Rapporteur :
Mr Miljenko DORIC (Croatia)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

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For debate in the Standing Committee – see Article 15 of the Rules of Procedure of the Congress - Objections to the Standing Committee procedure must reach the Chief Executive of the Congress a clear week before the meeting of the Standing Committee ; if 5 members object, the report will be submitted to the Plenary Session.

Pour débat à la Commission permanente – voir Article 15 du Règlement intérieur du Congrès - Les éventuelles objections à l’examen en Commission permanente doivent parvenir au Directeur exécutif du Congrès une semaine avant la réunion de la Commission permanente ; si 5 membres du Congrès présentent des objections, le rapport sera soumis à la session plénière.

Introduction

Since the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) was established in 1994, with a support from the Assembly of European Regions (AER), the AER and the CLRAE have developed fruitful and constructive cooperation, especially with the Chamber of Regions.

The AER is deeply involved in disseminating the basic principles of the Council of Europe in general and the CLRAE in particular, in the field of regional and local democracy. Thus, through its entire network of more than 240 regions, the AER is currently supporting a Europe-wide campaign for the adoption by the Council of Europe of the CLRAE's draft European Charter of Regional Self-Government.

Using its consultative status, the AER, along with its member regions, actively contributes to the work of the Congress, bringing forward policy ideas and practical proposals for action in various fields. Sound working relationships between the two bodies have thus been developed. AER representatives regularly take part in CLRAE meetings, and vice-versa, with highly satisfactory results.

Alongside their purely "institutional” cooperation, the AER and CLRAE have developed a joint approach to the practical promotion of interregional and transfrontier cooperation. Thus, since 1999, the CLRAE has supported the AER's Summer School and Centurio programmes, its most successful initiatives for interregional cooperation and vocational training.

The programmes are closely linked for their main aims are identical: to promote regionalisation and interregional cooperation through exchanges of experience and training. They reflect the same key principles that CLRAE. They are effective tools for fostering interregional cooperation and regionalisation Europe wide, in accordance with the principles set out by the AER in its “Declaration on Regionalism in Europe”. Moreover, they usefully serve the major aims of the Council of Europe and its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe inasmuch as they help regions to recognise the importance of the values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and liberties, and the need to observe and implement these principles. It should also be noted that the two programmes are effectively coordinated. Specifically, the Summer School features on the list of Centurio training activities with the result that all Centurio trainees and coordinators are invited to participate in it. In addition, as part of the Summer School, the AER holds a workshop on the Centurio programme, enabling participants to review the content of the training.

At a practical level, cooperation between the CLRAE's Association of Local Democracy Agencies and the AER has led to the organisation of numerous training courses in the countries of South-East Europe. Since 1999 the CLRAE has also made a financial contribution to the Summer School and has sent well-qualified and eminently representative delegates to it. Senior Congress figures who have taken part in this manifestation of AER include : Mr Cuatrecasas, Past-President of the Congress in 1999; Mr Koivisto, Past-President of the Chamber of Regions in 2000; Mr Dohnal, Vice-President of the Congress in 2001; and Messrs Whitmore, Chair of the Committee on Sustainable Development in 2002 and Mr Di Stasi, President of the Chamber of Regions in 2002 and 2003.. Throughout this period the Congress Secretariat has been represented by Mr Mudrich, Secretary of the Chamber of Regions.

In 1999, 2000 and 2001 the Summer School received further financial support from the European Union under the PHARE programme. In 2002 it was also awarded a grant from the Croatian office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

***

The initiative to prepare the present report, falls under the major political goal to strengthen joint CLRAE and AER efforts in favour of interregional cooperation and the promotion of regionalisation in Europe. The following principal considerations are more specifically at the origin of this initiative:

Firstly, after many years of working in favour of regionalisation, the CLRAE and AER share what is surely a natural desire to evaluate the political impact of the programmes, identifying the added value that they offer to members of both organisations, and thus measuring their effectiveness as tools for promoting interregional cooperation, stability and regional democracy;

Secondly, the initiative is rooted in the very success of these programmes and their practical results, notably the adoption of the Adriatic Agenda 21 project and the staging of the first Youth Summer School, alongside the main Summer School, in 2002;

Lastly, this initiative reflects the double need to:

- provide to the members of the Congress and in particular thus of the Chamber of Regions, with general information on the programmes and on cooperation between the CLRAE and AER in this context;
- promote, within the Congress, a wide-ranging policy debate about the programmes' value as tools for promoting regional democracy and interregional cooperation, with a view to developing them and exploring new ways of making them more effective.

