ECR News - 5th edition by ECR Group in the Committee of the Regions

ECR News Committee of the Regions | 5th edition

CONTENTS ECR GROUP OPINIONS “Challenged regions are crucial for balanced and sustainable development” says CoR rapporteur Cllr Gordon Keymer

“Training system needs to match the needs”, says Mr Branda

Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: “we must think local and act global” says Cllr Siggs 3

ECR GROUP EVENTS ECR Group participates in the EU Open Days 2014

International calendar

ECR Group calls on the EU to unlock the potential of our regions to deliver growth through food tourism and sustainable food practices

Sustainable food and food tourism as a source of regional growth, ECR Group Conclusions

MEMBERS ACTIVITIES Europe’s migration challenge and the role of local and regional authorities 7 Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership - “Our Eastern Neighbourhood is at a crossroads and we must help them stay on the path of democratisation” says Adam Banaszak

During the first week of October, we saw the new Commissioners explain and defend their views in front of the Members of the European Parliament. I was pleased to see the emphasis on better regulation rather than more regulation. However, for better regulation, we also need to develop a necessity filter. During the new legislative mandate, as servants of the citizens, all of us working in the different parts of the EU mechanism will have to pool our efforts together to deliver better services to our citizens. The EU still faces challenges of growth, competitiveness and jobs. The mid-term review of the EU strategy for growth, the Europe2020 strategy, presents an important opportunity for us to reflect on how better to address these challenges. While we must look closely at how the Europe2020 targets can better deliver growth, we must also look more closely at our internal mechanisms. How can we improve the way we work and deliver growth and jobs and better compete internationally? To deliver better services, we will have to look at what is happening on the ground through impact assessments. It will then require us to conduct a subsidiarity and necessity filter. While we must of course ensure that decisions are taken as close to the citizens as possible and therefore, only taken at the EU level when necessary, we must also ensure that a policy is formulated only if necessary. More regulation is not the answer, better regulation is. To measure the subsidiarity and necessity element, we must work with local and regional authorities that are represented in the Committee of the Regions as they are the ones who have to implement most EU legislation. Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE President of the ECR Group in the CoR Leader of Tandridge District Council

MEETINGS CALENDAR

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ECR GROUP OPINIONS “Challenged regions are crucial for balanced and sustainable development” says CoR rapporteur Cllr Gordon Keymer

While welcoming the work of the European Commission so far, Cllr Keymer underlined that “greater attention needs to be paid to the role of challenged regions and that all challenged regions of all sizes should be taken into consideration when promoting mobility.” Adopted during the 11-12 July CoR Territorial Cohesion Policy Commission (COTER) meeting, the opinion makes 4 key proposals. It calls for the Commission to publish Green Paper on mobility, the adoption of territorial impact assessments, suggests financing solutions and innovative tools and calls for special consideration to be given in the EU’s rules to ports and airports.

Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE

Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE (ECR Group/UK), as the Committee of the Regions rapporteur on “mobility in demographically and geographically challenged regions” underlined the importance of geographically and demographically challenged regions for balanced and sustainable development within the EU. “Challenged regions are crucial for sustainable and balanced growth and jobs. They fulfil essential tasks for the balanced development of the EU, notably through access to raw material, agriculture, fisheries, environmental protection, tourism and leisure opportunities. Promoting economic growth in challenged regions would also positively impact employment rates and contribute to the effective functioning of the internal market and the territorial cohesion of the Union as a whole.”

“We need a Green Paper on mobility”, stated Cllr. Keymer. He further explained that “mobility challenges impact employment and growth. Through the Green Paper, mobility issues in challenged regions should be better recognised and addressed in the full range of the EU’s policies and programmes. In developing the Green Paper, attention must of course be paid to where non-legislative actions could add value to national and sub-national initiatives”. Cllr Keymer also noted that territorial impact assessments were needed, as “this would give us the opportunity to take account of the territorial impact of the EUs mobility policies in challenges regions and enable us to better address the challenges”. On the subject of financing Cllr Keymer noted that he “welcomes the inclusion of a specific thematic objective on Sustainable Transport in the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) 2014-20 programme. However, the pressing mobility needs should be addressed by the Member States and ESIF management authorities. It is necessary to factor these in when defining partnership agreements and operational programmes for implementing ESIF”. Cllr Keymer emphasized that “other EU funds, European Investment Bank funding, and private sector financing could also play a stronger supporting role”.

