Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Communication from the Commission on the Action Plans for administrative and judicial capacity, and the monitoring of commitments made by the negotiating countries in the accession negotiations"
Date: 2002-11-20
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: Community acquis, accession negotiations, accession to the European Union, action programme, enlargement of the Union, relations between the State and the regions

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Communication from the Commission on the
Action Plans for administrative and judicial capacity, and the monitoring of commitments made
by the negotiating countries in the accession negotiations’

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

(2003/C 73/06)

having regard to the Commission’s Communication on the Action Plans for administrative and judicial
capacity and the monitoring of commitments made by the negotiating countries in the accession
negotiations (COM(2002) 256 final);

having regard to the Decision of the European Commission of 6 June 2002 to consult it in this matter,
under the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to the Decision of its Bureau of the 14 May 2002 to instruct Commission for External
Relations to draw up on opinion on this subject;

having regard to its opinion on ‘Supporting the development of institutional structures at local and
regional level in the applicant countries’ (CdR 102/2001 fin) (1), [rapporteur: Roger Kaliff, (S-PES)];

having regard to its final report from the work of the COR-EU Applicant States Liaison Group and
recommendations for the future (18 October 2001);

having regard to its experts’ report on ‘Preparing for EU enlargement — Devolution in the first wave
negotiating countries’ (CdR 391/1999 fin);

having regard to its opinion on ‘Institutional aspects of enlargement — Local and regional government at
the heart of Europe’ (CdR 52/1999 fin) (2);

having regard to its opinion on ‘Implementation of EU law by the regions and local authorities’, (CdR 51/
1999 fin) (3);

having regard to its resolution ‘The ongoing EU enlargement process’ (CdR 424/99 fin — 17 November
1999) (4);

having regard to the Commission’s White Paper on Governance;

having regard to the report of the European Parliament on the state of enlargement negotiations (A5-
0190/2002);

having regard to the debate on enlargement at the 45th CoR Plenary Session, 3 and 4 July 2002;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 244/2002 rev.) adopted on 26 September 2002 by the
Commission for External Relations [rapporteur: Cllr Keith Brown, Leader of Clackmannanshire Council
(UK/EA)],

adopted the following Opinion by a unanimous vote at its 47th plenary session, held on 20 and
21 November 2002 (meeting of 20 November).

The views of the Committee of the Regions

The Committee of the Regions

1.
Notes with satisfaction the Conclusions of the Seville
Council (21 and 22 June 2002) reaffirming the determination
of the Union to conclude negotiations with the first wave of

( 1) OJ C 107, 3.5.2002, p. 32.
( 2) OJ C 374, 23.12.1999, p. 15.
( 3) OJ C 374, 23.12.1999, p. 25.
( 4) OJ C 57, 29.2.2000, p. 1.

ten negotiating countries by the end of 2002, with a view to
signing the Treaty of Accession in Spring 2003.

2.
Commends the efforts made to date by the negotiating
countries in addressing the weaknesses in their administrative
capacity.

3. Welcomes the Commission’s development of Action
Plans for reinforcing the negotiating countries’ administrative
and judicial capacity and the additional assistance of up to
EUR 250 million in 2002 for this purpose through the Phare
programme.

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the Commission’s

4. Welcomes
this
capacity improving is a long-term process which will need
to continue after accession, and the proposed additional
EUR 380 million for a transition facility to support these
efforts.

recognition that

The challenge facing regional and local authorities in the
negotiating countries

5.
Notes that the simultaneous restructuring of both their
administrative structures and the implementation of the acquis
poses a complex challenge for local and regional authorities.
The solution demands both open relations between the
national and the local and regional level, and the development
of capacity, where the flow of information and opportunities
for exchange of experiences are essential.

6.
Recognises that the roles and responsibilities of local and
regional government are not the same within each of the
negotiating countries, as with Member States. The Committee
however recalls the guiding principles for enlargement with
respect to local and regional authorities as laid down in
its Resolution on ‘The Ongoing EU Enlargement process’,
supported by the local and regional representatives of the
negotiating countries:

— the enlargement negotiations should be carried forward
according to the principle of proximity to citizens, the
subsidiarity principle and the principle of proportionality;

8.
Underlines the importance of local and regional auth-
orities in implementing a significant proportion of EU legis-
lation as well as for dealing with structural funds programmes.
Building the capacity of regional and local stakeholders who
are in a situation of political and economic transition is a long-
term process that requires regular assistance in information,
consultations, and tailor made training programmes.

For the attention of the Commission, the Committee

9.
Fears that the Commission is focusing its efforts on
working with national governments, to the detriment of its
responsibility towards the local and regional level because it is
administratively more burdensome. The Committee calls on
all directorates of the Commission to step up their efforts to
engage with the regional and local levels of governance of the
negotiating countries in accordance with the principles of the
White Paper on European Governance.