***

The report is in two sections:

In section one, following a brief introduction to the Assembly of European Regions, the rapporteur describes the Centurio and Summer School programmes.

The description covers the four last programmes, from 2000 to 2002. We have a sufficiently long period to permit proper assessment of their results. Although the information has been summarised, it should not only give CLRAE members a closer insight into the aims and content of the programmes but should also facilitate appraisal of their impact and "added value" for both the participating regions and the AER and CLRAE.

In relation to the Summer School, the rapporteur describes the programmes and themes. For 2001 and 2002, a summary of proceedings are available at the AER Secretariat. The description of the 2002 event includes reference to the main outcomes of the Youth Summer School – held for the first time that year and due to be repeated in 2003.

The description of the Centurio programme draws on evaluation reports for the years 2000 and 2001, which were prepared for the AER by Professor Jan Mattijs of the Free University of Brussels.

This section of the report also covers the “Centurio in the Balkans” project, an initiative that has already produced concrete results and seems to have considerable potential. The project is carried out in cooperation with the Association of Local Democracy Agencies.

This report is completed with a statement on the Adriatic Agenda 21, an important and practical pilot project launched at the last edition of the Summer School in which the aims and the prospects for its implementation are summarised.

The political conclusions are presented in the draft Recommendation and Resolution.

Section one: the Centurio and Summer School programmes

1.1 The AER in outline

Set up in 1985 with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) to be a policy forum and representative body for the regions of Europe, the AER stands for democracy, solidarity and the reinforcement of interregional cooperation across the Europe.

The AER is an independent non-governmental organisation, run autonomously and funded by the member regions.

From the outset, its key task has been to strengthen the regions' institutional function on the European stage. One reflection of this activity is the role that it played in the establishment of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) within the Council of Europe, and in the creation by the European Union of its Committee of the Regions (CoR). Many AER members sit on both the CLRAE and the Committee of the Regions. This situation facilitates cooperation between the AER, CLRAE and CoR bodies, which is active and constructive in many fields.

Moreover, even before the collapse of the Iron Curtain, the AER had developed an active policy of promoting EU enlargement, and involved various regions of Central and Eastern Europe in its activities.

Currently the AER has almost 240 member regions both within and beyond the EU, including:

- 116 regions of EU member states, namely Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom;
- 116 regions of countries outside the EU, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, Hungary, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Since 2000, in response to the changing nature of Europe and particularly to the challenges of EU enlargement, the AER has strengthened its strategy for promoting regionalisation and interregional cooperation right across Europe and beyond. As expressions of the AER policy for encouraging EU enlargement, the Centurio programme and AER Summer School are particularly effective tools. They encourage valuable exchanges of opinion and expertise among the future regional partners in a greater Europe.

The AER also has a sustained concern to promote:

· the establishment of democratic institutions and effective administrative structures at regional level;
· the emergence of a multicultural, tolerant and pluralist society based on respect for the fundamental rights of its citizens and of minorities;
· greater citizen participation in public and political life;
· sustainable economic and social development, also in rural areas;
· the development of interregional cooperation networks and partnerships between the regions of Europe.

The AER pursues these aims through a series of practical measures:

· interregional conferences and seminars (some 30 meetings a year throughout Europe) under the aegis of its committees and working groups in different fields, including the promotion of regionalism, regional policy, sustainable rural development, social affairs and health, culture, equality of opportunity between men and women, and minority rights;
· interregional programmes initiated by member regions in these fields (eg an exchange programme for public employees working health care, and interregional twinning programmes);
· management of its Eurodyssey interregional programme, as well as the Centurio programme and the Summer School.

1.2 The Centurio programme

The rapporteur has based his description of the Centurio programme on internal documents produced by the AER secretariat (notably the programme rules) and, as mentioned in the introduction, on programme evaluation reports for the years 2000 and 2001, which were prepared by Professor Jan Mattijs of the Free University of Brussels.

1.2.1 Aims

The Centurio programme is an action to exchange the personnel between regional administrations in Europe. The Centurio programme was set up by the AER in 1994. It offers civil servants and elected representatives from Central and Eastern European regions (the "trainees") the opportunity to undertake one or more traineeships in Western European regional administrations (the "coordinators"). Since 1999, the programme has also been open to trainees from other parts of Europe (such as the Balkans) and even farther afield (eg Southern Mediterranean countries). Centurio is thus designed to be a wide-ranging programme, open not only to AER members but also to any interested region.