Newsletter | October 2014

“Local and regional authorities will be the key driving force behind many innovations necessary to secure sustainable mobility as one a pre-requisite to regional growth and jobs” stated Cllr Keymer. To overcome regions’ challenges, “new approaches to funding transport in challenged regions are needed. These approaches need to be supported by new tools such as intelligent transport systems and improved ICT or ondemand transport”. Cllr Keymer also underlined that “ports and airports play an important role in the development of challenged regions. For island communities and outermost regions, such connections are the only possible means of transport and are essential to their very survival. They are also essential for enabling the region to connect, both to their respective countries and to the rest of the EU”. On the subject what measures could be taken, Cllr Keymer argued that “to assist challenged regions, special consideration should be given to them in the EU’s rules to ports and airports, such as public procurement and concessions rules and in the EU’s state aid rules governing ports, aviation, and Services of General Economic Interest”. Expressing concerns over the availability of funds for ports and airports, Cllr Keymer also added that “it is regrettable that the restriction imposed by the European Regional Development Fund for the financing period 2014-20 in most cases prohibits in practice, the financing of airport infrastructure”. Calendar: adoption in 11-12 July CoR Territorial Cohesion Policy Commission (COTER) meeting by COTER Members, adoption by all CoR members during the 6-8 October CoR Plenary session.

“Training system needs to match the needs”, says Mr Branda

local authorities in particular often have a role as service providers in education, training and employment, right resources should be provided by Member States”. Issues such as professional mobility or balancing supply and demand on the labour market at local level have a critical impact on the effectiveness of restructuring mechanisms. “Workers’ mobility should be fostered through the provision of personalised job‑seeking services, work experience and training courses so they can adapt their skill set to the requirements of the local labour market” emphasizes Mr Branda. This particularly applies to “specific groups facing long-term unemployment such as young people, low-skilled workers, older people, migrants and the disabled”.

Pavel Branda

Mr Pavel Branda is the Committee of the Regions’ rapporteur on the opinion “EU Quality Framework for anticipation of change and restructuring”. In his opinion he shows the importance of anticipating change and the adaptability of all stakeholders. According to Mr Branda the two main issues are completing the EU’s internal market and making it as attractive as possible for businesses in order to curb relocation outside the EU, thus preserving employment. The second issue is helping ordinary Europeans to acquire the skills they need for an active life, such as ability to anticipate change, self-assessment, creativity, autonomy and entrepreneurship. “In this view, some radical reforms of obsolete education systems are needed in many countries, as these tend to stand in the way of such skills. There should be more emphasis on freedom to learn and personal responsibility” concludes Mr Branda out of his own experience. “I would like to highlight the role that local and regional authorities play in forecasting skills needs and matching them with labour market needs through measures in the areas of education and training in particular” noted Mr Branda, and continued: “Since

“The role of local and regional authorities in the use of EU Structural Funds should be stressed” adds Mr Branda. The funds such as the ESF and the ERDF, as well as the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in relevant regions, should be used to promote job creation and inclusive transitions. “Funding for measures relating to the anticipation of change and restructuring should come from several different sources, in order to ensure continuity” concludes M Branda. The most important role for local and regional authorities in restructuring is coordinating all the stakeholders. “In practice, permanent coordination structures have proven crucial in ensuring rapid and effective responses at regional level” remarks Mr Branda. Exchanges of experience and best practices at EU level offer clear added value. Furthermore, according to Mr Branda “it is unlikely that the adoption of uniform and binding procedures at EU level would be required, taking into account the specific characteristics of each country and region. That is why I agree with the approach put forward by the Commission, that recommends to draw general guidelines on policy coordination and exchange of best practice, but does not propose any legal measures” adds Mr Branda.

Quality Framework implementation, while ensuring that this process also takes into account existing procedures in each of the Member States” concludes the rapporteur.

Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: “we must think local and act global” says Cllr Siggs

Cllr Harvey Siggs

Cllr Harvey Siggs, the Committee of the Regions rapporteur on the “post-2015 Hyogo Framework for Action: managing risks to achieve resilience”, welcomed the results of the first Preparatory Committee meeting where the new Framework was discussed and encouraged a greater local approach. “Building resilience to disasters is a fundamental necessity for sustainable growth and jobs. We risk losing everything if our communities and infrastructures cannot withstand disasters. To effectively tackle the potentially devastating risk of disasters, we must also think local and act global. Disasters also know no borders”, said Cllr Siggs.”

“The Commission should cooperate with all interested stakeholders when evaluating

The Hyogo Framework is a 10 year international disaster risk reduction plan. The current framework runs till 2015 and a new Framework is due to be adopted at the United Nations-led negotiations at the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai (Japan) on 14-18 March, 2015. Preparatory and consultative meetings are taking place in the run up to March 2015. Following the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee on 24-25 July, a working draft called the “pre-zero draft Framework” has been produced. The pre-zero draft is being used as a basis for open-ended informal consultative meetings and to prepare an updated working draft called the “zero-draft” in time for the second Preparatory meeting due to take place in Geneva, Switzerland on 17-18 November, 2014. “While the pre-zero-draft provides a strong basis for discussions, it needs to have a stronger local and bottom-up approach” said Cllr Siggs. “It needs to look more at the

risk caused by poor communication and management, the risk created by trends such as urban sprawl and urbanisation and the risk of insurances potentially becoming unavailable or unaffordable in certain areas as a result of increasing risks. The pre-zero-draft also needs to look more closely at the greater risk faced by geographically and demographically challenged regions, by coastal and maritime regions and areas of special environmental value.” Cllr Siggs also expressed his disappointment that the pre-zero draft asks for risk-informed investment and strengthened financial instruments at the national and international level but does not ask for this at the local and regional level. “The responsibility for civil protection is often devolved to the local and regional level without sufficient funds to meet the needs. This needs to change.” In its opinion adopted during the June 2014 plenary session, the CoR underlines the need

for a focus on prevention, preparedness and resilience and underlines the key role of local and regional authorities. “Local and regional authorities are the frontline of disaster management, responsible for prevention and immediate response and rescue operations”, explained Cllr Siggs. Among the key recommendations of the CoR was the call for an open data policy, further collaboration and investment in information systems and investment in training and practicing for disasters. The CoR also underlined the important role that the private sector can play in disaster data collection, insurance schemes and building resilience. Another key recommendation was that protocols are put in place to ensure better coordination between regional and national disaster risk policies and plans, improved integration of local policymakers and planners and agreed escalation procedures for disasters that impact more than one regional area.

INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR 24-25 July 2014

17-18 November 2014

14-18 March 2015

first meeting of the Preparatory Committee, where the working draft called the “pre-zero draft” Framework was produced.

second Preparatory meeting.

3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai (Japan) where a new Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is due to be adopted.

ECR GROUP EVENTS ECR Group participates in the EU Open Days 2014 The Open Days – European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which regions and cities have an occasion to show their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the

importance of the local and regional level for good European governance. The event was created in 2003 and since that moment it’s been very popular. This year over 6000 guests are expected. During four days more than 100 workshops and debates will be organised by the Committee of the Regions. The ECR Group will participate in the EU Open Days with a workshop on “Mobility in geographically and demographically challenger regions”. The meeting is due to take place on Tuesday, 7 October 2014

Newsletter | October 2014

from 9:00 till 10:45 at the Committee of the Regions, Brussels. Improving transport is essential for economic growth and the EU’s prosperity. However, a growing number of regions, in particular geographically challenged ones, face increasing difficulties when providing transport locally. Challenges include tighter public finances, demographic change, and providing effective public transport in the face of changing customer demand. The interactive workshop organised by ECR Group will explore what policy solutions

can be delivered at all levels of governance to help citizens move more easily from one place to another. It will focus on the role played by EU funds, the EU’s legal framework, as well as best practice examples already in place locally across the EU. Three special guests will mark the workshop with their knowledge and experience: • Jürgen Pucher (Metis Gmbh, Vienna, Authors of CoR Study on Mobility in challenged regions, May 2014)

• Daniela Rosca (DG MOVE / Head of Unit MOVE C1, Clean Transport and Sustainable Urban Mobility) • Marie Clotteau (Move on Green Project Manager, Euromontana) The workshop expands on the CoR opinion “mobility in geographically and demographically challenged regions”, for which ECR CoR Group President Cllr Gordon Keymer is rapporteur. This event brings together practitioners to exchange best practices and discuss the lessons learnt.

