Brussels, 02/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - At their General Meeting in Wielkopolska (Poland), the 250 member regions of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) called upon Member States to "maintain the progress achieved in the draft Constitutional Treaty for Europe in terms of the acknowledged role of the regions with constitutionally enshrined rights and as a true partner of the Union". These regions call on the Constitution to "respect the principle of subsidiarity, by implementing an EU consultation process which genuinely includes the regions at the early stages of the policy formulation process and by granting the regions the right to bring an action before the European Court of Justice". The AER also calls on national governments and European institutions to: "support the future development of the regions' administrative, legislative and executive capacity, in order to fully achieve the objectives of the European Union, including cohesion, competitiveness and growth, and to fully involve them in the management of the European funds".
Addressing their governments and the European institutions, but also the World Trade Organisation, the AER declaration insists on the importance of services of general interest. It calls on them to "respect, on the basis of the principles of subsidiarity and cultural diversity, the right of local and regional authorities to provide, commission and fund services of general interest".
The AER also urges the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to "break the deadlock in the negotiations on the draft Charter on Regional Self-Government and to adopt a legally binding instrument, according to the text proposed by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe".