Resolution of the Committee of the Regions on 'The ongoing EU enlargement process'
Date: 1999-11-17
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: Central and Eastern European countries, Cyprus, Malta, enlargement of the Union

29.2.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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II

(Preparatory Acts)

COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Resolution of the Committee of the Regions on ‘The ongoing EU enlargement process’

(2000/C 57/01)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the decisions of the Copenhagen European Council (21 and 22 June 1993) and the
Cologne European Council (3 and 4 June 1999);

having regard to the applications for accession to the European Union submitted by Cyprus, Malta and
the ten Central and Eastern European countries;

having regard to the opinions published by the European Commission on these applications;

having regard to the Commission’s second regular report on the progress of the applicant countries
towards accession;

having regard to the report of the European Parliament on the Communication from the Commission
‘Agenda 2000: for a stronger and wider Union’ (A4-0368/97);

having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the institutional aspects of enlargement
(CdR 52/99 fin) (1);

having regard to its opinion on the implementation of EU law by the regions and local authorities
(CdR 51/99 fin) (2);

having regard to its opinions and resolutions concerning the principle of subsidiarity (CdR 302/98 fin (3);
CdR 305/97 fin (4); CdR 136/95) (5);

having regard to its opinion on cross-border cooperation with the CEEC (CdR 207/96 fin (6));

(1) OJ C 374 of 23.12.1999, p. 15.
(2) OJ C 374 of 23.12.1999, p. 25.
(3) OJ 198 of 14.7.1999, p. 73.
(4) OJ 64 of 27.2.1998, p. 98.
(5) OJ 100 of 2.4.1996, p. 1.
(6) OJ 34 of 3.2.1997, p. 18.

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having regard to its opinion on the effects on the Union’s policies of enlargement (CdR 280/97 fin (1));

having regard to its opinion on an instrument for structural policies for pre-accession — ISPA
(CdR 241/98 fin (2));

having regard to its opinion on pre-accession measures for agriculture — SAPARD (CdR 273/98 fin (3));

having regard to its Bureau’s decision on 20 October 1999 to appoint Mr Roger Kaliff (SV, PES) as
rapporteur-general,

a) whereas the European Union’s efforts to bring its institutions closer to the European citizen have
steadily increased over the past decade. The importance of regional and local government in building
Europe has been acknowledged and has consequently been taken increasingly into account in the EU
decision-making process. Indeed, the inclusion of the subsidiarity principle in the Treaty on European
Union, the establishment of the Committee of the Regions and the development of the partnership
principle in the implementation of the Structural Funds policy of the Union are proof of the progress
made in this direction;

b) whereas further efforts must be made in order to strengthen the position of regional and local
authorities in the European Union as these entities often have both legislative and executive powers
and thus dispose of considerable competencies in implementing EU legislation. In its resolution to the
European Council in Cologne (3 and 4 June 1999) the Committee of the Regions therefore submitted
proposals for the amendment of the Treaties during the next IGC (CdR 54/99 fin) (4);

c) whereas, as regards the ongoing process of EU enlargement, the Committee of the Regions underlines
its commitment to this process which it regards as an investment in peace, political stability, social
cohesion and prosperity for the people of Europe;

d) whereas, in the light of the conclusions of the Commission’s second regular report on the progress of
the applicant countries towards accession and the conclusions of the special meeting of the European
Council held in Tampere, the Commission and the Council must steadily intensify the dialogue with
Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia within the framework of the EU’s enlargement
strategy, with a view to launching accession negotiations with these countries as soon as possible;

e) whereas enlargement must not, however, be allowed to jeopardise the level of European integration

already achieved with respect to the Internal Market and other Community policies;

f) whereas the basic principles of the European Union, such as the principle of proximity to citizens
(Article 1 of the EU Treaty), the subsidiarity principle and the principle of proportionality (Article 5 of
the EC Treaty and Protocol appended to the Amsterdam Treaty on the application of the principles of
subsidiarity and proportionality) formally relate primarily to the relations between the Union and the
Member States. However, in practice they are also relevant to the national decision-making process
and to the transposition of European law in the Member States and the application of that law at
national, regional and local level;

g) whereas these principles must, therefore, also guide the accession negotiations with the applicant
countries. The European Union, whilst respecting the way applicant countries’ powers are organised
internally, must work towards ensuring that EU law will be implemented in the future Member States
as efficiently as possible but also as closely as possible to the citizen;

(1) OJ 64 of 27.2.1998, p. 48.
(2) OJ 51 of 22.2.1999, p. 7.
(3) OJ 93 of 6.4.1999, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 293 of 13.10.1999, p. 74.

