748^th meeting – 3 April 2001

Item 12.2

The 3^rd Economic Forum of the Regions of Europe for Economic Co-operation, Security and Sustainable Development (Moscow, 25-26 November 1997)
CLRAE Recommendation 37 (1997)

Decision 

The Deputies adopted the following reply to CLRAE Recommendation 37 (1997) on the 3^rd Economic Forum of the Regions of Europe for Economic Co-operation, Security and Sustainable Development (Moscow, 25-26 November 1997): 

“The Committee of Ministers has studied Recommendation 37 (1997) on the 3^rd Economic Forum of the Regions of Europe for Economic Co-operation, Security and Sustainable Development (Moscow, 25-26 November 1997) of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), and fully shares the point of view of the CLRAE that social cohesion is one of the foremost needs of wider Europe and should be pursued as an essential complement to the promotion of human rights and dignity. 

Given that most of the recommendations of the Congress are addressed to governments of member States, the Committee of Ministers has forwarded to them this Recommendation, as well as instructed the Secretary General to transmit it to the European Investment Bank and to the Commission of the European Communities. 

At their Second Summit, the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe member States went on to instruct the Committee of Ministers “to define a social strategy to respond to the challenges in society and to carry out the appropriate structural reforms within the Council of Europe”. 

In order to put into practice this new political commitment, the European Committee for Social Cohesion (CDCS) has been set up. It is a multidisciplinary and multi-partner Steering Committee. In 2000 it adopted a strategy for social cohesion, subsequently approved by the Ministers' Deputies as the basis for the work on social cohesion during the coming years. 

The Deputies forwarded CLRAE Recommendation 37 (1997) to the CDLR and the Committee of Senior Officials of the CEMAT (item iii of the Recommendation). By adopting at its 12^th Session (Hanover, 7-8 September 2000) the “Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent”, which define measures of spatial development to advance the possibilities for all people in the member states of the Council of Europe to achieve an acceptable standard of living, the CEMAT is making its contribution to a strategy of social cohesion and is promoting sustainable and regionally balanced development.

As regards item ii of the recommendations, the Deputies recall that the principal aims of the Programme for Democratic Stability in the field of local and regional government (formerly LODE Programme) are to provide assistance for democratic reform at local level, promote European principles and standards in this area and support the ratification and implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.  In addition to assistance with the institutional and financial framework of local government, the activities have focused on the dissemination of good practice in local service delivery and public participation, training for municipal managers and assistance for associations of local authorities. 

The Deputies recognise that for some of these activities the experience of local and regional authorities in other European countries is particularly valuable: the experts of the Council of Europe are indeed selected with this in mind.  On the other hand, the Deputies consider that a more generalised promotion of networks of European towns and regions as such falls primarily within the province of the CLRAE itself.  They encourage the Congress to pursue such an objective within the context of its normal activities.”