The programme's main objective is twofold. It is concerned firstly with promoting dialogue and exchanges of experience between European regions with a view to building democratic institutions and underpinning sustainable development and economic integration throughout the continent. Secondly, and to this end, it aims to develop regionalism in Europe and to establish democratic and effective regional administrations.

Centurio traineeships help to realise these aims by giving the trainees direct experience of regional policies for sustainable development and familiarising them with the principles and practice of European integration (ie the acquis communautaire) at regional level. Through Centurio, trainees can also learn about the various legal and financial mechanisms used by Western regions in the field of interregional and cross-border cooperation and can gain direct experience of well-run regional administrations. Centurio also enables the coordinator regions to learn more about their partners in Europe and beyond, and to inform them directly about their own administrative aims and practices. The coordinators can work through Centurio to set up or strengthen links and cooperation agreements with the trainees' regions of origin, extending beyond the traineeship period, and can lend impetus to the modernisation process in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and farther afield.

1.2.2 Centurio Traineeships

a) Numbers of trainees, their qualifications and their reasons for taking part
During 2000 and 2001, 60 individuals undertook 74 traineeships in 32 European regions.¹ In 2002 the number of trainees involved was 31. More information on the trainees' qualifications, their regions of origin and what motivated them to take part in the programme are avalaible at the AER Secretariat.

In accordance with Centurio's aims, the trainees have come from Central and Eastern European and Balkan regions, and since the beginning of the process of Euro-Mediterranean enlargement in 2002, regions in Southern Mediterranean countries should now also be represented.

b) The host regions and their reasons for taking part
The table below lists the Western European countries² that hosted Centurio trainees in 2000 and 2001.³

Sources: for national population figures, CIA World Factbook 2001; for regions, Tabula Regionum Europae and Synoptique du Régionalisme, published by AER. AER membership reflects the situation following the AGM of 29-30 November 2001 in Sopron, amended on 11 April 2002 and including likely new members Picardy (F) and Kralovehradeck’y (CZ).

The distribution of traineeships in 2002 is shown below.
Host regions by country, and number of trainees hosted:

Sources: AER General Secretariat

Interestingly, certain regions that host trainees are not AER members (Rinköbing in Denmark, for example), demonstrating that it is attractive to regions not only to send trainees on the programme but also to receive them.

Regions have many different reasons for participating in the programme. The table below shows how coordinators in 2000-2001 answered the question ‘Why, in your opinion, is your region taking part in Centurio?’:

Table based on statistics for 2000 and 2001 (from report by Professor Jan Mattijs, Free University of Brussels)

Clearly, in addition to socio-political motives for involvement in Centurio, the host regions' desire to raise their international profile and to establish networks is a key factor in the decision to participate in the programme.
c) What the traineeships include and how successful they are – the Centurio Forum
Information on the content of the traineeships, their level of success and the Centurio Forum is available in the AER Secretariat.

1.2.3 Centurio in the Balkans: developing expertise and promoting regionalism in Southern and Eastern Europe

"Centurio in the Balkans" is an initiative launched by the AER in 2000 with a view to promoting democracy, stability and respect for human and minority rights in South Eastern Europe. The project has its roots in cooperation between the AER and the Council of Europe's Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA).

The aims and main activities of the ALDA are familiar to the Congress and need not be restated here.

a) Aims of cooperation between the AER and the ALDA
The general aims of this cooperation are to foster regionalisation and decentralisation in Southern and Eastern Europe as basic tools for democracy, stability and the promotion of respect for human and minority rights. Further aims are to give the regions of Europe an opportunity to pool experience, to forge new contacts within greater Europe, and to promote transfrontier cooperation among the regions of Southern and Eastern Europe as well as interregional cooperation between those regions and their counterparts elsewhere in Europe.

There are a number of other specific objectives. For example, the cooperation is designed to enhance understanding of the way that regional authorities in Southern and Eastern Europe are organised and of the relationships between them and other tiers of government. Another objective is to facilitate assessment of regional authorities' needs in terms of organisational improvement and the development of expertise, and to inform them about international European standards for regional self-government. Lastly, the cooperation aims to offer European regions the chance of involvement in the democratisation process in Eastern and Southern Europe and to establish exchanges of experience between European regions, with particular attention to transfrontier cooperation between the regions of Southern and Eastern Europe participating in the project.

b) What has AER-ALDA cooperation achieved?
In the period 2000-2002, 10 trainees from Balkan regions took part in Centurio. The level of participation has been steady, with five trainees – from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Belgrade, Osjecko-Baranjska, Medjimurje and Voivodina – taking up traineeships in 2002. The traineeships were coordinated by the following Western regions: Bern, Brussels Capital, Salzburg, Trento and Veneto. Most of these regions decided to participate, on the one hand, as a means of helping less-favoured regions and, on the other, because they wanted to contribute to the process of democratic stabilisation in this part of the Balkans by helping to make elected representatives and officials aware of the regions' important role in that process. These essential motives for help – and the general satisfaction apparent in evaluation reports by traineeship partners – bode well for the future of "Centurio in the Balkans".

