Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Civil Society Dialogue between the EU and Candidate Countries
Date: 2006-04-27
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: Croatia, European Union, European citizenship, European integration, Türkiye, accession to the European Union

29.8.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 206/23

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Communication from the Commission to the
the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Council,

the European Parliament,

Committee of the Regions on Civil Society Dialogue between the EU and Candidate Countries

(2006/C 206/05)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

HAVING REGARD TO the Communication from the Commission to the Council,
the European
Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Civil
Society Dialogue between the EU and Candidate Countries (COM(2005) 290 final);

HAVING REGARD TO the European Commission's decision of 29 June 2005 to consult it under the
first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

HAVING REGARD TO the CoR president's decision of 29 September 2005 to instruct the Commission
for External Relations to draw up an opinion on the European Commission’s strategy on progress in the
enlargement process;

HAVING REGARD TO its opinion on the Financial Perspective – Communication from the Commission
to the Council and the European Parliament: Building our Common Future: Policy Challenges and
(CdR 162/2004 fin (1),
Budgetary Means of
rapporteur: Sir Albert Bore, member of Birmingham City Council (UK/PES));

the Enlarged Union 2007-2013, COM(2004) 101 final

HAVING REGARD TO its Opinion on the Recommendation of the European Commission on Turkey's
progress towards accession, COM(2004) 656 final (CdR 495/2005, rapporteur: Ms Helene Lund, Local
Councillor, Farum (DK/PES));

HAVING REGARD TO its Opinion on the Proposal for a Council Decision on the principles, priorities
and conditions contained in the European Partnership with Croatia, COM(2004) 275 final
(CdR
499/2004, rapporteur: Mr Gottardo, member of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Council (IT/EPP));

HAVING REGARD TO the results of the European Commission's on-line public consultation on The
Future Programme for Active European Citizenship 2007-2013;

HAVING REGARD TO the Council Decision of 26 January 2004 establishing a Community action
programme to promote active European citizenship (civic participation) (2004/100/EC);

HAVING REGARD TO its draft opinion (CdR 50/2006), adopted by the Commission for External
Relations and Decentralised Cooperation on 28 February 2006 (rapporteur: Mr Gottardo, member of the
Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Council (IT/EPP));

CONSIDERING the key role played by civil society in the candidate countries in acquainting the public
with the European integration project and supporting national, regional and local authorities engaged in
the economic, social and political endeavours necessary for successful completion of the accession process;

(1) OJ C 164 of 5 July 2005, p. 4.

C 206/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.8.2006

CONSIDERING the need for civil society dialogue between the EU and candidate countries in order to
speed up and strengthen the process of developing understanding of each other's social and political systems
and respect for each other's cultures;

CONSIDERING the benefit of ensuring a decentralised approach when creating civil society networks in
EU and candidate countries to develop mutual understanding and disseminate information on the
European integration process;

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 64th plenary session, held on 26 and 27 April
2006 (meeting of 27 April):

1. The Committee of the Regions' views

1.1 General comments

The Committee of the Regions

1.1.1 welcomes the European Commission's Communica-
tion seeking to give practical effect to the third pillar of its
strategy, which is based on civil society dialogue and concerns
Turkey, Croatia and future candidate countries;

that

agrees,

in particular,

1.1.2
the European institutions
need to shift their attention to the public in the candidate
countries, who have been sidelined in the past when it came
to the decisions, effects and opportunities of previous enlarge-
ments and have therefore often perceived the integration
process as being imposed on them rather
than something
they have espoused themselves;

considers,

1.1.3
in line with the Council's decision of
3 October 2005 stressing the need to ensure citizens' support
for the accession process, that public information about the
consequences of continuing EU enlargement should be pro-
vided not only to citizens of the candidate countries but also
to civil society players in the Member States. The capacity of
the Community to expand - a basic condition of accession
- will also be determined by the degree to which future
enlargements are accepted by EU citizens;

