Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on The EU — a global partner for development: Speeding up progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
Date: 2008-11-26
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: European Committee of the Regions, Internet, decentralisation, exchange of information, project of common interest, regional authority, regional development

C 76/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

31.3.2009

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘The EU — a global partner for development:
Speeding up progress towards the Millennium Development Goals’

(2009/C 76/06)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— welcomes the Commission's growing awareness that local authorities ‘are increasingly vocal in their
wish to become stakeholders and actors in development’ but stresses, that local and regional authori-
ties are not newcomers to this sphere; they have already been active for decades and are both
committed to and interested in participating as active players in development cooperation, its funding
and its reform;

— reiterates the need to set up a ‘stock exchange’ (bourse/electronic internet portal) for local and regional
authorities that are actively involved in decentralised cooperation on the basis of a system established
at local and regional level. It will notably ease exchanges of information among European local and
regional authorities active in development cooperation and allow matching between local and regional
authority projects in Europe and in developing countries. This would facilitate the development of
decentralised cooperation projects and improve their coordination, create synergies and avoid duplica-
tion; welcomes the cooperation with DG Development in this respect;

— draws attention to the fact that many of the EU's local and regional authorities have development-
based links with their counterparts in the developing world, and thus acquired expertise, especially in
such spheres as education, health, municipal services (water and waste management), small-scale
fishing and aquaculture, infrastructure, transport, communications, the environment, rural develop-
ment, regional economic development and supporting the development of local bodies and political
decentralisation;

— notes that the involvement of local and regional authorities in the recipient countries must be taken

into account when trying to make development policy more effective and coherent.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Rapporteur: Heini UTUNEN (FI/ALDE), Member of Jyväskylä Town Council

Reference document

‘The EU — a global partner for development: Speeding up progress towards the Millennium Development
Goals’

COM(2008) 177 final

I. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

General comments

welcomes the Commission's communication, since devel-
1.
opment policy is urgently needed to combat worldwide poverty
and its causes and achieve equality. Europe cannot cut itself off
from the problems of the rest of the world;

2.
hopes that 2008 will mark a turning-point in EU develop-
ment efforts, which aim to make the Millennium Development
Goals a political priority;

3.
is concerned to note that the volume of European devel-
opment aid has decreased for the second year running and that
only a few countries
the Netherlands, Sweden and
Denmark) are fulfilling the international commitment in relation
to the amount of aid given;

(e.g.

4.
also laments the fact that not only is the amount of aid
granted by the European Union too low, but it is also not suffi-
ciently effective;

considers the communication to be very important for
5.
local and regional authorities and therefore welcomes
the
Commission's recognition that the EU must adopt an inclusive
approach that involves local government and civil society, both
in Europe and in the developing countries;

6.
welcomes the Commission's growing awareness that local
authorities ‘are increasingly vocal in their wish to become stake-
holders and actors in development’ but stresses, that local and
regional authorities are not newcomers to this sphere; they have
already been active for decades and are both committed to and
interested in participating as active players in development
cooperation, its funding and its reform; points out that some
European counties and regions are already fulfilling their
proportional contribution towards the target of spending 0.7 %
of gross national income on development cooperation;

is pleased about

the fruitful cooperation between the
7.
Committee of the Regions and the Commission, which demon-
strates that the role of the Committee of the Regions and of
local and regional authorities in development policy is receiving

increasing recognition. Local and regional authorities should be
regarded as important partners who are involved in EU develop-
ment policy;

8.
calls to mind the principle that good governance is deci-
sive for the success of development policy and that a key aspect
of good governance is an awareness that the best decisions are
taken as close as possible to grassroots level;

for

the poorest countries, but urges

recognises the importance of budgetary and sectoral aid,
9.
in particular
that a
mechanism be created in relations between central government
and civil society players whereby a new culture can be devel-
oped in the use of aid. This might take the form of a scheme at
local and regional authority level to link central government
and civil society development aid;

10.
notes that a stronger and more effective partnership
between European players would ensure that measures are
complementary and strategically sustainable, especially in rela-
tion to aid management;

urges the Commission to give priority to the inclusion in
11.
the Community budget of
the European Development Fund
(EDF) and to coordinate it with the European Regional Develop-
ment Fund (ERDF) within the enlarged European Neighbour-
hood Policy, in order to improve the coordination of the EU's
development cooperation policy activities;

Specific comments

12.
welcomes the Commission's recognition that in order to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals the EU must adopt
an approach that encourages participation and that it invites
local and regional authorities and civil society to be involved in
development policy both at European level and in the devel-
oping countries;

13.
calls for local and regional government as well as civil
society organisations to be treated as actors in their own right,
each of which has an important but distinct role and relevance
in relation to development efforts and calls for their action to
be coordinated, complementary, effective and efficient, trans-
parent and participatory;

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Official Journal of the European Union

