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Ministers' Deputies
Notes on the Agenda

CM/Notes/743/10.2 (Restricted) 19 February 2001
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743 Meeting, 28 February 2001
10 Legal Questions

10.2 Committee of Advisers on Transfrontier Co‑operation
Role, working methods and achievements (1995-2000)

 

 

Reference documents

CM(2001)32 and Addendum

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Action
The Deputies are invited to clarify the role and mission of the Committee of Advisers on Transfrontier Co-operation, to agree to increase the Committee's membership from three to six and fix the timetable for their appointment, and to take other measures to enhance the transparency and effectiveness of transfrontier co-operation.


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At their 731st meeting on 29 November 2000, the Deputies debated the item “Committee of Advisers on Transfrontier Co-operation – Reconstitution and enlargement of the number of members”, with a view to agreeing on an increase in the membership of the Committee of Advisers.  After a thorough discussion they agreed to resume consideration of the issue at one of their forthcoming meetings on the basis of a Secretariat memorandum giving fuller information on the role and activities of the Committee of Advisers and taking into account the views expressed and suggestions made at the aforementioned meeting.

 

Document CM(2001)32 contains the information requested by the Delegations and makes a number of proposals for enhancing the effectiveness of transfrontier co-operation.

 

Firstly, the Committee of Ministers needs to clarify what it expects of the Committee of Advisers.  To this end, the Deputies might explicitly instruct the Committee of Advisers to provide the Secretariat with independent advice on the planning, implementation and monitoring of activities relating to transfrontier co-operation between local and regional authorities and communities in the member states in order to promote dialogue and co‑operation between local and regional authorities, thereby contributing to the consolidation of democratic stability in Europe.

 

Secondly, the Secretariat recommends that information be circulated more efficiently between the Committee of Advisers, the Committee of Ministers and the Select Committee of Experts on Transfrontier Co-operation (LR-R-CT).  The Deputies might agree to hold an annual debate on transfrontier co-operation on the basis of the annual activity report of the Committee of Advisers and to invite the Secretariat to act upon the other initiatives it mentions (more rational dissemination of information, website, preparation of the regular item on the agendas of LR-R-CT meetings).

 

Thirdly, the membership of the Committee of Advisers would need to be increased from three to six.  The term of office of the committee's current members expires on 30 June 2001.  The Deputies might agree to accept this proposal – the reasons for which are set out in Part II, Section 4 of CM(2001)32 – and to prescribe the procedure for reconstituting the Committee in accordance with the proposals in Part III of CM(2001)32.

 

As regards financial implications for 2001 and the following years, the enlargement of the Committee of Advisers is already taken account of in the Council of Europe budget for 2001. Since the promotion of the Outline Convention has progressed successfully, the number of activities related to this objective has been scaled down. The result is that even with the addition of three new members of the Committee of Advisers, the budget concerning transfrontier co-operation will not increase, neither this year nor in the coming years.

 

 

 

Financial implications: No

 

 

 

 


DRAFT DECISIONS

 

 

743rd meeting – 28 February 2001

 

 

Item 10.2

 

Committee of Advisers on Transfrontier Co-operation –
Role, working methods and achievements (1995-2000)

(CM(2001)32 and Addendum)

 

 

Decisions

 

The Deputies

 

1.         took note of the Secretariat's report on the Committee of Advisers on Transfrontier Co-operation (CM(2001)32);

 

2.         acknowledging the importance of transfrontier co-operation as advocated by the Council of Europe and of the role hitherto played by the Committee of Advisers, instructed this Committee to provide the Secretariat with independent advice on the planning, implementation and monitoring of activities relating to transfrontier co-operation between local and regional authorities and communities in the member states in order to promote dialogue and co-operation between local and regional authorities, thereby contributing to the consolidation of democratic stability in Europe;

 

3.         instructed the Secretariat to give effect to the measures recommended in document CM(2001)32 to enhance the transparency, accountability and effectiveness of the Council of Europe's action in the field of transfrontier co-operation;

 

4.         agreed to hold an annual debate on transfrontier co-operation on the basis of the activity report of the Committee of Advisers, with the participation of a member of this Committee;

 

5.         agreed that the membership of the Committee of Advisers would be increased from three to six with effect from 1 July 2001;

 

6.         invited the Secretary General to nominate two persons with wide practical or academic experience of the legal aspects of transfrontier co-operation;

 

7.         invited the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe to nominate two members and two substitutes with a sound knowledge of agreements and solutions relating to transfrontier co-operation;

8.         invited delegations to nominate independent persons possessing wide experience of the political aspects of transfrontier co-operation;

 

9.         set the closing date for the nominations referred to in decisions 6 to 8 above at 30 April 2001;

 

10.       agreed to appoint the six members and two substitute members of the Committee of Advisers at their 753rd meeting (23 May 2001).