mediterranean were frozen in 1995, and in 1996 the Commission began to reorganize the running of decentralized cooperation programmes in line with three specific requirements:

- recognition of cooperation with civil society as a key plank of Euro-Mediterranean relations;

- the eagerness of civil society in the EU and the NMC to play a part in cooperation, and the ensuing need for a more structured organization;

- the need for simple, transparent and rigorous procedures for decentralized cooperation programmes.

2.2. The decentralized cooperation programmes remain frozen in 1997, and any decision on their relaunch awaits the outcome of the European Parliament's discussion of the Court of Auditors special report on the programmes.

The Med-Urbs programme has proved of particular relevance to local authorities through its activities to promote and transfer know-how and expertise useful to local government. Local authorities have also benefited from the Med-Migration programme in support of organizations working with migrants, aimed at establishing local development mechanisms to alleviate migratory pressures. Finally the Med-Techno programme, which was not in fact implemented, was designed to support public and private consortia for the treatment of urban and industrial waste water for reuse as an energy source.

The conclusions of the Malta Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Foreign Ministers called for the relaunch of three of the decentralized cooperation programmes, Med-Urbs, Med-Campus and Med-Media. It is possible that some of the objectives of Med-Migration and Med-Techno could be incorporated into Med-Urbs.

3. Conclusions

3.1. The decentralized cooperation programmes in the Mediterranean have galvanized many players and institutions into building up a significant body of cooperation schemes. Accordingly, it is necessary to guarantee the future development of these programmes within the wider Euro-Mediterranean partnership, in order to exploit the potential of the networks which have been set up and fully support the planning skills which have been developed.

3.2. The future of decentralized cooperation in the Mediterranean regions depends on a series of factors, in particular the commitment and capacity of local authorities. Hitherto, only a few authorities have been fully able to organize and administer transnational cooperation on an effective, long-term basis. In many cases, there has been a tendency to give up when faced with a lack of financial resources or the difficulty of administrative and accounting procedures.

3.3. As a first step, the Committee of the Regions and its members could lobby the European Commission and the NMC national, regional and local authorities who are still negotiating the association agreements and programmes, so that they include topics of potential urban interest among the priority headings. Absolute priority should be given to the management of water resources, recycling and disposal of waste, and sustainable transport. These topics are not mentioned in the programmes, which give priority to strengthening economic reforms and improving socio-economic balance.

3.4. To rekindle interest and awareness of the potential of the Mediterranean partnership, the Commission should adopt measures that raise the profile of the partnership and involve the general public.

3.5. It would also be helpful if more MEDA resources could be allocated to decentralized cooperation.

3.6. Support should also be envisaged when the Med projects come to an end, as should a tie-in with initiatives such as eco-audits, planning, and urban regeneration, which could secure different forms of funding. The Med programmes often go no further than 'inter-city diplomacy`, and make no provision for actually implementing the projects devised.

3.7. The COR endorses the call for a relaunch of the EU's MED decentralized cooperation programmes, made by participants at the second Euro-Mediterranean conference of foreign ministers in Malta on 16 April 1997 and at the Euro-Med civil forum. The COR particularly appreciates the proposal to establish cooperation partnerships between international and regional organizations on the one hand, and local players (including local authorities) on the other, with a view to making better use of their assets and developing cultural tourism.

3.8. The COR must strive to develop this cooperation in an effective manner, and to monitor, support and participate in the Barcelona institutional process.

Brussels, 20 November 1997.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Regions

Pasqual MARAGALL i MIRA

() OJ C 126, 29.4.1996, p. 12.

() Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania of course benefit from a variety of EU schemes, prompted partly by the situation following the civil war and/or by their status as countries in political and economic transition.

() In adopting the Barcelona declaration, the 27 participant countries undertook to establish a more planned partnership that would turn the Mediterranean basin into 'an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation` (preamble). The follow-up to the conference provides for periodic meetings of foreign affairs ministers to monitor the application of the Barcelona process and define actions enabling the objectives of the partnership to be achieved. The various activities are to be followed by ad hoc thematic meetings of ministers, senior officials and experts; the meetings are open to all the representatives of civil society. The meetings of foreign affairs ministers will be prepared by the Euro-Mediterranean committee for the Barcelona process, comprising the EU Troika and one representative of each NMC.

() The Directorate-General (DG 1B) responsible for Euro-Mediterranean programmes has recently undergone an extensive re-organization.

() EU assistance for programmes in the region is around ECU 3 424,5 million. The bulk of this (90 %) is earmarked for the bilateral agreements between the EU and individual NMC. The remainder is used to finance multilateral cooperation projects, including decentralized cooperation projects between towns and cities. The total figure is lower than the funding (ECU 4 684 million) envisaged by the Cannes European Council of June 1995 for the four years 1995-1999, and lower than the similar commitment contained in the Barcelona declaration of November 1995. The measures to be financed under the MEDA regulation are based on the priorities of the beneficiaries, their changing needs, their deployment capacity, and progress in structural reforms. Financial support will take the form of non-repayable aid administered by the European Commission and risk capital administered by the EIB, supplemented by bilateral contributions from the Member States and EIB loans.

() Council Regulation (EC) No 1488/96 of 23.7.1996 on financial and technical measures to accompany (MEDA) the reform of economic and social structures in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, adopted on the basis of the draft regulation published in OJ C, 6.9.1995. The regulation appears in OJ L 189, 30.7.1996 and entered into force on 2 August. The MEDA regulation sets out the administrative arrangements for a fund for implementing Euro-Mediterranean partnership projects, modelled on existing programmes for other neighbouring strategic areas (Phare with the central and eastern European countries, and Tacis with the countries of the former Soviet Union). From 1 January 1997, MEDA replaces the bilateral financial protocols which had underpinned EU support for the NMC since the 1970s, and the regulations on horizontal cooperation (Regulation 1763/92/EEC), cooperation with the Occupied Territories (Regulation 1734/94/EEC) and structural adjustment (Regulation 1762/92/EEC).

() This is a small-scale option for local authorities, and provides for initiatives such as the holding of seminars and meetings or the drafting of studies on specific subjects. The value and scale of these projects is significantly lower, but they do provide an opportunity for potential partners to meet and prepare a full-scale planning package.

() The beneficiaries of the support measures will include national governments, regional and local authorities, regional organizations, private companies, public agencies, traditional and local communities, cooperatives, non-profit associations and NGOs. As indirect beneficiaries, European operators can participate in the implementation of projects by responding to specific international invitations to tender ('S` and 'C` series of Official Journals), becoming accredited experts, or setting up joint ventures with local partners.