10. Welcomes the progress made with the establishment of
the TAIEX regional training programme (Phare funded) in
2002 and the start of the third wave of training for officers
from Latvia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Estonia
(the programmes for Poland, Lithuania and Hungary are
already underway).

— in matters affecting their competencies or vital interests,
that local and regional authorities are: timely and suf-
ficiently consulted;
the
consequences of the negotiated solutions; and consulted
on a mandatory basis in areas which will have financial
and administrative consequences for them, in line with
the provisions of their respective constitutions.

immediately informed about

11.
Calls on the Commission to undertake a survey of the
specific training needs of local and regional authorities in the
negotiating countries in consultation with the relevant national
associations of both Member States and the negotiating
countries and to increase the funding available to support the
expansion of the TAIEX programme to address the findings.

Addressing the capacity needs of local and regional
authorities in the negotiating countries

7.
Believes that it remains the case that too little emphasis
is put on the importance of the role and responsibilities of
local and regional authorities in the success of the enlargement
process. There is often a poor understanding of the key role
that the local and regional
level has to play, which is as
valuable as the national level. Local and regional perspectives
must be given a far higher profile in the ongoing negotiations
and in the support given in preparing for EU membership. The
Commission, Member States and national governments of the
negotiating countries must increase their efforts in this respect.

Joins the Commission in encouraging the negotiating
12.
countries to make full use of
the opportunities afforded
through programmes such Phare (TAIEX) and other interre-
gional cooperation programmes; in particular, for national
governments to increase their efforts in promoting these
opportunities to ensure a higher level of take up at a local and
regional level.

13.
Expresses concern at the low take-up to date of training
in transport policy, public procurement and social policy
(occupational Health and Safety and labour market law) at a
regional and local level. The Committee calls on the Com-
mission to raise awareness of the significance of these fields.

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14.
Calls on the Commission to support participants at the
end of their training period to promote their expertise in
order to develop domestic centres of expertise for training,
encouraging local responsibility for improving administrative
capacity.

20.
Effective implementation and enforcement of the acquis
requires good functioning relations between the local/regional
and national level and flow of information to the local level in
all accession countries. Formalised consultation procedures are
key to avoiding future problems and to ensure the principle of
subsidiarity.

15.
Notes that although many regions have established
independent representation in Brussels to support the efforts
of the cities and regions in the integration process, many are
financially not able to do so. The Committee calls on
the Commission to support the regions and the national
associations of
local authorities in their initial efforts to
establish representation in Brussels.

For the attention of local and regional authorities in
Member States and the accession countries

16.
Reiterates the call made in its Resolution on ‘The
Ongoing Enlargement Process’ to encourage local and regional
authorities in all Member States to participate in the pre-
accession process:

— to incorporate the enlargement dimension into the their
twinning or

bilateral cooperation arrangements, e.g.
cooperation agreements;

— as far as their resources and remit allow, to exchange

officials or to host trainees;

17.
Stresses the mutual benefit that accrues to local auth-
orities in the Member States from such exchange programmes.
For instance, participants in TAIEX will have had expert
technical training and can be better informed than their
counterparts in the Member States, although they lack practical
experience. It also provokes host authorities to evaluate their
own procedures. The placements are a two way learning
process.

Urges local and regional authorities to take the initiative
18.
unilaterally now in areas of mutual interest, to realise oppor-
tunities, rather than missing out by waiting for the intervention
of Commission or Member State led programmes.

21.
Calls on negotiating countries to continue to pursue
the process of decentralisation and stresses the importance of
democratic legitimacy in line with the European charters of
local and regional self-government. In addition, the CoR calls
on the negotiating countries to ensure that the division of
responsibilities in respect to the implementation of the acquis
is clearly established. In the context of the White Paper on
Governance, the Commission attaches increasing importance
to tri-lateral contacts between spheres of government working
together at a local, national and European level.

22.
Notes the fear expressed by local and regional spheres
of government in the negotiating countries that they will be
usurped to an extent in the initial phases of membership, in
particular in relation to the implementation of structural funds
programmes due to lack of local capacity. The Committee
believes that this should only happen where the need for it is
evidence based and unavoidable with specific time scales given
for the devolution of responsibilities to the local and regional
spheres of government.

23.
Recalls its concern at the financial problems facing
local and regional self-government, with particular regards to
the additional responsibilities with which they are now faced.
tax raising
The Committee highlights the importance of
powers as a fundamental in establishing effective and auton-
omous local and regional self-government.

Capacity building in relation to adoption, implementation,
and enforcement of the acquis

Agrees with the action plans in strengthening the

24.
following administrative capacities:

The relation between the national and the local and
regional levels

— Reform of judicial systems

19.
Calls on the national authorities of the negotiating
countries to give full recognition and support to the role of
local and regional government in ensuring that membership
of the EU is successful.

