Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — A decent life for all: from vision to collective action
Date: 2015-06-03
Institutions: Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs, European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU programme, democratisation, equal treatment, integration of migrants, poverty, social inequality, social integration, sustainable development








C_2015260EN.01001201.xml










7.8.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 260/12





Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — A decent life for all: from vision to collective action
(2015/C 260/03)












Rapporteur



J.F.M. (Hans) JANSSEN (NL/EPP), Mayor of Oisterwijk





Reference documents



Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — A decent Life for all: from vision to collective action
COM(2014) 335 final
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015
COM(2015) 44 final








I.   POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Preliminary remark









1.


This opinion relates to the communication from the European Commission entitled ‘A decent life for all: from vision to collective action’ (1), on the European Union’s input into the United Nations’ efforts to develop a new transformative post-2015 agenda. The opinion also covers the Commission communication on ‘A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015’ (COM(2015) 44 final), concerning the means of implementing this transformative agenda. This communication is essentially a further development of chapter 5 of the first communication.





General comments









2.


welcomes the Commission’s commitment to making an active and constructive contribution to the adoption of a new, ambitious and necessary transformative post-2015 agenda, which will lay the foundations for addressing a range of connected key global challenges;












3.


also welcomes the willingness of the EU and its Member States to work with all partners and stakeholders to reach consensus on this transformative agenda. The CoR endorses the view that this presents a unique opportunity to renew and strengthen cooperation within the international community, as developed in the communication on global partnership;












4.


shares the Commission’s view that the agenda should be rights-based and that it is intrinsically linked to good governance, democracy and the rule of law. This ties in well with the previous communication on ‘increasing the impact of EU development policy: an agenda for change’ and the associated CoR opinion (2);












5.


agrees that the principle of universality applies to the proposed priorities and goals, while taking account of national circumstances, capacities and levels of development and also recognising that the challenges can only be faced with the commitment and involvement of all stakeholders. This therefore also places demands on the EU’s Member States, both in their own countries and in their cooperation among themselves and their contribution to international cooperation;












6.


welcomes the fact that the process of developing this agenda has so far proceeded in close consultation with, for example, local and regional authorities, and notes the importance of translating that consultation into structural cooperation, not only in the run-up to the summit in September 2015 at the General Assembly of the United Nations but also in the subsequent implementation and monitoring of the transformative agenda;





Priorities









7.


acknowledges the importance of all thematic priorities referred to in the Commission’s communication, and notes that the objectives set by the UN have since evolved, while preserving the essence of the priorities mentioned by the Commission; is keen, in this context, to see a specific objective retained on inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements. The significant growth of urbanisation worldwide — which is set to continue in the coming decades — and its impact on the surrounding countryside justify retaining this separate priority. We need to put this into practice in Europe, too;












8.


notes that, in point 3(2), the communication’s approach to ‘sustainable cities and human settlements’ also focuses too much on just the ‘challenges for sustainable development’. Cities are also drivers of growth (3), which helps to increase the potential for domestic resources and thus contributes to the financial basis for achieving other goals;












9.


notes that, like the United Nations, the Commission has previously worked on the basis of sticking to a manageable number of goals, not least for communication reasons. This is one reason for proposing clustering. The Commission also quite rightly refers to ‘the strong interlinkages between priority areas and their related target topics’ and the need to take account of these interlinkages;












10.


in this context, once again highlights the importance of taking a territorial approach to development. The linkages between many of the goals and the problems on which they are based necessitate taking an integrated approach in terms of coherent geographical and administrative areas. This concept is not adequately emphasised in the communication. In contributing to the ongoing work in this area, the EU can make use of the earlier Communication on Empowering local authorities (COM(2013) 280 final), which gives a good definition of the territorial approach to development as a bottom-up and long-term process, in which different local actors work together to define priorities, and plan and implement development strategies. Such an approach is essential in order to mobilise the wealth of knowledge, resources, capacities and engagement of communities;





