ECR News - 4th edition by ECR Group in the Committee of the Regions

ECR News

Committee of the Regions | JUNE 2014

CONTENTS

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

ECR GROUP OPINIONS

A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MAKING TO OUR CITIES MORE SUSTAINABLE

MANAGING RISKS AND BECOMING MORE RESILIENT TO DISASTER 2

ECR GROUP EVENTS

A YEAR OF IMPACT: COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS’ ECR GROUP CELEBRATES ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS OPENS ITS DOORS TO THE PUBLIC 4 ECR GROUP DUE TO ANALYSE SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND FOOD TOURISM IN TORUŃ 4 OPEN DAYS 2014  THE 12TH EUROPEAN WEEK OF REGIONS AND CITIES

MEMBERS ACTIVITIES

COMMEMORATION OF WORLD WAR ONE’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY

PRETERM LOCAL ELECTION IN UKRAINE  WHILE BASIC CONDITIONS WERE MET, GREATER EFFORTS ARE NEEDED 6 ENCOURAGING IMPROVEMENTS IN GEORGIA’S ELECTORAL ENVIRONMENT: OBSERVATION MISSION TO GEORGIA

ECR GROUP FAMILY

THE EUROPEAN CONSERVATIVES AND REFORMISTS FAMILY GROWS IN THE NEW EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

MEETINGS CALENDAR

ECR Group Secretariat Committee of the Regions

The new EU legislative of 2014-2019 starts on a historic year. The year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the First World War, the 20th anniversary of the Committee of the Regions and the 1 year anniversary of the ECR Group in the Committee. The EU faces many key challenges, namely in its governance, over-regulatory nature and economic competitiveness. This new legislative mandate will be a litmus test for the EU. We must look to our past and draw lessons for our future. A key challenge we face is in the EUs governance. History has taught us the importance of bottom-up, accountable and transparent governance. One crucial ingredient for this is localism. Local and regional authorities are the level of governance that implements approximately 2/3 of EU legislation and it is the level of governance closest to the citizens. If we want reforms that will yield sustainable jobs and growth and greater democratic governance, then we must further empower local and regional authorities in the EU decision-making process. We must capitalise on the knowledge and experiences of our local and regional authorities. Another key challenge will be to increase our economic competitiveness and reduce our regulatory burdens. This will require the principle of subsidiarity as enshrined in the Treaties to be respected, meaning decisions need to be taken at the appropriate levels of governance. We must not centralise every decision into the EU and produce “one size fits all” approaches that will infringe on national, local or regional competences and create administrative burdens and compromise economic competitiveness. Local and regional authorities feel these burdens when implementing EU decisions. The ECR Group in the Committee of the Regions, during this new EU legislative mandate will be continuing its efforts in monitoring subsidiarity and will stand ready to lead in cases of infringements being referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE President of the ECR Group in the CoR Leader of Tandridge District Council

Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat, 101 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel

Tel: +32 2 282 2257 Fax: +32 2 282 2287

ecr@cor.europa.eu www.ecr.cor.europa.eu

ECR GROUP OPINIONS A holistic approach to making to our cities more sustainable

The underlying principle of the Environment Action Programme, ‘Living well within the limits of our planet’, aims to push the EU in the direction of so-called ‘green growth’. Green growth represents an economic development model that places as little burden on the environment as possible. Mrs Matonienė noted that a sustainable city can be defined as “a city that promotes social, economic and environmental sustainability. Environmental issues are at the heart of the matter but a holistic approach must be following where by environmental issues are mainstreamed into all relevant policy areas. Sustainability cities can only be achieved through a holistic approach”

Daiva Matonienė

Mrs Daiva Matonienė is the Committee of the Regions rapporteur for the opinion “7th Environmental Action Programme: sustainable cities”. The opinion looks at for the implementation of the 7th Environmental Action Programme’s eight objective, “to enhance the sustainability of the Union’s cities.” Through the 7th EAP, the EU launched a new environmental programme that set out a strategic agenda for environmental policy-making with 9 priority objectives to be reached by 2020 and a vision beyond that of where it wants the Union to be by 2050. Mrs Matonienė’s opinion looks at how the 7th EAP objectives and vision can be best reached. “Sustainability will have to be at the heart of our urban development policies if we want our cities and regions to be a source of growth and jobs. Sustainable cities leads to sustainable socioeconomic development” explained Mrs Matonienė.

“There are three points the EU must pay greater attention to” explained Mrs Matoniene. “Firstly, greater attention needs to be placed on the role of small and medium size towns and cities. Approximately 56% of cities and towns in the EU are small and medium in size and in turn, they have an important accumulative role” remarked Mrs Matonienė. Secondly, Mrs Matonienė noted that greater attention needs to be placed on the role of the private sector. “We must promote innovative partnerships between the public and private sectors so that projects aimed at making cities more sustainable are implemented as efficiently and effectively as possible”, she explained. Thirdly, “we must build on the lessons we have learnt. The European Green Capital Award is great initiative and should be developed. We should lower its eligibility threshold and also consider developing other Awards that would recognise and encourage sustainable practices, for instance through biodiversity conservation and green transport.”

Newsletter | June 2014

Timetable: adoption at the 24 April ENVE Commission meeting and the 2526 June Plenary Session.

Managing risks and becoming more resilient to disaster

Harvey Siggs

Cllr Harvey Siggs is the Committee of the Regions rapporteur on the opinion “post-2015 Hyogo Framework for Action: managing risks to achieve resilience”. The opinion looks at how risks can be mitigated and managed through prevention, resilience, response co-ordination and communications and recovery measures. It makes key proposals for the new UN level Hyogo Framework that is due to be negotiated in the coming months and later endorsed at the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in Sendai (Japan) on 14-18 March, 2015. “Disasters know no border. We must build resilience and manage risks collectively if we are to better prevent, prepare and manage disasters in the future. The local and regional level, as the first level

Cllr Harvey Siggs, participated at the 14-15 May European Business Summit as a speaker at the “Reducing Risks in post-2015: Contribution of the Private Sector to Building Resilience to Disasters” session organised by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). The European Business Summit gathered more than 1,750 participants coming from many different backgrounds - think tanks, academics, NGOs, and representatives of civil society. European Commission President Manuel Barroso was among the keynote speech of the Summit’s opening plenary. of governance to respond, must be a key focus” noted Cllr Siggs. He further added that data sharing and cross-border cooperation was crucial; “Effective information systems need to be created in border areas that will deliver information across frontiers in real time and connect bodies responsible for crisis management.” Cllr Siggs is the leader of a District Council and member of a County Council that had to respond to heavy flooding experienced for approximately 3 months, from December 2013 onwards. According to the Met Office records, England and Wales had the wettest winter since at least 1766. Insurers put the damage at £1.1billion in March but that figure is set to rise. Underlining the economic importance of building resilience, Cllr Siggs ex-

plained that “if we do not prepare for disasters now, we will pay a heavy price in the future. Enhancing preparedness and resilience is the most effective and cost-effective way to reduce the impact and cost of responding to and recovering from disasters.” Between 2002 and 2012, natural disasters caused more than 100,000 peoples death annually on average and there is an increasing trend in direct overall economic losses worldwide, with an average annual economic loss of over €100 billion. Within the EU, natural disasters caused 80,000 deaths and €95 billion in economic losses over the last decade. On the question of how to proceed, Cllr Siggs drew attention to his proposal on public-private sector partnerships.

“Profit is not a dirty word. We must work with the private sector. The pooling of the resources and knowledge of both sectors will ensure an overall effective, efficient and sustainable approach. Through such partnerships we can increase access to data and collectively develop infrastructure that will better withstand and recover from disasters. This means resilient buildings, transport (road, rail and airports), services (communications, energy supplies, water supplies, and sewerage) and social infrastructure. The private sector also has an important role to play through affordable insurance schemes. Such schemes can help discourage risky behaviour and promote risk awareness.” Cllr Siggs also underlined the importance of education, training and awareness raising, underlining that “targeted training for community leaders, social, security and medical care practitioners is crucial, as is building a culture of resilience through the education of our children at schools.” Furthermore, emphasising the need to make the most of existing international tools, Cllr Siggs noted that “voluntary peer reviews conducted jointly by the European Commission, OECD and UNISDR are also a useful tool at the disposal of our Member States. They help identify areas needing improvement and the steps that could be taken.” Timetable: due to the urgent nature of the dossier, the opinion was handled through the rapporteur general procedure where the draft opinion was discussed at the 5 June NAT meeting and went straight for adoption to the 25-26 June Plenary Session.

Long lasting floods experienced in Somerset from late 2013 to early 2014

ECR GROUP EVENTS A Year of Impact: Committee of the Regions’ ECR Group celebrates one year anniversary The European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the Committee of the Regions celebrated its one year anniversary at the margins of the April plenary session. Established on 10 April 2013 at the 100th plenary session of the Committee of the Regions, the Group was the first Grouping of the ECR family to be established outside the European Parliament. Representing members from across the EU, the Group also saw its membership grow during the month of its anniversary. The ECR Group President, Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE, noted “our Group has made key achievements over the past year. We have drafted opinions and shaped discussions. A key example of the impact we had on important policy areas is the EU Solidar-

CoR ECR Group Members with AECR President (fifth from left) and Secretary General (left)

ity Fund. We helped reform the Fund by identifying areas for cutting red tape and increasing the Fund’s impact.” The European and Conservative political family congratulated the ECR Group in the Committee of the Regions for their success. Oldřich Vlasák, Vice-President and Member of the European Parliament for the 2009-2014 legislative mandate, said that, “I am happy that there is now a conservative and reformist voice in the CoR. Through the CoR ECR Group, I am confident that the principle of subsidiarity and

the representation of European municipalities and regions will be guaranteed.” Daniel Hannan MEP, Secretary General of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists said “congratulations to our friends in the CoR ECR Group as they campaign to promote fiscal sanity, efficiency and localism in that forum. In just one year, they have become a powerful and respected force, and are an especially valued member of the ECR family alongside our groups in the European Parliament, Council of Europe and the rest.

The Committee of the Regions opens its doors to the public The Committee of the Regions opened its doors to the public on 17 May, along with the other EU institutions, as part of the EU Open Doors Day. The ECR Group participated in the event with a stand and presented the youngest political Group of the Committee of the Regions to the public.

ECR Group, Open Doors stand

Newsletter | June 2014

All visitors had the possibility to pick up a leaflet presenting the ECR Group and its views and to pick up the Group’s newsletters as well as filling out a short quiz on the Group!

ECR Group due to analyse sustainable food and food tourism in Toruń

health, safety, affordability, quality, a strong food industry in terms of jobs and growth and, at the same time, environmental sustainability, in terms of issues such as climate change, biodiversity, water and soil quality. The Group will also discuss food tourism. Nowadays, food ranked alongside climate, accommodation, and scenery, is perceived as an increasingly significant goal of tourism. The Group will look at the potential role of food tourism in creating jobs and growth.

Adam Banaszak

The ECR Group is due to organise its external Group meeting in September in Toruń, Poland on the subject of sustainable food and food tourism. The meeting is due to be hosted by Adam Banaszak, ECR Group Bureau Member and Vice-President of the Assembly of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region in Poland. The ECR Group is due to discuss sustainable food production looking at issues such as security of the supply of food,

Open Days 2014 – the 12th European Week of Regions and Cities On the occasion of the Committee of the Regions’ Open Days, the ECR Group will be organising a workshop on “Mobility in geographically and demographically challenged regions”. For this 12th edition of the OPEN DAYS: European Week of Regions and Cities, those who have partnered with the CoR include 36 cities, including 13 capitals, and 156 regions.

Connected to the opinion of Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE, the workshop will bring together practitioners to exchange best practices and lessons learnt. This interactive workshop will explore the policy solutions can be delivered at the different 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. “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”, explained Cllr Keymer. The workshop is due to place on 7 October 2014 from 09:00 till 10:45 at the Committee of the Regions, Brussels.

Gordon Keymer CBE FCA (right) Toruń, Poland

MEMBERS ACTIVITIES

Gordon Keymer (front, centre left) at Tyne CoT Cemetery Passchendaele

Commemoration of World War One’s 100th anniversary In a commemorative tribute to the millions of men who lost their lives during World War One, a CoR delegation visited Ypres, Belgium. The delegation was composed of the CoR President, First Vice-President and the Presidents of the political groups and visited the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Passchendaele, the largest British war cemetery on mainland Europe. The delegation also visited the “In Flanders Fields” Museum in Ypres, which presents the story of the First World War in the West Flanders front region and took part in the “Last Post” Ceremony under the Menin Gate in Ypres to honour the memory of the unidentified soldiers who died while defending the Ypres Salient. Speaking at a round table debate in the rebuilt Ypres Town Hall with Ypres’s

Deputy Mayor and Flemish government representatives, ECR Group President Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE said: “Let us remember the many councillors and council staff from all sides who died during the Great War. By making this visit I

Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing, burial ground for those who lost their lives during the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front

Newsletter | June 2014

believe the Committee of the Regions is paying its respects to our predecessors in local government who died on the many battlefields of the First World War.”

Pre-term local Election in Ukraine – while basic conditions were met, greater efforts are needed Cllr Ann Stribley (UK) participated in the election observation mission to Ukraine, between 21 and 26 May, jointly organised by the Committee of the Regions and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. “While basic conditions for free and fair elections were fulfilled according to European standards, there is some room for improvement in the practical side of the elections” noted Cllr Stribley.

Ann Stribley

The five Committee of the Regions members participating in the observation mission formed part of the observation teams for the pre-term local and presidential elections taking place on 25 May. On polling day, nine teams were deployed in different oblasti (regions) of the country. The teams covered more than 120 polling stations. Overall, they observed early local elections, not least due to the security situation in the south-eastern part of Ukraine, in three out of six regional centres, 11 towns of regional and district subordination. The team also covered the vote for the Mayor in the capital city Kyiv. Cllr Stribley was a member of the team located at Cherkassy and Kaniv. Describing the findings of the observation mission, Cllr Stribley explained that “while it is a shame we were unable to observe the situation in the south-eastern part of Ukraine, our observations showed signs of improvement in the electoral environment. It was encouraging to observe that there was improvement despite the fragile political environment. For example, it seemed that voters were free to vote without being pressurised. This was a challenge to free

and fair elections observed in the last electoral observation mission. It was also encouraging to see that we did not observe any misuse of resources, which had been a key challenge in the previous elections. However, polling stations were systematically understaffed and there was some lack of information materials about the candidates and programmes for mayor and municipal councils.” On the topic of local governance Cllr Stribley underlined the fact that “the Presidential elections clearly overshadowed the local elections.” She added that “if Ukraine is going to have a more bottomup system of governance with powers more evenly dispersed between local and central government, then local elections would be better held separately.”

Encouraging improvements in Georgia’s electoral environment: Observation Mission to Georgia Adam Banaszak (PL) participated together with 4 other CoR members at the Election Observation Mission to Georgia. The mission that was jointly organised with the members of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, took place between 11 and 16 June. The aim of the mission was to monitor the local elections of 15 June.

Adam Banaszak

“It was very positive to see that the rights of Georgian citizens to vote were not compromised on 15 June. It was encouraging to see an improved electoral environment. However, there is still some work to be done. It was encouraging to see that law enforcement was, by and large, less polarised than before. We also received positive feedback with regards to the absence of voter pressure, in particular against public servant”, explained Mr Banaszak. The members of the mission were divided between the observer teams following elections in 16 cities and towns, at the total of 150 stations. 11 observation teams were deployed to different regions of Georgia and visited polling stations in municipalities including Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Gori, Mtsketha, Rustavi, Gardabani, Telavi, Kakheti, Marneuli, Bolnisi, Tetri Tskaro, Ninotsminda, Akhalkalaki, Dmanisi, Tsalka, Zugdidi and in many other towns and villages.

ECR GROUP FAMILY The European Conservatives and Reformists family grows in the new European Parliament

The European Conservatives and Reformists political family grew following the May 2014 elections to the European Parliament held in the European Union. The members of the European Parliaments ECR Group met shortly after the elections in Brussels to vote on candidate members.

With new members joining the Group, the ECR Group has become the third largest political Group in the European Parliament with seventy MEPs.

Committee of the Regions Member Andrew Lewer MBE is among the newly elected ECR Group MEPs. He was a member of the ECR Group in the CoR before being elected as an MEP and his involvement in the CoR ECR Group will provide valuable experience in his work in the European Parliament. Among those who joined the ECR Group for the 2014-2019 legislative mandate that starts on the 1st of July, are the German Family Party, the Slovak Ordinary People and Independent Personalities Party, the Slovak New Majority, the Independent Greeks, and the Dutch Reformed Political Party. These parties brought one seat each to the Group. The ECR Group was also joined by Brian Crowley from Ireland. The New Flemish Alliance delivered 4 seats, the Danish People’s Party and The Finns party together delivered six

new seats to the Group, the German AFD delivered 7 seats, and the Bulgaria without Censorship delivered 2 seats. Dr Syed Kamall, British Conservative MEP for London, has been elected leader of the Group in the EP. Committee of the Regions ECR Group President, Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE said “since his first election to the EP in 2005, Syed

Kamall has proved himself to be an active and hardworking MEP. I am confident that he will be an excellent leader of the Group.” Andrew Lewer - as a former leader of Derbyshire County Council, he was first elected on to the Council in May 2005 as one of Derbyshire’s youngest County Councillors. He was leader of Derbyshire County Council in the period 2009 – 2013 and continued to lead the Conservative Group on the council while acting also as Deputy Chairman of the Local Government Association. At the Committee of the Regions, his work revolved around the Commission for education, youth, culture and research (EDUC) and the Commission for citizenship, governance, institutional and external affairs (CIVEX).

Andrew Lewer MBE

MEETINGS CALENDAR MEETING

PLACE

DATE

COTER

FABRIANO/ITALY

10-11 JULY

ECOS

BRUSSELS

15 JULY

BUREAU

TURIN/ITALY

12 SEPTEMBER

ECOS

ROTHERHAM/UK

15-16 SEPTEMBER

NAT SEMINAR The role of research and innovation in the bio-economy as a lever for increasing youth employment in the agriculture and forestry sector: success stories and future prospects

FLORENCE/ITALY

19 SEPTEMBER

CIVEX

BRINDISI/ITALY

22-23 SEPTEMBER

CAFA*

BRUSSELS

22 SEPTEMBER

EDUC

BRUSSELS

25 SEPTEMBER

EXTERNAL MEETING IN TORUŃ

TORUŃ/POLAND

26 SEPTEMBER

CORLEAP

TBILISI/GEORGIA

29 SEPTEMBER

NAT

BRUSSELS

3 OCTOBER

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

BRUSSELS

7 OCTOBER

BUREAU / 108th PLENARY SESSION

BRUSSELS

6 / 7-8 OCTOBER

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