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h) whereas since 1997 the Committee of the Regions has taken an active role in the EU enlargement
process by organising a dialogue between its members and political representatives of the regional
and local levels in the applicant countries. In fact, after having invited local and regional elected
representatives from all the applicant countries to Brussels in June 1997 and then organised bilateral
meetings with each of these first six countries, a general conference was held in Brussels on
16 November 1999 with the representatives of the local and regional authorities of these countries.
The conference took stock of the discussions and debated this resolution;

i) whereas in the course of these six bilateral conferences, it has become clear that the local and regional
levels in all applicant countries have a vital role to play in the further development of a modern
democracy in these countries. Moreover, the part of local and regional levels in implementing EU
legislation is extremely significant and will increase due to the ongoing devolution processes currently
under way in these countries. However, the information provided for local and regional authorities on
the current negotiations between their national governments and the European Union, as well as their
participation in these negotiations, are not sufficiently developed and must therefore be enhanced;

j) whereas the conferences initiated a process of mutual information and consultation having regard also
to the experiences of regional and local authorities of all 15 EU Member States during the previous EU
enlargement processes (in 1973, 1981, 1986 and 1995);

k) whereas the conclusions of the Commission report on the progress made by all the countries applying

to join the European Union must be respected,

unanimously adopted the following resolution at its 31st plenary session of 17 November 1999.

The Committee of the Regions calls upon

— the Council and the European Commission

— the local and regional authorities in the European

Union

1.

2.

to incorporate the enlargement dimension into the their
bilateral cooperation arrangements, e.g. twinning or bilate-
ral cooperation agreements, with the regions and local
authorities in the applicant countries, if this has not already
been done;

to promote cross-border and transnational cooperation at
devolved government level through their own bilateral
contacts or through their Member States’ bilateral contacts
with the applicant countries;

3. as far as their resources and remit allow, to exchange
officials with or to host trainees from devolved administra-
tions of the applicant countries in order to familiarise them
with European institutions, policies and procedures;

4.

to help the local and regional authorities in the applicant
countries to open representative offices in Brussels, for
instance, in liaison with existing regional offices;

5.

6.

7.

8.

to press forward without delay with the EU enlargement
negotiations with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Poland and Slovenia according to the principle
of proximity to citizens, the subsidiarity principle and the
principle of proportionality enshrined in the Treaties;

to launch accession negotiations with all applicant count-
ries which have made sufficient progress towards meeting
the criteria for accession established by the Copenhagen
European Council;

to ensure that, in matters affecting their remit or vital
interests, local and regional authorities receive all relevant
information and are consulted sufficiently, and in good
time, before negotiations with the applicant countries enter
the crucial phase;

to consider and respect the rights, powers and responsi-
bilities of local or regional authorities laid down in the
legal framework of the applicant countries and to push for
the involvement of these levels in the process of negotia-
tion, e.g. through increased contacts with the Commission
delegations in each of the countries concerned;

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9.

to act swiftly in launching the institution-building prog-
ramme for local and regional authorities, as announced in
the new Phare guidelines, so that these tiers of administra-
tion, which are also affected to a decisive extent by the
application of the acquis communautaire, can be widely
involved in the preparations for accession;

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

to develop innovative awareness-raising instruments for
people in the applicant countries with the aim of briefing
them about European integration, not just its economic
implications, but also the way in which it affects ordinary
people;

to ensure that the EU programmes to assist cross-border,
interregional and transnational cooperation are compa-
tible with the pre-accession strategy measures, including
the Phare programme;

to take into account the opinions issued by the Commit-
tee of the Regions in negotiating the conditions for EU
accession in those policy areas where the Committee has
rights of mandatory consultation;

to work towards the speedy establishment of
joint
committees composed of representatives of the Commit-
tee of the Regions and of local and regional levels in
the applicant countries at the request of the applicant
countries’ governments and on the proposal of
the
representatives of the regional and local authorities;

to foresee in the forthcoming IGC on institutional reform
of the European Union the inclusion of a provision in the
Treaties that allows the national governments of the
applicant countries to nominate observers to the Com-
mittee of the Regions for the period between the signing
and the effective date of their Treaty of EU Accession;

to ensure that account is taken of the justifiable concerns
of existing and future border regions, where the impact
of enlargement will be felt much more keenly than
in other regions; as well as economic, structural and
environmental issues, such effects in particular include
nuclear safety;