Certain aspects of the programme are nonetheless open to improvement.

1.3 Future prospects for the Centurio programme

In the nine years since it was set up, Centurio has enabled many territorial authorities all over Europe (in EU member countries and countries that are candidates for membership) to take part in traineeships in Western Europe. Since 1999, with the launch of the "Balkan" wing of the programme, the number of candidates from Balkan countries (including Serbia, Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) has also risen. Lastly, since 2002 Centurio has also been open to regional representatives from Southern Mediterranean countries, reflecting the fact that the North-South dimension will in future be increasingly important to the European Union.

Over the years, the impact of the Centurio programme has grown, both geographically and politically.
As the programme has expanded (into the Balkans and to a lesser extent the South), the number of candidates for Centurio traineeships has grown steadily just as the representative nature of the initiative, in geographical terms, has been enhanced: in 2002, for example, there were four times as many trainees from the Czech Republic as there had been in previous years. Also in 2002, a representative from the Southern shores of the Mediterranean – from Sfax in Tunisia – took part in the programme for the first time.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) has actively backed Centurio's geographical expansion. Each year, when the AER launches the programme, the CLRAE provides general support, making available its current membership list for purposes of promoting the initiative. In addition, as mentioned before under 1.2.3, promotion of Centurio in Balkan regions has received since 2000 fresh impetus through close cooperation with the ALDA.

Development of the programme was taken a step further in 2002 with the launching of a new Centurio portal on the AER website. The portal enables interested parties to apply for, or offer, a Centurio traineeship, indicating their preferences (with regard to content, location of the training placement, type of trainee etc) through a simple on-line procedure. The programme has thus been enhanced with the acquisition of what is effectively an interactive "market" for traineeships, facilitating the process of allocating placements, helping to achieve a better match between the expectations of the host regions and the candidates, and thus generating greater satisfaction on all sides.

In political terms Centurio has contributed, since its establishment, to the signature or de facto implementation of a number of interregional cooperation agreements. The most recent of these was signed by the Brussels Capital region (B) and the region of Mazowie (PL) in November 2001. The programme is also seen as a unique tool for East-West exchanges, which are vital to the European enlargement process. This is evident in the fact that Centurio is supported by an established core of Western regions who have been hosting trainees in steadily increasing numbers for several years. Finally, the programme's new Euro-Mediterranean dimension makes it a vehicle for vital North-South exchanges, in direct accord with the Barcelona Process.

Of course, the programme's success cannot mask certain difficulties that have beset it. While participants continue to record high levels of satisfaction, the growing economic problems in European societies have inevitably affected regional policies for foreign cooperation, and a number of Western regions can no longer meet the cost of hosting a Centurio trainee. It is true that the cost can be important, given that the host region is required to pay for the trainee's board and lodging for four weeks (the average length of a Centurio placement). At the same time, the imminent prospect of European Union enlargement makes it all the more essential to build two-way contacts and foster exchanges of experiences in relation to highly practical EU matters (such as managing Community funds and lobbying Community institutions), and against this background the Centurio programme is still a favourite with Europe's regions both East and West. Participation is clearly in their interest despite the budgetary constraints.

In these circumstances, CLRAE-AER cooperation can be considered as a priority if the programme is to be reinforced and extended. In particular, cooperation with the CLRAE will be crucial to Centurio's political dimension. Indeed, with the Congress's approval, Centurio could become a real tool for promoting regionalisation and interregional cooperation, two activities vitally important to both the CLRAE and AER.

The future of the Centurio programme thus depends substantially on cooperation with the Congress and its Chamber of Regions, and the AER intends to intensify that cooperation. The Balkans, in particular, are still a sensitive area, where the AER hopes to pursue its joint efforts with the Local Democracy Agencies of the Council of Europe.

With a view to securing Centurio's development and overcoming the financial problems referred to above, the AER is also currently exploring the possibilities of obtaining Interreg IIIC co-financing for the programme.

1.4 The AER Summer School

1.4.1 Aims

The Summer School is one of the pillars of AER policy for stability and democracy in Europe and for fostering East-West interregional cooperation. The programme was initiated in 1996, when the AER decided to develop the concept of an annual Summer School which would not only be a forum for exchanges of experience and expertise in different aspects of European integration, but would also serve as a seed-bed for practical projects involving interregional cooperation.