1.1.4
supports the Commission's decision to include regio-
nal and local authorities in the political dialogue to be devel-
oped with all the candidate countries while they are working
towards accession to the EU; therefore considers the CoR to
be a key player in the third pillar of the Commission's strategy
in that it has been directly called upon to further civil society
dialogue; therefore asks to be directly involved in the Com-
mission's future work in the area of civil society dialogue,
particularly where information and communication measures
are concerned;

1.1.6
in particular, notes the discrepancy in the Commu-
nication's approach to financial support: an – albeit provisional
– minimum budget is laid down for activities related to Turkey
while no financial support is laid down for activities related to
Croatia;

considers that it should be left to each EU Member
1.1.7
State to decide how best
to draw up an information and
integration policy for candidate country citizens who are
resident in that Member State, while it feels that it would be
more in keeping with the Commission's role for it to formu-
late a joint approach, valid for both current and potential
candidate countries, conveying the raison d'être, significance
the European integration process
and potential benefits of
through an information campaign targeting the citizens of all
the candidate countries and implemented by regional and local
authorities;

stresses,

1.1.8
in this connection, the need to entrust to
a European civil society network, operating in civil society in
each candidate country and working with schools and univer-
sities in these countries,
together with adequate
the task -
funding - of conveying to their citizens the history, institutions,
raison d'être and future development of the European integra-
tion process, and, in particular, the meaning of the European
citizenship which they will take on alongside their national
citizenship when the accession process is completed;

1.1.9
proposes, moreover, setting up and institutionalising
meetings of EU regional and local elected representatives and
their counterparts from all the candidate countries; at present
this is not an established practice where Croatia and the
Western Balkan potential candidate countries are concerned,
under the first Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)
models.

1.2 Current and new activities: Turkey

1.1.5
points out the imbalance in the Commission Com-
munication, which is concerned almost exclusively with Tur-
key; believes that a broader Communication on the third
the
pillar might have been more useful, applying to all
candidate countries rather than just Turkey and Croatia;

1.2.1
reiterates its belief that it would be beneficial to set
up a Joint Consultative Committee with Turkish local autho-
rities but notes with concern that the Turkish national autho-
rities have yet to complete the steps necessary to actually set
up a JCC with the CoR;

29.8.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 206/25

takes note of the Commission's proposal to involve
1.2.2
NGOs in the process of integrating Turkish citizens into EU
Member States, but stresses that a decentralised approach
involving local authorities is essential to facilitate this;

Croatian and EU regions, particularly Objective 1 regions in
Member States which joined the EU in 2004,
through the
Leonardo da Vinci and other programmes;

1.2.3
stresses the need for a yearly special Commission
report on respect for the rights of minorities in Turkey and
considers it would be appropriate to allocate a fixed percen-
tage of preaccession funding to NGOs and associations of local
representatives working to protect minority rights and the use
of minority and regional languages;

intention to support
1.2.4 welcomes the Commission's
organisations upholding women's rights and equal opportu-
nities and stresses the need to facilitate and monitor actual
active participation of women in local politics;

1.2.5 welcomes the participation of Turkish students in the
Jean Monnet Community programmes but considers it essen-
tial – employing new technology where appropriate – to
decentralise and broaden this approach in order to allow both
outlying universities and students who do not go on to higher
education to take part;

1.2.6 welcomes the development of intercultural exchanges,
which could become the cornerstone of dialogue with the EU,
and urges the Commission, particularly its Ankara delegation,
to adopt a decentralised approach which caters for outlying
non-governmental organisations from regions of Turkey where
minority languages are spoken and to use the Community
Culture and Media programmes to promote preservation of
these languages;

draws the Commission's attention to the need to
1.3.3
focus particularly on promoting respect for minority languages
and bilingualism and the rights of minorities in Croatian civil
society;

1.3.4 welcomes the Commission's
intention to include
programmes made by European regional and local broadcast-
ing companies in its plans for financing television programmes
to
informing the public about
ensure the success of these programmes, stresses the impor-
tance of
languages or the languages of
national minorities;

the use of regional

in this connection,

the EU;

1.3.5
active participation of Croatian civil
essential
by promoting Euroregions and inter-faith dialogue;

among the new activities to be developed with the
society, considers it
to encourage cross-border cooperation, particularly

1.3.6
takes note of the Croatian government's intention to
draw up a National Civil Society Development Strategy, and to
set up a Council for Civil Society Development with the task
of ensuring that
the
activities of Croatian civil society is decided with the necessary
transparency.

the allocation of national

funds for

2. The Committee of the Regions' recommendations

1.2.7
agrees on the need to encourage dialogue between
religious communities and associations, and expects to be
kept properly informed about this dialogue in future Commu-
nications on civil society dialogue;

2.1 General recommendations

The Committee of the Regions

1.2.8
believes it would be useful for the CoR to be actively
involved in promoting on-line public debates, taking part in
web-based initiatives organised by the Commission on the web
page providing information on Turkey.

1.3 Current and new activities: Croatia

1.3.1
regrets that the Stabilisation and Association Agree-
ment (SAA) with Croatia does not provide for the creation of
a Joint Consultative Committee by the CoR and Croatian local
and regional authorities, and draws the Commission's atten-
tion to the need to support the CoR's request,
in order to
avoid similar mistakes with regard to the other potential
candidate countries in the Western Balkans;

1.3.2
notes that Croatia is taking part in more Community
programmes and calls for more twinning of Croatian and EU
towns through the Citizens for Europe programme, and of

considers that it would be appropriate, as of 2006,
2.1.1
the Commission to issue a comprehensive and more
for
balanced yearly paper on progress in civil society dialogue,
taking into greater account the different situations of all the
candidate countries and including a specific report on dialogue
between religious communities and associations;

2.1.2
calls for a budget for the annual financing of activ-
ities fostering the development of civil society dialogue, specific
to each candidate country, to be regularly appended to future
Communications on civil society dialogue;

2.1.3
proposes that the Commission explore the possibility
of creating a European civil society network which would
respect the EU's national, regional and local cultural diversity
and use schools and universities to encourage the public in
candidate countries and Member States to become more famil-
iar with each other's history and cultures and with European
integration;

C 206/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.8.2006

2.1.4
pects of European integration;

stresses that dialogue should focus on positive as-

recommends, with a view to involving NGOs from
2.2.4
outlying areas in Turkey,
links be forged with
associations representing local authorities and regional and
local media;

that closer

the general public in order

calls on the Commission to use the Circom network
2.1.5
and private television channels in the regions and towns of the
EU and the candidate countries to broadcast television pro-
grammes for
to develop civil
society dialogue between the EU and the candidate countries;
moreover, asks the Commission to facilitate the participation
in CoR plenary sessions of journalists from the Turkish and
Croatian national,
including that
serving minorities;

regional and local press,

believes that
special attention should be paid to
2.1.6
respect
for equal opportunities and the role of women's
associations and therefore proposes that the Commission give
priority to NGO projects seeking to secure respect for equal
opportunities and increase the participation of women in
social and political activities;
in this connection, calls upon
the Commission to provide specific programmes for the candi-
date countries, designed to combat direct and indirect discri-
mination both in economic, social and political life and in the
education and media sectors;

2.2.5
urges the Commission to step up its appeals to the
Turkish authorities for women to be properly represented in
local government bodies;
to this end, calls for an annual
European award to be created rewarding women's involvement
in local politics in Turkey;

suggests that,

in order to promote the practice of
2.2.6
twinning between Turkish and EU towns,
the Commission
enlist the help of CoR members, who could ‘adopt’ a certain
number of municipal councils each year and twin them with
for instance, at an
EU counterparts:
annual conference held by the Commission with the coopera-
tion of the CoR;

this could take place,

calls upon the Commission to involve it in the web-
2.2.7
based promotion of on-line public debates,
including the
creation and launch of the website that will provide informa-
tion on enlargement and on activities organised as part of civil
society dialogue in Turkey.

