LeaDeRs
The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians
JULY 2015
Thirty young councillors discover the Committee of the Regions in a joint event with LYMEC
IN THIS ISSUE Thirty young councillors discover the Committee of the Regions in a joint event with LYMEC
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Bas VERKERK (NL) key-note speaker at Open VLD seminar on liberal urbanism: “A liberal city is one in which all citizens are fully and equally aware of their rights and their responsibilities”
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EP REGI committee chair praises collaboration between CoR and EP on the Urban Agenda 2-3 Discussion of EU priorities under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU: ALDE-CoR defends the European principle of labour mobility
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Vote in EP REGI committee reflects ALDE-CoR positions: 6 proposals taken up by ALDE MEPs
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Doreen HUDDART (UK) chairing EESC conference on asbestos: “Concrete funds need to be committed for the disposal and destruction of this poisonous substance!” 4 Upcoming ALDE activities: ALDE study visit on migration in Saint Omer; Open Days seminar on eGovernance; Extraordinary Group Meeting in Prague on the knowledge triangle; hosting a reception at ALDE Party Congress in Budapest 4 Ongoing ALDE opinions: European Agenda on Migration; A Fair and Efficient Corporate Tax System in the European Union: 5 Key Areas for Action
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Young liberal councillors visiting the CoR
From the 2 to the 4 of June about 30 young Liberal councillors from across Europe convened in Brussels in a joint ALDE Group in the Committee of the Regions (ALDE-CoR)/ LYMEC event under the title Local going European: Introducing young liberals to the work of the Committee of the Regions. nd
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The event kicked off at the headquarters of ALDE Party and LYMEC, with participants presenting themselves, and LYMEC President Vedrana GUJIC presenting LYMEC’s work, followed by discussion on the index of Municipal Performance presented by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute. Participants discussed the relevance of ideological principles in local politics and the multiple ways to verify the application of such principles, given that Liberalism itself is a diverse political family. The second day started with a presentation of the Committee of the Regions by ALDE-CoR members Roger ALBINYANA I SAIGÍ, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Catalonia (and former LYMEC Secretary General and President) and Kate FEENEY, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Councillor, Ireland (and former president of LYMEC’s member organization Ógra Fianna Fáil). In the afternoon our young councilors gathered in the hemicycle of the European Parliament as guests during the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions. Besides seeing the functionning of the plenary, they could also hear, among others, MEP Guy VERHOFSTADT, leader of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament, in his address to the CoR. During the morning of the third and last day participants visited the municipality of Uccle/Ukkel, where ALDE-CoR member Jean-Luc VANRAES sits as a councillor for his party, Open VLD, in an alliance with the other Belgian Liberal party, Mouvement Réformateur (MR). The mayor, from MR, Armand DEDECKER, also addressed the councillors. Mr. VANRAES explained his involvement with the CoR, his work in his municipality, and his firm belief in the need for a good interaction between the European and the local levels. He also stressed the importance of ALDE-CoR in guaranteeing that link within the Liberal family.
EUROPEAN UNION
Committee of the Regions
ALDE Group Secretariat Committee of the Regions
Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat, 101 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel
Tel: +32 2 282 2059 alde@cor.europa.eu
LeaDeRs
The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians
JULY 2015
Bas VERKERK (NL) key-note speaker at Open VLD seminar on liberal urbanism: “A liberal city is one in which all citizens are fully and equally aware of their rights and their responsibilities”
Bas Verkerk (NL)
In times when cities continue to attract a young, creative and entrepreneurial public and where they provide this public a fascinating environment to implement projects and dreams, the dynamics that come with it constitute a real challenge for (regional) policy
makers all over Europe. Addressing these challenges was the key aim of the Open VLD and ELF seminar on “What can liberalism mean for a modern city today? Realising a liberal urbanism” which took place on 4 June. Speaking on behalf of the ALDE-
CoR was Group President Bas Verkerk (NL), Mayor of the City of Delft. Topics that were addressed ranged from using mobile applications in smart cities to ecological challenges that modern cities are confronted with. The question that reverberated throughout the seminar, however, was “how can liberalism continue to play its role as a catalyst for creativity and innovation within the “urban bubble”? Addressing this from an urban persepctive, Mr Verkerk pointed out that “a liberal mayor will break down monopolies where possible, so that citizens are free to choose the service that best suits their needs; promote entrepreneurship in schools and universities, and facilitate business creation; and create quality interaction between different communities, through meetings, events and festivals, to break down communication and cultural barriers.” Concluding his intervention he said that “when more than 50% of the world’s population, and more than 75% of Europeans now live in urban areas, the challenges that city mayors face are huge, and it is essential that we continue to reflect upon what answers liberals can give to urban life in the 21st century.”