16.

to undertake to implement the institutional reforms
required to improve the functioning of the Community
institutions, without slowing down the enlargement
process;

— the European Parliament and the Member States’

parliaments

18.

19.

to ensure that the vital role of local and regional levels
for the further development of democracy prosperity,
social cohesion and political stability in the applicant
countries is acknowledged and supported by the Euro-
pean Union;

to ensure sufficient resources so that local and regional
elected representatives in the applicant countries prepa-
ring their country for EU accession at their administrative
level can receive appropriate information and support as
soon as possible and, in particular, can follow the work
of the Committee of the Regions;

— the national governments of the applicant countries

20.

to guarantee that representatives of
their local and
regional levels receive all relevant information regarding
their own areas of competence during the EU accession
negotiations;

21.

to ensure sufficient financial resources for local and
regional authorities and their associations, thereby enab-
ling them to participate more actively in the EU accession
process;

22.

to guarantee that their local and regional authorities are
consulted on a mandatory basis in these areas well before
the negotiations with the European Union enter into the
crucial phase and that they may present their views
directly to the negotiators of the government;

23.

to ensure that their local and regional authorities are
consulted in those areas which will have financial and
administrative consequences for local and regional autho-
rities;

24.

25.

to ensure that where negotiations on areas concerning
the competencies of their local and regional authorities
have already been finalised, these authorities are immedia-
tely informed about the consequences of the negotiated
solutions;

to ensure and facilitate that their local and regional
authorities may establish official contacts across national
boundaries in order to prepare their country as well as
possible for EU accession at their level of administration
and responsibility;

17.

to ensure without delay that the EU enlargement negotia-
tions are guided according to the principle of proximity
to citizens, the subsidiarity principle and the principle of
proportionality enshrined in the Treaties;

26.

to work towards the speedy establishment of
joint
committees composed of representatives of the Commit-
tee of the Regions and of local and regional levels in the
applicant countries;

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27.

to ensure that their local and regional governments will
be involved in fixing the priorities of Phare national
programmes, in particular the institutions-building prog-
ramme, so that they can prepare themselves for integra-
tion with the European Union;

28. The Committee of the Regions instructs its President
to forward the present resolution to the European
Commission, the EU Council, the European Parliament,
the Helsinki European Council and the parliaments of
the Member States, and to the governments and the
parliaments of the applicant countries.

Brussels, 17 November 1999.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions on The Convergence of the Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology
Sectors and the Implications for Regulation’

(2000/C 57/02)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on The Convergence of the
Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology Sectors and the Implications for Regulation
[COM(97) 623 final] [COM(1999) 108 final];

having regard to the decision of the Commission of 17 March 1999 to consult the Committee on the
subject in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European
Community;

having regard to the decision of its Bureau of 2 June 1999 to instruct Commission 3 (Trans-European
networks, transport, information society) to prepare the opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 191/99 rev. 1) adopted by Commission 3 on 24 September
1999 (rapporteur: Mr Schiffmann) (D, PSE),

at its 31st plenary session of 17 and 18 November 1999 (meeting of 17 November) unanimously adopted
the following opinion.

1.

Introduction

Consultation on the Green Paper on Convergence

1.1.
The subject of this opinion is the results of the public
consultation on the green paper on The Convergence of
the Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology
Sectors and the Implications for Regulation. The green paper
was submitted by the Commission on 3 December 1997.

the green paper,

This was followed by a public consultation on the
1.2.
content of
the results of which were
published by the Commission on 29 July 1998 in a working
document (1). In this working document the Commission also
posed questions on three problem areas which had proved to
be of particular importance during the first stage of the
consultation (access to networks and gateways; investment,
innovation and content production; balance between the
public interest and competition considerations in regulation).

(1) SEC(1998) 1284 final.