Brussels, 24/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of the European Summit of Towns and Regions (EUROPE 8951), the Mayor of Wroclaw, Ralf Dutkiewicz, paid tribute to the founding fathers of the Solidarnosc trade union, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. “Without this movement, without the desire of millions of Polish to abolish the Iron Curtain that divides Europe, our gathering today would not have been possible”, he said. In order to meet the challenges facing Europe, the most important of which is that “we should become fewer and fewer and live older and older”, Mr Dutkiewicz asserted that the only solution is that, in the future, Europe should become far more local, regional and universal (founded on a common system of values). He went on to conclude: “There is no democracy without decentralisation”.
During the political debate on “decentralisation and cohesion”, the first Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Sir Albert Bore, had a message for Europe: “Decentralisation can be a useful instrument for strengthening cohesion, but only if it is dynamic”. Peter Chudik (Slovakia) stressed that “Europe needs a clear vision” and the towns and regions are the actors of this. The same language was spoken by Gabor Demszky, Mayor of Budapest, who deplores the fact that “local authorities are practically absent from the political landscape of our countries”. Riccardo Illy, Minister-President of the Region of Friuli-Venice-Giulia and President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER), stressed the need for crossborder cooperation, and MEP and President of the Association of Border Regions, Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP-ED, NL), explained that, with the euro-regions, “day after day we are seeking to make bridges to come closer to citizens”. Adrien Zeller (Alsace) noted that, ”the more decentralisation there is, the more regional and crossborder cooperation there is”, whereas MEPs Jan Olbrycht (EPP-ED, Poland) said: “Decentralisation is a method allowing the quality of governance to be improved”. “What about solidarity with our neighbours, and the new arrivals in particular? Do we think that cohesion policy will disappear or will it be a lasting element in EU policy?”, Jan Olbrycht asked.