EP REGI committee chair praises collaboration between CoR and EP on the Urban Agenda On 15 July the CoR commission for territorial cohesion and EU Budget (COTER) discussed how to better deliver EU cohesion policy on the ground with Ms Iskra Mihaylova, Chair of the European Parliament’s committee on Regional Development (REGI). Discussions centred on delivering new jobs and sustainable growth by making the most out of the 350bn Euro invested under EU cohesion policy. As part of the debate, questions were raised about the future collaboration between the REGI committee in the EP and the COTER commission in the CoR. ALDE President Bas Verkerk (NL) highlighted the recent success achieved in the REGI committee on the vote on the Urban Agenda (see page …), which was a
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REGI Chair Iskra Mihaylova meeting ALDE president Bas Verkerk and ALDE COTER coordinator Ulrika Landergren
LeaDeRs
The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians
collaborative effort and stands to show how local and regional authorities can constructively contribute to the work in the EP. Ms Mihaylova applauded the outcome of this collaboration and
JULY 2015
called on closer cooperation between REGI and COTER, acknowledging that a close cooperation of the REGI committee and its working group on the implementation of Cohesion policy
with regional and local representatives could contribute to ensuring that the needs of those, who are implementing investment programmes on the ground, are duly taken into account.
Discussion of EU priorities under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU: ALDE-CoR defends the European principle of labour mobility At the July plenary session of the CoR, EU local and regional leaders discussed the priorities for the next six months under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU with the Luxembourg Minister for the Interior, Dan Kersch. The need to turn the EUR 315 bn investment plan into real growth and jobs, as well as to boost competitiveness through the digital agenda emerged as the key tenets of the discussion. Its impact on growth and employment of better worker mobility within the EU was underlined by Agnès Durdu (LU/ALDE): “We call for a measurable reduction of the administrative and fiscal burden for all citizens who cross a border to work. We also expect Europe to no longer tolerate a Member State limiting through unilateral measures the free mobility of workers across Europe”. The Luxembourgish members of the ALDE group - Agnès Durdu and Simone Beissel - later had a chance to meet the Minister to further discuss the Presidency’s priorities.
ALDE members AgnèsDurdu and Simone Beissel meeting Minister Dan Kersch
Vote in EP REGI committee reflects ALDE-CoR positions: 6 proposals taken up by ALDE MEPs Following the vote on the Urban Agenda in the Committee on Regional Development in the European Parliament on 17 June, ALDECoR President Bas Verkerk (NL/ALDE), said that “the result of this vote reflects the clear need for an urban agenda at EU level. This mechanism would recognise the importance of cities and towns in achieving European policy objectives and making Europe more internationally competitive. After all more than 50% of all EU legislation adopted in Brussels has one day to be implemented by local and regional authorities.” Mr Verkerk has been calling upon the European Commission to present an integrated Urban Agenda for the EU since
the adoption of his opinion by the CoR plenary last year in June. He’s calling for the Urban Agenda to be drafted in close cooperation with European cities. The involvement should ensure the integration of two recent developments in EU policy making: 1) The establishment of functional regions and agglomerations and 2) A new relationship between local government and society. The amendments that were taken on board underlined 1) the need for multi-level governance; 2) the importance of input from decentralised levels of government when drawing up impact assessments and new policies (“bottom-up approach”); 3) that to be able to assess urban areas more accurately than
just on the basis of the GDP indicator sufficient data must be made available; 4) the Code of Conduct on Partnership when implementing programmes and projects supported by EU funding; 5) the need for greater involvement of towns and cities in the new Structural Funds Programmes; 6) the usefulness of other programmes besides URBACT and the like for knowledge-sharing between cities for the engagement of local and regional actors. In his quest to advocate for the Urban Agenda, Mr Verkerk has had a number of fruitful meetings with Ms Kerstin Westphal (DE/ S&D), the EP rapporteur on the same report as well as with Mr Matthijs van Miltenburg (NL/ALDE), the ALDE shadow rapporteur.