— Respect for human rights and the protection of minorities

— Developing effective anti-corruption capacity

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25.
Notes with concern that reference to capacity building
within local and regional authorities is only specifically
mentioned within the context of environment policy and
the management of Community funds. Regional and local
authorities will be responsible for implementing the acquis in
many fields including public procurement, consumer protec-
tion, health and safety, promoting regional development and
employment and social policy.

26.
Suggests that training programmes should be widened
to include areas such as State Aid rules (competition and
regional development policies); citizens rights, such as the
right of all EU citizens to vote and to stand as a candidate in
municipal elections; VAT directive and consumer tax system
directive with regards municipal and regional finances.

that

Notes

there have already been delays

27.
in
implementing new programmes such as Sapard (agriculture
and rural development) and Ispa (infrastructure and environ-
ment) due to their complex nature. Problems in implementing
programmes and delays in committing funding in existing
Member States has already lead to the scrutiny of the complex
rules of the Structural Funds by DG Regio. Lack of resources
and training at local and regional levels is likely to aggravate
such problems in the negotiating countries.

Public awareness campaigns

30.
Notes the waning support for EU membership amongst
the public in many of the negotiating countries, which reflects
anxiety about the effects of enlargement, and gives added
importance to the Commission’s Enlargement Communication
Strategy. The local and regional authorities, as the sphere of
governance closest to the citizen, have direct contact with the
citizens and are therefore in the best position to explain the
policy of enlargement and its impact in local terms. The
Committee calls on the Commission to support better strategic
co-ordination of efforts at a local and regional level.

31.
Although the principal tool of pre-accession assistance
for Institution Building is the Phare funded twinning pro-
gramme, twinning at a municipal level also has a role to play
in this respect (DG Education & Culture). These exchanges
bring Europe closer to the ordinary citizen and promote
greater mutual understanding and respect of different cultures
and traditions in the European Union. The Committee there-
fore expresses concern about the European Commission’s
recent proposal to cut the twinning budget by almost 50 %
and would like to see it reinstated.

Highlights that to ensure efficient and effective absorp-
28.
tion of the Funds, training at a local and regional level needs
to focus on project preparation, application and selection,
audit requirements, and management of transnational projects
in addition to overall programming, management and control.
The Committee believes that technical assistance funds should
be made available to local and regional authorities for this
purpose from the beginning of the programming period.
Exchange of experiences on local partnership building is
important as well as it is recognised as the key to the success
of regional development strategies.

Calls on the Commission to provide more opportunities
29.
and financial assistance for small-scale,
local and regional
cooperation programmes between authorities in the applicant
countries and the Member States through programmes such
as Phare and Interreg III. There is considerable expertise in the
regional administration of structural funds in the Member
States and, post accession, this expertise in likely to be available
at a discount in these countries, and at a premium in the
accession states. A co-ordinated programme therefore suggests
itself.

The Work of the Committee of the Regions

32.
The Committee should step up its efforts in this area in
the short time remaining to accession. Recommends that the
RELEX Commission draws up an action plan to take forward
the recommendations of this and preceding Opinions on the
Committee’s enlargement strategy.

33.
Notes the constructive start in addressing the issue of
implementation of the acquis made by the Joint Consultative
Committees (JCC) established with Poland and the Czech
Republic, (Cyprus JCC is in hand) building on the work of the
Liaison Group which was well received in the negotiating
countries. The Committee should timetable regular meetings,
and provide more support to ensure the effective working of
the JCCs.

Similar to the European Parliament, the CoR should
34.
welcome the new member states on an observer basis as soon
as the accession treaties are signed.

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35.
Reiterates the recommendation of the Liaison Group
that there should also be a specific budget for trainees from
local/regional administrations in negotiating countries which
would allow for a tailor-made programme of placements in
the CoR (Report October 2001).

negotiating countries. One example is the LOGON project lead
by the CEMR enlargement working group which is building a
network for cooperation between local authorities associations
within the EU and the Central and Eastern European Countries
to exchange know-how.

Believes that

there should be more cross-working
36.
between applicant countries, and that the Committee should
support this respect through establishing joint working initiat-
ives on specific policy areas such as regional policy, environ-
ment, transport, social and health policy.

37.
The Committee should lead and work closely with the
national associations of local/regional authorities as well as
the European associations to support their work with the

38.
The Committee underlines its demand to be recognised
as an EU Institution in order to enable it to carry out, with the
maximum efficiency, its roles of serving as a forum for the
needs of
local and regional authorities in the applicant
countries and representing and defending these needs.

39.
The Committee should call on the European Com-
mission to fund the establishment of an office in Brussels for
the regional and local government associations of the applicant
countries.

Brussels, 20 November 2002.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE