EU. Summit deal: big step forward for local and regional authorities, says CoR President Michel Delebarre

President of the Committee of the Regions Michel Delebarre has said he is satisfied that the mandate for the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), adopted by the heads of state and government at the European Council in Brussels on 23 June, preserved most of the institutional rights for local and regional authorities contained in the draft Constitutional Treaty.

These rights include recognition of and respect for local and regional self-government, the new definition of the subsidiarity principle enshrined in the protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, which includes the right of the CoR to bring an action before the European Court of Justice in the event of the subsidiarity principle not being observed, recognition of territorial cohesion and the listing of cultural and linguistic diversity among the EU's objectives, the granting of special status to the most remote regions, and the progress made with regard to participative democracy.

"It is a big step forward for European local and regional authorities," said the Mayor of Dunkerque (France), who expressed his thanks to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, for taking account of local and regional authorities' wishes during the preparatory phase of the European Council. "It is important that this awareness is maintained during the Intergovernmental Conference under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. Such awareness can only be useful from the point of view of Member States ratifying the future Treaty. In any case, we will remain vigilant and ready to ensure that our gains are also found in the final text of the Treaty," M. Delebarre declared.

He also stressed that in retaining the provision on public services and adding a protocol on services of general interest, recognising the role of local and regional authorities in managing such services, the mandate was in line with the wishes of the CoR and would go a long way towards removing the legal uncertainty currently felt by local authorities in this area.

Speaking personally, Michel Delebarre said he was particularly relieved that the across-the-board social clause had been maintained and predicted that objectives such as promoting a high level of employment, guaranteeing appropriate social welfare, fighting social exclusion, and providing a high level of education, training and human health protection would have to be included when defining and implementing all EU policies.

The CoR President concluded: "This European Council is not the end of the story, and it is good to see that the regions and cities will continue to count in the new stages of European integration."

"Now the institutional framework has been adopted. From now on, the contents of EU policies must be given priority. This next stage must be based on an open and democratic process based on decentralisation and multi-level governance."

"We, the elected representatives of the Committee of the Regions, want the EU's policies to come up with some answers to the fundamental issues for our citizens and future generations, such as environmental protection, global warming or demographic change. It is in this way that Europe will become a strong and recognised political entity, to which our fellow-citizens will be proud to belong and which will give them confidence in the future and in their relations with the rest of the world."