A specific aim of the AER Summer School is to strengthen political awareness in the regions of the importance of certain basic principles, notably the principle of regional and local democracy and the principle of subsidiarity. It also aims to supply a broad range of relevant information on practical issues such as the implementation of European policies, the objectives of regional development policies and the tools for implementing them, the functioning of the main European institutions and, in this context, the machinery for lobbying at regional level. The active participation of EU regions in debates and proceedings allows participants from Central and Eastern Europe to glean valuable examples from actual experience, especially interesting for regions of applicant countries.

The Summer School is, moreover, an intrinsically interregional and transnational project. Each region involved undertakes to contribute to the programme, identifying themes for discussion and finding relevant experts, and to support the initiative financially.

Organisationally, the AER Summer School successfully blends a number of approaches. Each year, plenary sessions are combined with workshops in which more informal and lively exchanges take place, and participants are encouraged to play an active role in the debates. Alongside the working sessions, a varied social programme is laid on. The social programme encourages interaction between the participants outside the official gatherings and promotes understanding and acceptance of different cultures.

To date, Summer Schools have been held in Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Lithuania, Romania and Italy. The average number of participants each year is between 150 and 200, representing some 60-80 regions.

The 2002 Summer School was organised by the following regions: Dubrovacko-Neretvanska, Istarska and Primorsko-Goranska (Croatia), which were the hosts, as well as Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (Italy), Gloucestershire (United Kingdom), Noord-Brabant (Netherlands), Thüringen (Germany), Uppsala (Sweden) and Vienna (Austria). These regions form a Summer School Organising Committee, which is coordinated by the AER Secretariat General.

This year, the eighth edition of the AER Summer School was organised in Naples, Campanie on 8-12 September 2003. (see section 1.4.6).

1.4.2 The work of the AER Summer School 2000, organised from 6 to 11 August in Vilnius

The main theme of this, the fifth Summer School was regional policy in the broader sense, ie European regional development policy and the tools associated with it, as well as the role of regional authorities as economic and political contributors to regional development. The subject of the first morning's session was the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), with particular emphasis on metropolitan regions and the concept of periphery. In the afternoon a number of practical workshop sessions focused on project development under the PHARE and TACIS programmes. After a day devoted to the more general theme of the regions' lobbying role at European level, the hands-on approach to regional policy was pursued on the third working day. Following a general introduction outlining the benefits that regions can expect from the EU's pre-accession instruments (ISPA, PHARE and SAPARD) and stressing the importance of preparing regions in the candidate countries for the various EU programmes, workshops concentrated on four specific themes: cooperation between local and regional authorities and central government with a case study on the Interreg programme; European co-financing for social projects; European co-financing for environmental projects; and co-financing for educational projects. The fourth day was devoted to the other major aspect of regional policy, namely the regions' role as vehicles for economic development. Themes addressed were: policy priorities for economic development; economic development and social integration; economic development and sustainability; the promotion of economic development through the European Social Fund. The Summer School concluded with a session on the regions' role as a force for consolidating democracy.

Throughout the Summer School particular attention was paid to the role of young people in the accession process, with a view to preparing future leaders for their role in an expanded Europe. A workshop on this theme was held by young employees of the regional administrations represented on the organising committee.

The success of this workshop and the interest it attracted from many regions subsequently prompted the AER's Culture and Education Committee to begin organising a new project in the form of a Youth Summer School. The first edition of this was held alongside the 2002 Summer School in Croatia.

1.4.3 AER Summer School 2001, 26-30 August, Constanta, Romania

a) Themes
This session entitled “Our future: European regions and European expansion” was devoted to the major question of European Union enlargement and the regions' role in this regard.

The theme of the first working day was the regions' contribution to the impending Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) and specifically to the White Paper on Governance. A special session concentrated on the importance of developing regional institutions in the candidate countries. Workshops also focused on three key topics: cooperation between regions and big cities; preparation for the impending IGC; and the information society at regional level.

The second working day was spent exploring the theme of environmental protection, and the regions looked at the issues of sustainable agriculture and eco-farming, food safety and rural development. In a series of themed workshops they focused on their potential role in promoting sustainable agriculture and implementing the sixth Environmental Action Plan, and on the Structural Funds' impact in rural areas.

The theme on day three was tourism as a motor for sustainable economic development at regional level.