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LeaDeRs
The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians
JULY 2015
Doreen HUDDART (UK) chairing EESC conference on asbestos: “Concrete funds need to be committed for the disposal and destruction of this poisonous substance!” On 24 June 2015, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR) heard alarming testimony from some of Europe’s top experts on asbestos. From social housing to Royal housing, no property and person is immune! The conference “Freeing Europe safely from asbestos” was a follow-up action to the EESC’s Opinion on Asbestos which was published in February .
Doreen Huddart (UK) chairing EESC conference on asbestos
Chairing one of the panels was ALDE-CoR member Doreen HUDDART (UK) who in her introductory remarks urged the European Commission to take advantage of the opportunity to link safe asbestos removal with its programme on energy efficiency renovation of buildings and called for concrete funds to be committed for the disposal and destruction of this poisonous substance. She further said that “for many decades asbestos has been used in the construction and in maintenance of public and private buildings as well as a range of transport formats – it’s basically everywhere! The toxic and carcinogenic nature of asbestos has left a legacy of health problems and hazard which affect hundreds and thousands of people across Europe and the developing world.”.
Upcoming ALDE activities: ALDE study visit on migration in Saint Omer; Open Days seminar on eGovernance; Extraordinary Group Meeting in Prague on the knowledge triangle; hosting a reception at ALDE Party Congress in Budapest
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Following the invitation by François Decoster, the ALDE seminar this year will be dedicated to migration policy. The seminar will be held in Saint Omer, France on 18 September 2015 from 9.00 until 18.00 and will be addressing the following theme: “Local authorities and the challenge of immigration in everyday life: examples of concrete practices”. ALDE Open Days seminar on eGovernance on 13 October - E-government aims to facilitate the interaction between citizens and central as well as local administration. The idea is to deliver more efficient government services in order to enhance knowledge sharing, capacity building and sustainable development. However, in a number of Member States the focus is still on making the services available rather than providing transparency or good governance. This leaves ample room for development in areas such as user centricity, speed and service delivery. In this workshop we will be exploring successful case studies where ICT solutions have
Ongoing ALDE opinions
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Opinion on European Agenda on Migration by François Decoster (FR) Adoption at CoR plenary session on 3-4 December 2015
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enhanced good governance, empowered citizens and proven to be an effective platform to generate benefits in the form of new employment, better health and education. Extraordinary Group Meeting in Prague on 17 October – at the invitation of Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of Prague, the ALDE group has been invited to hold its Extraordinary Group meeting in Prague. The title of the meeting is “New ideas, challenges and chances in regional cooperation: collaboration between universities, start-ups and municipalities”. ALDE-CoR will be participating in the ALDE Party congress to be held in Budapest, Hungary on 19-21 November. In addition to participating in the Congress working groups, ALDE-CoR will also host the welcome reception taking place on the evening of the 19th of November.
Opinion on A Fair and Efficient Corporate Tax System in the European Union: 5 Key Areas for Action by Jean-Luc Vanraes (BE) Adoption at CoR plenary session on 3-4 December 2015
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