2.1.7
points out that Croatia is currently excluded from the
Community action programme supporting bodies working in
the field of active European citizenship (civic participation).

2.3 Croatia

2.2 Turkey

2.2.1
takes note of the Commission's estimate that EUR 40
million of funding will be needed to cover programming costs
for civil society dialogue for 2006; in this regard, believes that
a mid-term review of the use of the funds available would be
beneficial; and considers that it would be more effective to
adopt an approach which takes into account specific needs
rather than allocating a fixed percentage as the Communica-
tion proposes, except for a pre-established, multi-annual alloca-
tion to facilitate the work of NGOs and associations of local
representatives seeking to protect minority rights and the use
of minorities' native languages;

2.2.2
calls upon the Turkish authorities to take the neces-
sary steps to create a Joint Consultative Committee of Turkish
local authorities and the CoR;

calls upon the Commission, as from the 2006 pro-
2.3.1
gramming exercise,
the total
to specifically earmark part of
annual appropriations available under the pre-accession assis-
tance programme, to finance activities relating to civil society
dialogue;

2.3.2
reiterates its interest in dialogue with Croatian regio-
nal and local authorities and calls for SAAs with other
Western Balkans countries to provide explicitly for the creation
of a Joint Consultative Committee with the CoR;

2.3.3
proposes that specific twinning programmes linking
Croatian regional public administrations and those of EU
Objective 1 regions (Convergence Objective as of 2007) should
be set up with a view to the exchange of good practices in the
use of Community pre-accession funds, and, in particular, that
regional
twinning initiatives should be specifically scheduled
under the Leonardo da Vinci training programme;

urges the Commission to extend financing for Jean
2.2.3
Monnet programmes and the Jean Monnet Action supporting
‘European integration studies’ university courses to establish-
ments outside major cities and the main Turkish universities as
in this context, considers that similar programmes for
well;
pre-university students should also be provided;

2.3.4
proposes that an information campaign be launched
to enhance mutual understanding and to disseminate the
European message at local level, including in the languages of
including those
national minorities; Croatian regional media,
representing national minorities, should be involved;

29.8.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 206/27

calls upon the Commission to protect the work of
2.3.5
civil society organisations representing national minorities in
Croatia and to issue an annual report on respect for the rights
of national minorities,
focusing in particular on the use of
bilingualism (where provided for) in local and regional admi-
nistrations;

proposes that Croatia be allowed to participate as of
2.3.6
2007 in the Community action programme supporting bodies

Brussels, 27 April 2006.

working in the field of active European citizenship (civic
participation);

that

suggests

2.3.7
that
a representative of EU Member States' civil society be allowed
to participate as an observer in the Council for Civil Society
Development set up by the Croatian government.

Commission

request

the

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the
— Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – A Common Agenda for
Integration - Framework for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals in the European Union
— Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Migration and Develop-
ment: Some concrete orientations

— Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common standards

and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals

(2006/C 206/06)

The Committee of the Regions,

HAVING REGARD TO the Communication from the Commission to the Council,
the European
Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Migration
and Development: Some concrete orientations (COM(2005) 390 final) and the Communication from the
Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and
the Committee of the Regions - A Common Agenda for Integration - Framework for the Integration of
Third-Country Nationals in the European Union (COM(2005) 389 final);

HAVING REGARD TO the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on
common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals
(COM(2005) 391 final);

HAVING REGARD TO the decision of the European Commission of 1 September 2005 to consult it on
this subject, under the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

HAVING REGARD TO the decision of its President of 23 September 2005 to instruct the Commission
for External Relations (RELEX) to draw up an opinion on this subject;