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French presidency of EU's priorities
24.05.2008, 22:26
In order to reach the Millennium Development Objectives, the future French Presidency of the EU has included local governance, decentralisation and regional development in its priorities. It is supporting cohesion policy through institutional support and mobilisation of regional actors
France initiated a reflection on a cooperation charter involving access to local governance. This charter will be annexed to the communication being prepared by the Commission, which will be called "Towards a European Approach to Local Democratic Governance, Decentralisation and Regional Development". This will be the subject of a Council of European ministers' conclusions in November 2008. The subject of this charter will be to improve coherence, complimentarity, efficiency of intervention from local government actors (administrations, state, civil society, private sector etc.). The French delegate explained that it also has an operational aim and highlights the importance of respect for the public powers in local action.
France also decided that the European Development Days in Strasbourg on 15-17 November this year will focus on local government and the Millennium Objectives. It will also concentrate on the links between French NGOs and the United Nations, particularly the UNDP, given its coordination role, as well as the OAA. It is giving its support to the forums allowing regional bodies to take their place in inter-continental dialogue, as well as the forum of regional bodies in the whole of the Mediterranean, with a view to the forthcoming summit of heads of state and government of the Union for the Mediterranean, the initiative for which comes from the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy.
The Commission will publish a communication on local development by the end of the year, which will include three key ideas: local governance, decentralisation and regional development. In so doing, the Commission will be encouraging: the creation of a platform that brings together the local and regional authorities active in development - which will represent them in the dialogue with the European institutions; implementation of a decentralised cooperation grant. It is also expected to take an initiative in development twinning, the aim of which will be to strengthen the operational running of the local authorities and to develop cultural and human partnerships, as well as cooperation between the north and south, local authorities and local associations.