European spatial planning and future European regional policy were the topics studied on day four. Participants held a wide-ranging debate on the ways in which transnational cooperation in the field of spatial planning could deliver sustainable economic and social cohesion. A case study on cooperation in the Baltic and Black Seas was presented, and the more specific issues of regional transport and environmental protection were tackled in a series of workshops.

b) Participants
The AER Summer School 2001 was attended by more than 120 participants.
As the Summer School was held in Constanta (Romania), there was a high level of Romanian participation. Among the candidate countries for accession to the EU, Poland was also particularly well represented with more 20 participants. Other countries, not candidates for accession, were represented too, namely Croatia, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Moldova. Western participants included 13 EU regions, one of which was represented by a delegation from its Brussels office. Organisations that sent representatives included the Austrian Association of Towns and Cities, Telecities, the Czech Republic's Union of Cities and Communities and the University of the West of England. The European Union, which supported the project financially, was represented by its delegation in Bucharest. A delegate from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development assisted.

In terms of participants' functions, there was a distinction between the Romanian delegates, most of whom were elected representatives, and their Polish counterparts who tended to be officials and/or experts in specific fields (economy, environment etc). Among the Western delegates there was a fairly good balance between the two categories, virtually all the regions being represented by both elected representatives and senior staff.

c) Proceedings
The proceedings are available at the AER Secretariat.

1.4.4 AER Summer School 2002, 8-12 September, Opatija, Croatia

a) Themes
The seventh Summer School was devoted to “The regions’ contribution to sustainability : innovative practices for innovative policies of regional development”. It offered the regions an opportunity to debate the outcome of, and follow-up to, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which had taken place in Johannesburg a few days previously.

The concept of sustainable development was tackled firstly from a social perspective. The regions discussed the socio-economic consequences of demographic change, migration and brain drain, and looked at the tools available to them for building a new sustainable social model.

The issues were then explored from a more political angle, with a session on the regions' contribution to democratic "sustainability" or stability. The more specific theme of regionalism and the protection of minorities were addressed with reference to practical examples from Istarska and Wallonia.

The third day of the Summer School focused on the environmental dimension of sustainable development and specifically on the regions' contribution to a new type of environmental governance for an enlarged Europe. It emerged, in exchanging real-life examples of good practice, that regions have a vital and active role to play in developing a sustainable environment. Particular emphasis was placed on work at regional level to promote sustainable rural and agricultural development (including the problem of combating diseases such as foot-and-mouth) against the background of impending Common Agricultural Policy reform. The same day saw the launch of Adriatic Agenda 21, a platform for a process of cooperation to further sustainable development in the Adriatic area. Section two of the report deals with Adriatic Agenda 21 in greater depth.

The economic aspects of sustainable development and the regions' role in this regard were the focus of proceedings on day four. As on the previous day, examples of actual experience were exchanged. The importance of the public-private partnership model as a tool for sustainable development was also highlighted. The day ended with a working visit to the Centre for Mediterranean Culture.

The final day of the Summer School saw further debate on the economic dimension of sustainable development, and there was a presentation on the outcome of transnational cooperation in the Adriatic area. This was followed by a session on the European Structural Funds and their significance both for regions within the EU and for their partners in candidate countries. In a series of workshops the regional representatives also had an opportunity to look at the practicalities of using the Structural Funds, as well as the advantages and drawbacks of European initiatives such as Interreg, with reference to various examples.

b) Participants
More than 200 people attended the 2002 Summer School. This figure does not include the 42 young people involved in the Youth Summer School.

Some 20 Western regions and 30 from Eastern Europe participated. The Western regions included not only those on the Summer School organising committee but also the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg (D), the Rhône-Alpes Region (F), the Marches (I), three Norwegian regions, one region each from Portugal, Switzerland and Finland, and two UK regions. Among the Eastern participants, Hungary and Romania were well represented by a total of eight counties and 12 regions. As in 2001, there was also a Polish presence. In addition, representatives from former Yugoslavia, Georgia and Moldova took part.

With regard to categories of participant, most delegates were regional civil servants, although several Chairs and Deputy Chairs of regional authorities were also present, as were regional councillors from right across the political spectrum. The Summer School was proud to welcome senior CLRAE representatives Keith Whitmore, Chair of the Committee on Sustainable Development, and Giovanni Di Stasi, President of the Chamber of Regions of the CLRAE. The Zagreb office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation was also actively involved in the event.

It is interesting to note that, judging by their job titles, many of the participants were responsible in their regions for matters relating to sustainable development. They included, for example, a number of heads of regional development departments as well as officials responsible for the application of Structural Fund monies or Community initiatives, or for regional tourism or transport. The participation of so many people intimately concerned with sustainable development represents a success for the Summer School.

c) Key points from the proceedings
The proceedings are available at the AER Secretariat.