“Improving transport is essential for economic growth and the EU’s prosperity. A growing number of regions, in particular geographically challenged ones, face increasing difficulties when providing transport locally. Challenges include tighter public finances, demographic change, and providing effective public transport in the face of changing customer demand. A discussion on best practices will enable us to further tackle this important issue” said Cllr Gordon Keymer who is going to moderate the workshop.

ECR Group calls on the EU to unlock the potential of our regions to deliver growth through food tourism and sustainable food practices Members of the ECR Group in the Committee of the Regions met in Torun, Poland on Friday 26 September and discussed the potential role of sustainable food practices and food tourism in stimulating regional growth. The Group members adopted conclusions containing proposals on how best to unlock the potential of cities, municipalities and regions to generate smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. ECR Group Bureau Member Adam Banaszak (Vice-President of KujawskoPomorskie regional parliament/Poland) said “the EU growth strategy, Europe 2020, must really unlock the potential of our regions. Sustainable food production and

consumption will help ensure healthy citizens and help bring down health costs while also raising the quality of our products. Food tourism is a key to unlock our regions potential to stimulate national growth. Over a third of tourist spending is devoted to food. Europe2020 must unlock this potential.” ECR Group President Gordon Keymer CBE (Leader of Tandridge District Council/UK) noted “food tourism and sustainable food is also important from a cultural perspective. It not only enables us to preserve our culinary heritage but it is also an important promotion tool. We had a fruitful meeting and successfully explored this issue in

one of the leading agricultural regions of Europe.” The EUs growth strategy, Europe 2020, is due to undergo a mid-term review during the first half of 2015. Among the flagship of the strategy is the flagship initiative for a resource-efficient Europe. The conclusions adopted during the meeting underlined that food tourism has the potential to help extend short tourism seasons to a more sustainable year long period. The conclusions also underline that cooperation among all sectors (public and private), where key to ensuring sustainable food and unlocking the economic potentials of food tourism.

Sustainable food and food tourism as a source of regional growth 2nd ECR Group external meeting, 26 September 2014 in Toruń (Poland) ECR Group Conclusions • Having discussed and analysed the potential of food tourism and sustainable food production for sustainable growth; • Highlighting that food tourism is also an important way of preserving and promoting the culture and identity of our cities, municipalities and regions; • Highlighting that food tourism can contribute to extension of tourist season and smart , sustainable and inclusive growth; • Having discussed the challenges and needs of food tourism and sustainable food production; • Underlining that sustainable food production and gastronomical tourism has the potential to create sustainable and new jobs; 1. Notes that many of today’s food production systems compromise our capacity to produce food in the future;

promotion of a healthy diet also reduces the environmental footprint of food consumption in Europe and globally;

2. Notes that global trends, such as global population growth expected to reach 9 million by 2050 and middle-class growth, are creating a higher demand for varied, highquality diet; notes that to meet this new and growing demands, additional resources are required, which our regions hold the potential to meet;

6. Recognises that reducing food waste and losses can contribute to the protection of natural capacity of the earth to produce food;

3. Is concerned that price volatility, access restrictions and the interconnectedness of global commodity markets, as well as the increasing vulnerability of food production systems to climate change and loss of agro-biodiversity, will make food even more inaccessible for the poor in the future;

8. Notes that over a third of tourist spending is devoted to food. Therefore, the cuisine of the destination is an aspect of utmost importance in the quality of the holiday experience;

4. Calls on the European Commission, as part of its midterm review of the EUs growth strategy (Europe2020), to increase the territorial dimension of its flagship initiative for a resource-efficient Europe so that the potential of our cities, municipalities and regions can be fully utilised in delivering smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; Calls on the Commission to involve local and regional authorities in the defining of Europe2020 goals and targets; Emphasises that smart, sustainable and inclusive growth can only be achieved if a bottom-up approach is taken that unlocks the potential of our cities, municipalities and regions; 5. Recalls that the average Western diet with high intakes of meat, fat and sugar is a risk for individual health, social systems and the environmental life support systems. The

Newsletter | October 2014

7. Believes that organic food must be prioritised to ensure the quality of food and for healthy living;

9. Encourages local food protection and recognition as a tool to attract tourists and to provide the best quality of products and touristic experience; 10. Underlines that identifying local and regional specialities and developing food festivities through public and private sector cooperation is a key step in increasing touristic appeal; 11. Underlines the potential of job sustainability across the year and the opportunity of job creation thanks to development of food tourism; underlines that this can play a key role in local and regional growth and cohesion; 12. Highlights the key role of cooperation of all sectors (public and private): public administration, farmers, restaurants, fisherman, hoteliers, between gastronomical and tourism sectors in achieving these objectives.

MEMBERS ACTIVITIES Europe’s migration challenge and the role of local and regional authorities Cllr Kay Twitchen visited asylum and migration centres in Italy, as part of a study visit organised by the Committee of the Regions Commission for citizenship, governance, institutional and external affairs on 23 September 2014 in Brindisi, Italy. Italy, the EU Member State that currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, has been experiencing large waves of migration flows. From January to mid-September in 2013 there were 26,000 arrivals claiming asylum. For the same period in 2014 there were 133,000.

Cllr. Twitchen noted that “large increase in migration flows can overwhelm local authorities and their available resources. In the case of Italy, we saw that the community had adopted a sense of civic duty to help the authorities and that charity organisations were actively supporting the work of the local authorities. More bottom-up solutions and preventative action must be sought”. Members visited a night-time Welcome Centre, which is a night shelter for immigrants who have been given temporary right to remain. They also visited an Asylum Seekers’ Reception Centre, where asylum seekers reside while their applications are being processed.

Cllr Kay Twitchen (on the right) with a representative of Brindisi local authority (on the left) visiting a migration centre

Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership - “Our Eastern Neighbourhood is at a crossroads and we must help them stay on the path of democratisation” says Adam Banaszak During the meeting, local and regional politicians from the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries discussed the EUs role in supporting local and regional reforms. The debate touched on the need to priorities the economic development of municipalities. The participants discussed local funding options and the support that the European Investment Bank could provide.

Adam Banaszak

Synergy at local and regional level and additional supporting opportunities were at the core of the following debate, revolving around the commitment for local sustainable energy development and success stories at local and regional level.

Adam Banaszak (PL) participated in the fourth annual Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) in Tbilisi, Georgia on 29 September.

Mr. Banaszak argued that “our Eastern neighbourhood is at a crossroads. Our neighbourhood will either follow the Russian model of top-down authoritarian rule or they will follow the European model of bottom –up democratic governance.

With increasing instability in our borders, we must step up our efforts to provide the assistance and guidance our neighbours need. We must be their anchor for democratisation.” CORLEAP continues its work to enhance the activity in the field of territorial cooperation, devolution of powers and capacity building, as stated in its Action Plan for 2014-2015.

MEETINGS CALENDAR MEETING

PLACE

DATE

OPEN DAYS ECR GROUP WORKSHOP - Mobility in geographically and demographically challenged regions

BRUSSELS

7 OCTOBER

COTER

BRUSSELS

22 OCTOBER

BUDG

BRUSSELS

27 OCTOBER

ECR GROUP EXTRAORDINARY MEETING

BRUSSELS

28 OCTOBER

CIVEX

BRUSSELS

17 NOVEMBER

CAFA*

BRUSSELS

18 NOVEMBER

EDUC

BRUSSELS

21 NOVEMBER

NAT

BRUSSELS

27 NOVEMBER

ECR GROUP BUREAU SEMINAR

LONDON

4 NOVEMBER

BUREAU

BRUSSELS

2 DECEMBER

PLENARY SESSION

BRUSSELS

3 – 4 DECEMBER

ENVE

11 DECEMBER

COTER

BRUSSELS

16 DECEMBER

ECOS

BRUSSELS

17 DECEMBER

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