Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on "Regional and local authorities and the European Union's common strategy for the Mediterranean"
Date: 2000-09-20
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: European Union, Mediterranean region (EU), cooperation policy, local authority, regional authority

24.1.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 22/7

30. affirms that a process which would give the Treaties
constitutional status must take account of the impli-
cations at local and regional level. That applies to all
changes in the existing balance between the Union and
the Member States which affect the political and legal
competences of
local and regional authorities. Strict
adherence to the subsidiarity principle is a prerequisite.
Constitution-building must also pay heed to, and respect,

local and regional autonomy in keeping with the tra-
ditions of the individual Member States;

31.

instructs its president to forward the present resolution
to the EU Council, the European Parliament, the European
Commission, and the governments and parliaments of
the Member States.

Brussels, 20 September 2000.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Regional and local authorities and the European
Union’s common strategy for the Mediterranean’

(2001/C 22/03)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the declaration adopted at the Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean conference on 28 November
1995;

having regard to the conclusions of the Vienna European Council of 11 and 12 December 1998;

having regard to the conclusions of the Stuttgart Euro-Mediterranean conference of 15 and 16 April
1999;

having regard to the conclusions of the Cologne European Council of 3 and 4 June 1999;

having regard to the conclusions of the Feira European Council of 19 and 20 June 2000;

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 (COR 371/95) (1);

having regard to its opinion on Local authorities and the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (COR 125/97
fin) (2);

having regard to its resolution on Decentralised cooperation and the role of regional and local authorities
in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (COR 40/2000 fin) (3);

having regard to the European Parliament’s resolution of 30 March 2000 on Mediterranean policy;

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 11 April 2000, under the fifth paragraph of
Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to draw up an opinion on Regional and
local authorities and the European Union’s common strategy for the Mediterranean, and to direct
Commission 1 for Regional Policy, Structural Funds, Economic and Social Cohesion and Cross-border
and Inter-regional Cooperation to undertake the preparatory work;

(1) OJ C 126, 29.4.1996, p. 12.
(2) OJ C 64, 27.2.1998, p. 59.
(3) OJ C 156, 6.6.2000, p. 47.

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having regard to the draft opinion (COR 123/2000 rev. 2) adopted by Commission 1 on 28 June 2000
(rapporteur: Mr Chaves Gonza´lez (ESP-PSE));

considering the strategic importance of the Mediterranean for the whole European Union, as demonstrated
by the process launched at the Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean conference in November 1995;

considering the need to strengthen this process, as in many respects it has not lived up to the expectations
raised on both sides of the Mediterranean. Action is particularly needed in the political sphere, establishing
effective instruments to ensure that the Euro-Mediterranean partnership helps to create an area of peace,
stability and progress;

considering the EU’s commitment to enter a new stage in Euro-Mediterranean relations, as expressed at
the Feira European Council which approved the common EU strategy for the Mediterranean, designed in
particular to give a new boost to the Barcelona process;

considering the decision of the third Euro-Mediterranean conference in Stuttgart, to hold a fourth Euro-
Mediterranean conference a the end of 2000, under the French presidency of the EU Council of Ministers,
with a view to further building Euro-Mediterranean relations;

considering the policies which the EU’s regional and local authorities are pursuing with bodies on the
southern and eastern sides of teh Mediterranean;

considering the Stuttgart conference’s decision to give regional and local authorities a greater role in the
Euro-Mediterranean partnership, and to give a new boost to decentralised cooperation. The Cologne
European Council ratified these decisions;

considering that it is useful and appropriate for the Committee of the Regions to express its views
regarding the EU’s common strategy and the fourth Euro-Mediterranean conference, bearing in mind the
special relations which the EU’s regional and local authorities have with the southern and eastern
Mediterranean area, and the policies which they are pursuing to promote the development of that area,

adopted the following opinion at its 35the plenary session of 20 and 21 September 2000 (meeting of
20 September).

The Committee of the Regions

1. Notes that the EU’s common strategy for the Mediterra-
nean, and the fourth Euro-Mediterranean conference,
should boost the Barcelona process and help to create a
new framework for relations that will make the current
arrangements more operational, eliminating the short-
comings which have impeded the development of
relations and cooperation hitherto and demonstrating
the strategic importance which the EU attaches to the
Mediterranean region.