31.3.2009

reiterates

14.
‘stock exchange’
the need to set up a
(bourse/electronic internet portal) for local and regional authori-
ties that are actively involved in decentralised cooperation on
the basis of a system established at local and regional level. It
will notably ease exchanges of information among European
local and regional authorities active in development cooperation
and allow matching between local and regional authority
projects in Europe and in developing countries. This would facil-
itate the development of decentralised cooperation projects and
improve their coordination, create synergies and avoid duplica-
tion; welcomes the cooperation with DG Development in this
respect;

15.
welcomes the initiative taken by the Council of European
Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
to develop an Internet
portal
for municipalities to help them to find a twinning
the twinning
partner in Europe; welcomes the extension of
portal managed by the CEMR, which enables twinning between
European municipalities with municipalities in developing coun-
tries; the Committee should consolidate and encourage the work
carried out by the CEMR.

expertise, especially in such spheres as education, health, muni-
cipal services (water and waste management), small-scale fishing
and aquaculture, infrastructure, transport, communications, the
environment, rural development, regional economic develop-
ment and supporting the development of local bodies and poli-
tical decentralisation;

20.
believes that these projects will give local and regional
authorities legitimacy, expertise and experience in those areas
that are particularly important for the economic and social
progress of the developing countries, and that it is therefore
vitally important to give them a more significant role and to
draw on their experience in development policy;

points out that in many EU Member States, local and
21.
regional authorities have a legal right to take part in national
development policy on the basis of decentralised cooperation.
They can therefore be regarded as direct players in EU develop-
ment policy and external affairs;

II. THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

22.
points to the advantages of decentralised cooperation
and draws attention to the need to promote it, since many local
and regional authorities directly fund and implement develop-
ment policy. The have a complementary role and make develop-
ment policy more coherent;

European players

emphasises that all Europeans, including public authori-
the private sector and individual citizens, must share

16.
ties,
responsibility for global development issues;

notes that although — depending on the Member State
17.
— not all levels of local and regional government necessarily
have competence for development cooperation, this means that
there is a need for collective responsibility for development
issues at European level. Development cooperation must in one
way or another be incorporated into the activities of local and
regional authorities, even if
this does not happen directly
through financial aid projects with the partners in the devel-
oping countries. Ways of doing this could be presented at a
special exchange ‘forum’;

and

stresses

that municipalities

23.
regions wish to
strengthen their involvement based on partnership and expertise
by making efforts above all in the specific areas covered by local
and regional government. They will also work together with
development cooperation actors to raise people's awareness of
solidarity with developing countries;

24.
believes that the closeness of local and regional govern-
ment to the people and the subsidiarity principle mean that its
role is, at its best, a multi-level perspective, which is part of
national, European and global development policy and ensures
and improves the effectiveness of aid;

25.
stresses the important role which local and regional
authorities in the outermost regions can play as privileged part-
ners in the development of the EU's cooperation policies with
neighbouring third countries, while also serving as laboratories
for projects requiring appropriate coordination of the European
Development Fund (EDF) and the European Regional Develop-
ment Fund (ERDF);

18.
sees as positive from the perspective of local and regional
government that the Commission recognises the need to include
local and regional authorities in development cooperation, and
welcomes the Commission's communication in particular from
this point of view;

Third country players

19.
draws attention to the fact that many of the EU's local
and regional authorities have development-based links with
their counterparts in the developing world, and thus acquired

26.
notes that the involvement of local and regional authori-
ties in the recipient countries must be taken into account when
trying to make development policy more effective and coherent;

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C 76/33

27.
stresses that local ownership and decentralisation should
be guiding principles in relation to development efforts and
development policy;

28.
would like to see an approach promoted which would
enable local and regional government in Europe and the devel-
oping countries better support development stakeholders and
players;

29.
shares the view that democracy does not just mean free
choice, but is built on a daily basis — reflecting economic and
social development,
in which local and regional government
plays a key role;

30.
notes that the added value of local and regional authori-
ties is particularly evident in their role, which is ideally to estab-
lish democracy and good governance, and to promote the
decentralised model of government;

that

stresses

representatives of European local and
31.
regional authorities do not work solely with their counterparts
in the South, but also with the rest of civil society;

32.
draws attention to the problems that arise from aid
being dependent on a one-sided, top-down system, which is the
most common approach used by even the European Commis-

Brussels, 26 November 2008.

sion to deliver aid. Real partnership and involvement of the
local level and organisations representing it (i.e. associations of
local and regional authorities) are absent, which means that
funding does not have an effect at local level. At the same time
the effects of aid provided by NGOs, which is generally local, do
not necessarily extend to public authorities, local and regional
authorities
institutional mechanisms, which further
hampers the long-term impact and effectiveness of aid;

and

that

feels

result

the top-down system does not

in
33.
local and regional authorities, and
adequate involvement of
involvement of
the right people, nor allow for different
approaches and breadth. Therefore, a bridge is needed to
connect central government and the grassroots level. In many of
the developing countries receiving aid,
local government and
support for it could produce tangible solutions, which must
obviously be implemented on a case-by-case basis;

34.
is convinced that granting development aid to local and
regional authorities within the recipient country would in many
cases produce better, more transparent and more sustainable
governance. Care must be taken to ensure that the cost to the
donor is kept within acceptable limits.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE