COUNCIL OF EUROPE

COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

________

DECLARATION

ON TRANSFRONTIER CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

(adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 6 October 1989,
at the 429th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe,

On the occasion of the 4Oth Anniversary of the Council of Europe,

Recalling the Council of Europe's constant and repeated efforts over a period of many years in connection with transfrontier co-operation ;

Welcoming the incessant endeavours of the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT) and the Parliamentary Assembly to combat xenophobia, incomprehension, mistrust and intolerance, so that the psychological barrier established at frontiers by centuries of history shall be dismantled for all time ;

Noting with satisfaction the progress achieved in frontier regions towards creating a new spirit and making the peoples of Europe aware of the solidarity among them and their common destiny ;

Recognising that frontier regions, the scars of history, now link the peoples of Europe together and that there is now a general consensus among those with political responsibility for territorial authorities on the need to work with their neighbours in a spirit of co-operation, neighbourliness, openness and solidarity ;

Convinced of the need to pursue the search for ideas and the work which is under way, while restating the importance of transfrontier co-operation with a view to achieving true solidarity among citizens of Europe by the year 2000,

1. Recalls that co-operation between the states of Europe has developed within the Council of Europe in a very wide range of fields, such as regional planning, the environment, urban and rural development, infrastructure, economic policy, planning, the problems of frontier workers, coping with natural disasters, the harmonisation of law, culture, science, research and technology, and notes with satisfaction that, as far as the frontier regions are concerned, it has been directed towards :

- identifying the problems of frontier regions and defining appropriate practical solutions ;

- systematising and co-ordinating initiatives ;

- informing and raising the awareness of European, governmental, regional and local agencies and the public of the problems and beneficial effects of transfrontier co-operation ;

- gradually eliminating the legal, administrative, economic and cultural obstacles still all too frequently encountered in respect
of harmonisation ;

2. Recognises that their common interests make frontier communities the major protagonists of regional development and an ideal proving ground for co-operation and, this being so, encourages the work being done to prevent these regions from ever again being drawn towards an unbalanced and marginal situation and to commit them instead to the future, thanks to transfrontier co-operation, and to a harmonious process of development with due regard to the powers prescribed by the domestic law of each state ;

3. Recalls the existence of the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities of 1980, ratified by fourteen member states, and invites those which have not yet done so to review their position with a view to acceding to the Convention, so as to ensure that good neighbourly relations between peoples are furthered on either side of frontiers. It invites the signatory states to the Convention to implement it, particularly by concluding bilateral agreements, and to use the model agreements proposed ;

4. Thanks all the transfrontier institutions, organisations and associations for their efforts to find solutions to problems relating to their common interests, and urges them to continue these endeavours in future with special emphasis on improving relations with frontier regions of Central and Eastern European states, in the spirit of the Council of Europe Outline Convention ;

5. Encourages continued study, in the most appropriate manner, of the work which is under way in co-operation with the European Community institutions :

- in order to develop the exchange of information between all agencies of transfrontier co-operation, national governments and territorial authorities ;

- in order gradually to remove the barriers of every kind - administrative, legal, political and psychological - which might
curb the development of transfrontier projects ;

6. Declares that the development of transfrontier co-operation, which gives practical expression to a true solidarity between peoples, is a major contribution to the progress of European unification, essential to healthy, fair and balanced growth in the Europe of tomorrow, and important in guaranteeing generations to come a future of peace and freedom.