3.

Considers that this requires the establishment, within the
Euro-Mediterranean institutional framework, of a regional
and local body which would bring together regional and
local authorities from both sides of the Mediterranean,
and which would promote the partnership and develop
programmes to be carried out throughout the Mediter-
ranean.

The structure and implementing powers of this regional
and local body would be decided by the local and regional
authorities of the area, taking account of the special
characteristics of each.

2.

Renews its call, pursuant to the Barcelona declaration and
the conclusions of
the Stuttgart conference and the
Cologne European Council, for regional and local auth-
orities to be more closely involved as frontline players in
establishing an area of peace, stability and progress in the
Mediterranean.

4.

Regrets that, although the Barcelona declaration envis-
aged that city and regional representatives would hold
meetings to take stock of their problems and exchange
experiences, no such meetings have yet been held; calls,
therefore, for them to begin this year.

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5.

6.

Reiterates its request
for decentralised Euro-Mediter-
ranean corporation to be made one of the pillars of the
Barcelona process, in the context of the common strategy
and Barcelona IV and in accordance with the conclusions
of the Stuttgart conference and the Cologne European
Council, also requests that, on behalf of the European
Commission, regional and local authorities administer
the Community financial resources earmarked for the
Mediterranean partner countries under decentralised
cooperation.

Calls, in the context of decentralised cooperation, for the
establishment of guidelines for an interregional and
transnational programme for regional and local auth-
orities on both sides of the Mediterranean, that ends
the current fragmentation and ensures greater political
coordination and more effective use of resources. This
programme should address the sustainable development
of the peoples on the southern and eastern sides of the
Mediterranean, with special focus on spatial planning, the
environment, SMEs, employment, economic and social
policy, and the management of migratory flows, with
special attention to safety, reception and integration.

7. Ask the European institutions and the Member States to
reflect carefully on the impact of the MEDA programme
with a view to remedying the current imbalances and
furthering the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean
partnership.

8.

9.

Regrets that, despite the considerable resources allocated
to this programme, relatively few projects are under way
and most of the resources have not yet been paid out;
calls, therefore, for procedures to be streamlined in order
to facilitate the effective distribution of the present and
future resources concerned.

Calls, in the planning stage which is now beginning, not
only for better management and greater flexibility in
Community programmes but also for coordination and
dovetailing of the programmes conducted in the Mediter-
ranean by national governments, regional and local
authorities, and Community financial instruments, so as
to achieve greater consistency and synergy in resources

Brussels, 20 September 2000.

used for the economic and social development of the
Mediterranean countries; also calls for clarification and
concentration of the various Community budget headings
for measures in the Mediterranean region.

10. Calls for the MEDA II programme to be allocated a
sufficient budget which takes account of the importance
and necessary development of the Mediterranean.

11. Calls for the MEDA II regulation to include a section on
decentralised cooperation, with provision for the funding
of programmes as outlined in point 6.

12. Renews its request

for coordination of

the various
Community financial
instruments for cooperation in
the Mediterranean region; calls, more particularly, for
coordination between the Interreg programme and the
MEDA programme.

13. Supports the proposal for an overall socio-cultural pro-
gramme that highlights and promotes, from different
perspectives, the contributions which Christian, Jewish
and Muslim cultures have made to the development of
Mediterranean culture, and that strengthens dialogue
between the three religions and the three cultures. Such a
programme should fully respect the real history of this
influence, whose degree of intensity differs according to
the culture and geographical area concerned.

14. Calls for the definition of a clear and precise framework
for action which, with a view to the establishment of a
free trade area by the year 2010, promotes diversification
the
and ensures that
the agricultural production of
northern Mediterranean dovetails with that of
the
southern and eastern Mediterranean.

15. Considers that the general public on both sides of the
Mediterranean must be made more aware of the aims of
the Euro-Mediterranean partnership; to this end, advo-
cates information campaigns to make the public more
receptive and committed to this partnership; accordingly,
recommends that a specific information and awareness
programme be drawn up and adopted, involving the local
and regional authorities and targeting the public on both
sides of the Mediterranean.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT