03/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a press statement the Secretary General of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) Jeremy Smith welcome the signing of the European constitution on 29 October in Rome. He declared that this was, "a significant step forward for Europe's rural and urban communities…For the first time, the European Union will explicitly recognise local and regional self-government as elements of national identities". By doing this, he explained, it has...