Energy: Committee 1 in favour of renewable energy and energy efficiency

The AER strongly supports the development of renewable energy sources (RES) and energy efficiency. Through different initiatives (conferences, exchange of best practices, joint declaration with FEDARENE in favour of RES and energy efficiency, etc.), it encourages regions to get involved in energy issues. Papers such as the position on the “Green Paper on Energy Efficiency” illustrate its wish to contribute to the elaboration of a European integrated policy of energy, in order to convince the European Commission to take regions more into account when it is dealing with energy issues.

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Cohesion Policy: Implementing real cohesion programmes for sustainability

Cohesion policy has always been a key topic for the AER. Cohesion policy should support the new “Lisbon agenda” and focus on knowledge economy and innovation, without forgetting that the primary objective of this policy should be territorial cohesion. In addition, cohesion policy should encourage sustainability, the social aspects and interregional cooperation. The AER also calls for a strict application of the additionality principle (adding national funding to the EU one). The AER hopes that regional experiences and needs will be better taken into account in this new programme.

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Food Labelling: Better food for a better future of agriculture

The AER is very much interested in the high quality of food standards. Labelling rules should be clear to both producers and customers. The regions and the European Parliament should play a real role in the denomination process and in the GMO approval procedure. The future of agriculture relies on quality products: the EU should encourage their production (European funds should be used to help producers to invest in quality, for instance). In addition, the AER calls for the creation of an official GMO-free label and for the implementation of strict rules on coexistence.

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AER Pécs Declaration: Integrating Ethnic Minorities

The AER is committed to promoting diversity in all its forms and to guaranteeing equal opportunities for all. In order to achieve the integration of ethnic minorities, holistic and comprehensive strategies are required, with coordinated initiatives in a number of policy areas, including education, housing, employment. Regions support a balanced representation of ethnic minorities in political life and in the media. The regions further acknowledge that a special emphasis on youth and the gender perspective is required.

Click here to download the full text of the “AER Pécs Declaration” and to access the contributions made during the Pécs seminar.

State aid for Culture and Education

The Assembly of European Regions is firmly committed to the principle of the European Union protecting the cultural diversity and the autonomy of European Regions, in order to support and preserve cultural, educational and media policies. Therefore, the AER welcomes the European Union's State Aid reform efforts, which should lead to clearer and more effective state aid rules for the regions.

However, the AER wishes to stress that this reform must not hamper the principles of economic, social and territorial cohesion. Furthermore, any reform of the State Aid rules that might introduce changes should not diminish regional competences and financial opportunities.

A block exemption regulation concerning culture, education and the media should be implemented, in order to protect the region’s capabilities to support culture, education and the media.

The AER member regions are seriously concerned that failure to obtain complete block exemptions for culture and education will limit or effectively stop them from supporting these essential responsibilities. The AER asks the EU Institutions to consider these concerns, in their current review of state aid rules, in order to respect the autonomy of regional governments in conducting cultural, educational and media policies.

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Youth Mainstreaming

The participation of young people is important in all the political life, precisely because young people are affected by the decisions made by the governments, whether at the regional or national level. Policy areas such as housing, the environment, transport and education have a direct impact on the lives of young people, just as much as those of the adults.

While the voice of young people has been ignored in the past, perhaps due to the fact that they cannot directly affect the outcome of elections, there is a growing recognition of the role that young people have to play in the functioning of democracy. The AER’s move towards the inclusion of young people in its work comes at a time when governments, both national and supranational, are trying to include young people in their policy-making process.

Therefore, the AER promotes a Youth Mainstreaming initiative, which supports through the Youth Team its unique youth perspective, promoting as well the youth involvement in the regions via the Youth Summer School and the AER Youth Ambassador Scheme.

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Education and Training in the Regions

The AER member regions acknowledge their responsibility for creating an attractive environment for their citizens, and in particular the need to continuously integrate young people into regional societies. Furthermore, they are convinced that the full integration of young people requires coherent and comprehensive strategies, combining initiatives in a wide number of policy areas.

1. Promotion of citizenship amongst young people in their home regions
2. Facilitating the transition into the job market for young graduates
3. Promotion of entrepreneurship amongst the youngsters during their education
4. The migration of young graduates and its consequences for the regions
5. Preparing the regions and their educational structures for the challenges of today and tomorrow

These objectives, coupled with the regions’ commitments, should provide guidelines for regions aiming to successfully integrate young people into their societies.

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European Constitutional Treaty

The AER has played an active role in influencing the drafting of the Constitutional Treaty since 2001, believing that the Constitution offered a vehicle for the regions to gain more influence in European policy-making. As a result of the AER’s advocacy initiatives, the Constitution contained a range of provisions that were beneficial for the regions, including the extension of the principle of subsidiarity to the local and regional level, and the right of the Committee of Regions to take the European Commission to the European Court of Justice for breaches of this principle.

For these reasons, the AER has been keen to see a swift resolution to the Constitutional impasse and to ensure that the gains for the regions in the Constitutional Treaty are maintained and implemented as soon as possible.

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European Transparency Initiative

The European Transparency Initiative was introduced by the European Commission last year, in order to increase transparency, openness and accountability of EU governance processes. In May 2006, the Commission published a Green Paper, which was intended to launch a debate with stakeholders on how to improve transparency of EU Funds, to increase consultation with the civil society and to create a framework for the role of the lobbies and NGOs in the European institutions’ decision-making process. The AER submitted a response to the Commission, saying that, whilst we are very clearly in favour of greater transparency in European decision-making, we would not wish to see the regions -as democratically elected bodies accountable to their citizens- subject to the same rules as industrial lobbyists. The European Commission has taken the AER’s comments into account, and -as a result- regions are not implicated by the European Transparency Initiative.

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Communicating Europe

It is a well-known fact that one of the EU’s greatest challenges is engaging the citizens in its work. Regions have the potential to play a decisive role as bridges between the European level and the citizens, as they play a key role in implementing European policies, and they are able to bring the views of the citizens to the European decision-making table.

The European Commission has developed a number of strategies for improving communication with the citizens, set out in its so-called ‘Plan D’ and ‘Communications Strategy’. The AER believes that the Commission needs to give a far greater role to the regions in these initiatives, and that it needs to devolve its financial resources for communication to the regional level, where they can be used most effectively.

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European Charter on Regional Democracy

The Draft European Charter on Regional Democracy was initiated by the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe (CLRAE), in 1997. The original idea behind the Charter was to set out the key principles that should underlie effective regional democracy in Europe, covering areas such as financial autonomy and legislative powers. However, the Charter failed to attract the support of a sufficient majority of Member States at the Ministerial Conferences in Helsinki in 2002 and Budapest in 2005, with disagreements emerging over whether the instrument should be legally binding. In order to restart the debate on the Charter, the Congress has developed a new text, which responds to the objections raised by the Member States and also takes into account developments in the field of regional democracy over the past ten years. The AER supports this initiative and wishes to see a binding regional charter enter into force as soon as possible.

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