Brussels/Rome, 26/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - By invitation of the president of the Region of Latium, Pietro Marrazzo, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, in Rome itself on Friday 23 March. The formal session took place under top-level security conditions and in the presence of the president of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, the European commissioner for regional policy, Danuta Hübner, and under the chairmanship of Michel Delebarre, President of the CoR (see EUROPE 9385). In order to move towards “more Europe, not less Europe” over the next 50 years, those taking part in the session called for: (1) the local authorities to breathe new life into a truer Europe; (2) subsidiarity to be made into a tool for the development of the regions; (3) the creation of a new contract of confidence between Europe and its citizens and to win back this trust on the basis of the local and regional elements; (4) the European Council of June to agree on a method and a new timetable for the Constitution. “What brings us all together today is a hope and a desire: to reaffirm a joint commitment to stress the role of the local authorities in the development of Europe into a more united Europe”, declared the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, adding: “it is in our interests, but also the interests of the world, to have a strong Europe to face up to international threats and crises, a generous Europe with its own values”.
The “brilliant return” of the local authorities to the forefront of the European scene was stressed by Michel Delebarre: “we represent the first levels of democracy and the places where the solidarity of proximity is carried out and as such, we are prepared to make a binding commitment to establish a new contract of confidence between the EU, its various levels of governance and its citizens. Assuredly, for the local and regional authorities, history is getting started!”
Thanking the committee for this call for a new contract of confidence, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said that the no-vote to the Constitutional Treaty returned by two of the founder countries of the EU “came as a blow to the EU and cast doubt on it”. “We must win back the confidence of the citizens by dint of specific areas of work. It is the Europe of results”, said the president, for which “the Treaty of Nice is not enough. We need a solution to the constitutional question. We need the capacity to act against the backdrop of globalisation”. And he concluded: “we, the states of Europe and the regions of Europe, can work together” to show the citizens that “the uniqueness of Europe is that it is a market which is based on an economic market and a social market”.
“Europe is a Union of states and of peoples, and also of local authorities. The regional and local dimension has helped to give this Union a specific character”, said the Italian prime minister and former president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, taking the floor. He laid emphasis on two important concepts: subsidiarity and integration. We must relaunch the integration procedure, taking as our starting point the Treaty which was signed in Rome in 2004, said Mr Prodi, explaining that “over the next 50 years, we will have to resist external pressure whilst continuing to make progress”. In Mr Prodi's view, the European regions have three tasks which they must accomplish: (1) communicate, get closer to the citizens, capture their imaginations. “You know how important it is to explain to the citizens the need for a strong Europe”, he said; (2) tell governments that the “choice of Europe, the strength of Europe, can only become reality if its project is supported by the regions”. “We need more Europe, we must offer the regions more opportunities, they need an institutional framework in order to meet the challenges”, added the Italian prime minister; (3) reinforce institutional cohesion. “We must, at local level, do what has already been done at national level, we must strengthen the bonds which exist, develop local management policies, take account of the experience of your partners”.
Despite its changes and developments, the Treaty remains the cement of our creation and our joint success, stated the deputy prime minister and the minister for foreign affairs and immigration of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborne (also a former member of the CoR), calling on the European Council of June to “agree on a method and a new timetable for the new Constitution”. In the view of the Luxembourg minister, the local and regional authorities are full European stakeholders in the Treaty and they must be involved upstream and downstream of the European institutions. “The regional and the local level are the best levels for democratic involvement”, stated Mr Asselborne, calling on the local and regional elected representatives to grant “their full support to the German presidency in its search for a solution for all, because Europe can only be achieved with the citizens and for the citizens”. In response to these words, the Italian foreign affairs minister, Massimo d'Alema, said that it is “our duty to ensure that the arguments of those who want Europe prevail (…). It will take courage to implement reforms, which must take account of the citizens. It is imperative that we get to the 2009 elections with reform in place in order to win back the credibility we have lost”. In the view of the German minister of state for European affairs, Günter Glose, “local and regional policy can take over from governmental policy when it isn't doing so well on the ground”. The Spanish secretary of state for European affairs, Alberto Navarro, said that the Europe which the Spanish want is “a political Europe of values, of the citizens, which is more efficient, more transparent and more democratic. With 27 member states, unanimity will be synonymous with mass paralysis. We will help the German presidency to get out of the woods”. (gb)