Local and regional involvement









11.


believes that the Commission is quite right to start from the basis that the transformative agenda requires the commitment and involvement of all stakeholders. Many of the listed priorities will require commitment at local and regional level, in terms of both policy and decision-making and planning and implementation. This is not the place to analyse all of the priorities and target topics separately, but the communication could still be strengthened when it is translated to local and regional level. The CoR calls for the process of ‘localising the post-2015 agenda’ to be continued, inter alia in dialogue with national and international associations of local and regional authorities, and is keen to make its own contribution to this process;












12.


welcomes the fact that the Commission acknowledges the need for a multilevel governance approach and agrees with the Commission’s view that, if the global partnership is to be a success, policies at national and subnational level will need to be geared to meeting the SDGs both domestically and internationally. The CoR highlights in this connection the importance of the principle of subsidiarity applied by the EU;












13.


points out that, in order to make the best possible use of all levels of government and ensure that they interact effectively, there needs to be cooperation between national governments and local and regional authorities. This starts with the development of goals, indicators and targets at country level, but also covers the choice of measures and their implementation, and monitoring and evaluation with a view to learning lessons and making improvements. The communication too often dismisses local and regional authorities as simply implementing bodies;












14.


therefore considers it worth emphasising once again the political role played by local and regional authorities, as so well expressed in Commission communication COM(2013) 280 final. Local and regional authorities weigh up policy issues and take political decisions, as well as implementing policies set at national level in some areas;












15.


for that reason, and without wishing to detract from the importance of accountability per se, would take issue with the passage in point 3 ‘Accountability’, which gives local authorities ‘a key role’ in monitoring national governments (among others) and holding them accountable. The CoR feels that this is not an accurate reflection of the relationships within the government, and would instead seek to strengthen cooperation and consistency in the actions of the government as a whole;





Progress, monitoring and accountability









16.


agrees that it is important for the future framework to be based on accountability, transparency and effective review of progress based on clear criteria. The CoR also shares the Commission’s view that participation and accountability, as well as high-quality rules and institutions, are crucial in this regard;












17.


stresses that effective monitoring of progress starts with clear objectives and targets. As stated in the first communication, these do indeed need to take account of differences in national circumstances. However, the Communication also quite rightly states that, ‘ultimately, the work at target level, including indicators should be framed so as to drive the necessary transformation in all countries at various levels of development in order to achieve the universal goals’. In other words, diversity does not provide carte blanche to evade commitments: the interdependence of the challenges we are facing makes that impossible. There is thus a need for genuine horizontal accountability between countries;












18.


points out that there are variations in circumstances not only between countries but also within individual countries that justify differences in indicators, approaches or targets. This needs to be discussed between national governments and local and regional authorities. Here, too, there needs to be horizontal accountability, in this case between local and regional authorities: learning from each other through benchmarks, peer reviews, etc., as mentioned in the second communication, is often a better approach in this context than vertical accountability and penalties;












19.


believes that the transformative agenda will, in part, draw its strength from the broad base of support for it, and from the willingness of all stakeholders at all levels to engage with it. The local and regional levels are also important in terms of participation and accountability. Local and regional authorities are keen to commit to this, and are willing to contribute to data collection with a view to monitoring and further implementation of the transformative agenda. National and international associations of local and regional authorities have a natural role to play in this. The CoR urges the Commission and Member States to ensure that data collection remains proportionate, in terms of the objective it serves and of the financial and time investment it requires;












20.


therefore shares the Commission’s view that it is crucial to improve use of existing data. Data collection should, as far as possible, be embedded in existing structures, which should be strengthened where necessary for that purpose. This could include the civil registry, the land registry, chambers of commerce, tax authorities, etc.;





A new global partnership









21.


