Brussels, 20/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting in Brussels on 17 February, chaired by Riccardo Illy, President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, the members of the Presidium of the Assembly of European Regions (ARE) (see EUROPE 9130) adopted a resolution on the outcome of the vote on the Gebhardt report on the “services” directive, which Mr Illy immediately sent to Member States and to Mr Barroso. In this resolution, the members of the AER Presidium welcomed the European Parliament's decision to exclude health, social, cultural, education and audiovisual services from the scope of the directive, while stressing that it was imperative that the regions maintain their competencies in organising, financing and providing these services. They regretted that network services of an economic nature, such as telecommunications, banking services, electricity and other forms of energy, were also removed from the scope of the directive, because, in order to maintain and increase Europe's competitiveness in a global market, true competition in these sectors was crucial. They suggested that the European Parliament's decision to replace the country of origin principle with the freedom to provide services principle should be re-examined.
The AER Presidium also discussed its political priorities for 2006. As indicated by Klaus Klipp, Secretary General of AER, these are: (1) Energy - The EU must become more independent of large monopolies and imports, and of politically unstable countries, said Mr Klipp, pointing out that the AER promotes decentralised energy policies and encourages strategies for renewable and alternative sources of energy”. He also noted that the cost of renewable energy is currently almost the same as that of oil, which has tripled: renewable energy is, then, becoming competitive on the markets, is creating local employment and so is a factor in the growth of the regions. (2) Citizens - the debate on the future of the EU has to be focussed on the needs of the citizens. (3) Enlargement - Pre-accession initiatives for the regions in countries preparing for EU membership have to be implemented and regional democracy in the wider Europe strengthened. (4) Health - Regional policies to respond to modern public health and social problems have to be formulated and regions' health and social services modernised. (5) Human resources - Access to education and life-long learning has to be guaranteed for all
Mr Illy said after the meeting: (1) Services - This sector especially has to be liberalised so that Europe can compete with Asia and the United States. (2) Constitutional Treaty - The Treaty has to be re-launched and adopted as quickly as possible. Citizens need explanations and the regions are best placed to pass on the European message. “From my point of view, Europe is too far removed from the citizens, because, among other things, Commissioners are nominated by their governments. We believe it would be better if they were nominated by their national parliaments.” (3) European budget - To increase Europe's competitiveness, there has to be the means to invest in infrastructure, transport etc. The European budgetary strategy has, therefore, to be altered.
Adrien Zeller, President of the Alsace region, stressed the specific contribution that AER can bring to the European debate, because on the regional level changes can be better controlled and adaptation facilitated.