points out that such a comprehensive agenda requires a whole range of associated implementation means: financial and non-financial; legally binding or based purely on a firm voluntary commitment; initiated by government, by science and technology, by industry, or by NGOs; economic mechanisms such as fair trade, etc. The CoR supports the Commission’s commitment to ensuring the necessary mix of instruments, and is focusing in this opinion on certain aspects that are of specific interest to local and regional authorities;












22.


the second communication correctly states that the new global partnership should also unlock the development potential of local authorities and local stakeholders and that coordination between the different levels — global, national, regional and local — should be reinforced. This requires strong local and regional authorities. And that in turn requires legitimacy and clearly defined powers and responsibilities: in other words, fully-fledged decentralisation. The communication should be more explicit about this when advocating an effective legal framework;












23.


stresses that responsibilities can only be fulfilled if the necessary resources are also provided. This could take the form of transfers from national government to local and regional authorities, but could also involve allowing the necessary scope to mobilise local and regional resources, e.g. via local and regional taxation. This is another aspect of fully-fledged decentralisation. This is another point where, in the CoR’s view, the means of implementation — the mobilisation of domestic resources alongside international aid — focus too narrowly on the national level;












24.


notes that the means of implementation also include technical assistance and capacity building. In many countries, there is still little or no decentralisation, which means that the capacities of local and regional authorities are often also limited. The CoR therefore considers it indispensable to provide these countries with comprehensive and sustained support in technical assistance and capacity building, so that the local and regional level can make the necessary contribution to the transformative agenda. Success or failure at this level has a significant impact on public perception of the government as a whole. The CoR endorses the Commission’s view that all partners in international cooperation must step up their support for capacity building, and calls on the EU to intensify its support for capacity building of local and regional authorities in partner countries;












25.


sees decentralised cooperation as an important conduit for capacity building in local and regional authorities. The exchange of knowledge between local authorities also brings added value, both within the EU and between other more developed countries, in terms of implementing the transformative agenda. With reference to its earlier opinions (4), the CoR therefore calls on the Commission to specifically add ‘decentralised cooperation’ to the array of means of implementation. Decentralised cooperation currently represents just 0,3 % of the Commission’s development budget, and the CoR calls for this to be increased;












26.


once again offers the resources it has at its disposal to contribute to the implementation of the transformative agenda and the ongoing exchange of views, knowledge and experience in that connection: the information and discussion platform (portal) for local and regional authorities for development (5), the atlas of decentralised cooperation, the biannual dialogue on decentralised cooperation (known as the ‘Assizes’), and two international forums — the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) and the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP);












27.


stresses, finally, that implementation of the transformative agenda requires broad public acceptance. Institutions cannot do it alone, even if they run the gamut from governments, via businesses and knowledge institutions, to NGOs. Once again, the importance of the local level is not to be underestimated. In recent years, activities relating to the Millennium Development Goals have been held in countless towns and villages throughout Europe. There are 1  200 Fair Trade Towns (6) in Europe so far, and we now have the first Fair Trade Regions as well; for decades, hundreds of twinning agreements between European municipalities and their partners in other parts of the world have been drivers for inclusion, understanding and insight in international relations; and in many areas local and regional authorities are helping to shape the European Year for Development 2015. The CoR recommends continuing to make use of this network in the coming years to get the public involved in the transformative agenda, with a view to participation and acceptance, accountability and inclusiveness, as well as its contribution to sustainable change;












28.


considers the transformative agenda to be comprehensive, ambitious and necessary. It will require commitment from everybody, at all levels and in all parts of the world. Local and regional authorities in Europe are standing ready to make their contribution, alongside the others.





Brussels, 3 June 2015.


The President of the European Committee of the Regions

Markku MARKKULA




(1)  COM(2014) 335 final.

(2)  CDR364-2011_FIN_AC.

(3)  COTER-V-046

(4)  For example, CDR732-2012_00_00_TRA_AC.

(5)  http://lra4dev.cor.europa.eu/portal

(6)  COR-2014-05704-00-00-AC-TRA