1.4.5 The first Youth Summer School

In 2002 a Youth Summer School was held alongside the "traditional" AER Summer School for the first time. The event, which ran from 9 to 12 September in Opatija, was organised on the initiative of the Sörmland region in collaboration with Vestfold (N), Catalunya (E), Devon (UK), Lower Austria (A) and Harghita (RO). As well as the opening and closing ceremonies, the programme featured a number of shared sessions with the traditional Summer School. The idea behind the initiative was to promote better integration of the young into public life by allowing young people from all over Europe to meet elected representatives.

Like the traditional Summer School, the first Youth Summer School opted to discuss the follow-up to the Johannesburg Summit and in particular the concept of sustainable development. Over the four days, 42 young people aged 17-28, from 11 different countries, exchanged views on the following major themes: democracy, natural resources, health and lifestyles, and models of consumption. The workshops concluded with a presentation of action plans in these areas, which was attended by political representatives and officials participating in the traditional Summer School.

In the light of the first event's success, it was decided to stage a second Youth Summer School in 2003. This second edition took place in parallel to the “traditional” Summer School in the region of Campanie, Italy on 8-12 September 2003.

1.4.6 AER Summer School 2003, 8-12 September, Naples, Italy

a) Themes

The 8th edition in this series was held in Naples. It was devoted to the general topic "Empowering the people – empowerment for the regions". The political leaders and regional civil servants had the occasion to discuss actively important topics like the economic, regional and social development, the principle of subsidiarity, the participation of the citizens in the democratic institutions, the role of the regional democratic institutions or also the multilateral co-operation from a North-South point of view.

Parallel to this event the 2^nd edition of the Summer school of the Young people was held.

A specific place was reserved for the consequences widening of the European Union and the results of the Convention on the future of Europe, as with the experiences made with certain Community programs of regional development, such as the program EU Leader for the rural regions.

A specific workshop was devoted to the subject: monitoring and regionalisation in Europe which was animated by Mr. Giovanni Di Stasi, President of the Chamber of Regions. He presented at this occasion a summary of the work of the Congress in the field of the analysis and the study of problems of local and regional democracy in the member States while being based on a certain number of recent reports presented within the framework of the Congress.

c) The debates

A summary of the work is available at the AER Secretariat

1.5. Results of the most recent Summer Schools: an overview

The AER Summer School has enabled participants to acquire detailed knowledge of many areas of activity related not only to European integration (and, in particular, aspects of the acquis communautaire) but also to global policies for sustainable development. Participants have also had the opportunity to learn more about the relatively technical and essential aspects of implementing sustainable-development and social policies at regional level, and about the functioning of regional administrations, with their different types of institutional status.

In addition, participants have received a wealth of information both about the functioning of EU bodies and about more practical aspects of policy implementation. They have learned the best ways of applying EU legislation, tapping into available funding and making their voices heard at supranational level. The involvement of EU regions in the discussions has contributed valuable insights from practical experience.

The Summer School proceedings have been a means not only of communicating technical information vital to the regions' preparations for accession to the EU but also of conveying the spirit, ethics and political and legal values that inform the construction of Europe. More specifically, through the seminars and workshops, the Summer School has helped regional and local representatives from the candidate countries to develop their capacity for cooperation with their counterparts in other countries, to think transnationally, to work with people whose outlook differs from their own, and to build intercultural understanding and tolerance. Contacts have also been established that will be useful in forging future partnerships.

At the same time, by virtue of the CLRAE's input, the participating regions have become more aware of the importance of furthering regionalisation throughout Europe. Europe's boundaries are no longer the outer borders of the EU member states, nor those of the official candidate countries. The requirements of regional democracy and the advantages it has to offer are recognised everywhere in Europe (and are implicit in the concept of the European House). It is for that reason that the regions must be acknowledged as fully-fledged partners in the process of furthering European unity. Summer School participants have seen the effectiveness of the CLRAE's efforts to ensure that national governments give local and regional democracy the place it deserves. In this regard they have acknowledged the political and legal importance of achieving early and full adoption of the draft European Charter of Regional Self-Government, drawn up by the CLRAE as a European Convention. Moreover, in the course of discussions, they have recognised the need to incorporate recognition of local governance into the Treaty on European Union, and have urged that regional-level democracy be accorded similar recognition. The Summer School has thanked the CLRAE for its support, which has contributed to the success of CLRAE-AER collaboration.

The Summer School has encouraged debate among elected representatives and officials from local and regional authorities in Central and Eastern Europe about their role in the process of accession to the EU and in European integration. Participants have demonstrated their awareness that local and regional authorities have a part to play in making EU enlargement a success and that they are, in fact, of pivotal importance to the construction of a Greater Europe.

It falls to them to implement the mass of European regulations and it is they who can foster public awareness of the real impact of a country's integration into Europe. Elected representatives and senior officials of the regions must be better equipped for adapting to accession and preparing the public for it. In order to convince people that the accession process is acceptable and legitimate, it is thus imperative that infra-national authorities are properly prepared to play their role within it – and this has been the core task of the AER Summer School.

Section two: Adriatic Agenda 21

2.1 The project

With the Adriatic Agenda 21 initiative, a group of Adriatic regions (Primorsko-Goranska, Istarska and Dubrovacko-Neretvanska in Croatia, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy) aim to establish a permanent cooperation network linking Adriatic regions and towns on sustainability issues, the main objective being to stop degradation of the environment in the Adriatic basin and to improve quality of life for people in the region. In a common Final Declaration (appended) – endorsed by the AER and UNEP/MAP (the United Nations Environment Programme/ Mediterranean Action Plan) – the signatory regions affirm their conviction that through joint efforts, such as the Adriatic Agenda 21 initiative, regional and local authorities can preserve remaining European areas of unspoiled nature and areas with specific culture, which are both currently threatened by predominant development trends.

2.2 Evaluating and monitoring the project:

Since the signing of the Declaration of Opatija, several Adriatic regions have been contacted and informed about the existence of the Adriatic Agenda 21 and its objectives. Mr. Giovanni Di Stasi, President of the Chamber of CPLRE Regions, was accordingly informed of this initiative and was invited to support the request of its signatory regions to organise a general conference of the Adriatic regions. The international conference, entitled “The Adriatic: a Sea Under Pressure” took place on 5-6 June 2003 in Zadar and brought together a number of high-level representatives from Adriatic regions. Notably, several regions’ ministers for the protection of the environment were present.

Since September 2002, the regions of the Adriatic Agenda have developed a strong relationship with the UNEP-MAP. In April 2003, a representative of Primorsko-Goranska, participated in a conference organized by the UNEP-MAP in Barcelona on the topic of developing a “common Mediterranean strategy for sustainable development.” The Croatian representatives who are also members of the ad hoc workgroup on South Eastern Europe were asked to present projects that related to the Adriatic Agenda 21.

A meeting on “Adriatic Maritime Transportation” is scheduled for 27-28 September 2003 in Pula (Istrie) and will focus primarily on improving maritime transportation between Italian and Croatian regions. Another conference towards the end of 2003 on the island of Krk (Primorsko-Goranska) will discuss olive oil production on the Adriatic coast. These two events aim to initiate deeper cooperation between Adriatic regions and to support the Adriatic Agenda 21.

Finally, Primorsko-Goranska has opened an “Office for the Adriatic Agenda” in Rijeka (under the direction of Mr. Zoran Skala).

It is a regional project to engage administratively a number of regions around a subject of common interest, namely protection and sustainable development of the Adriatic.

Appendix

AER SUMMER SCHOOL 2002 OPATIJA, (HR), 8-12 SEPTEMBER 2002
DOCUMENT ADOPTED

DECLARATION
ON COOPERATION FOR THE ADRIATIC AGENDA 21
OPATIJA 2002

We,
representatives of: national, regional and local authorities and self-government, international organisations and institutions, NGOs, universities and schools, business companies and services and other social and interest groups of people living in an area that gravitates toward the Adriatic Sea and Greece (a partner country from the neighbouring Ionian Sea),

encouraged by messages coming from the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and by the actions already undertaken in the Mediterranean area by organisations operating within UN and EU systems,

and motivated by the growing importance and responsibilities of regions in the process of sustainable development, which was emphasised in the "Adriatic Summer School",

we accept the initiative of the co-organisers of the Adriatic Summer School project – the counties of Primorje and Gorski Kotar, of Istria, and of Dubrovnik and Neretva - which is to establish a permanent cooperation network called the "Adriatic Agenda 21".

Furthermore, we express our commitment to adjust our way of living with the limited capacities of the Adriatic ecosystems and preserve the Adriatic basin for future generations to remain at least equally beautiful, biologically and culturally diverse as we inherited it from our ancestors. We know we can succeed in preserving the Adriatic basin only if we join our efforts, coordinate our actions and permanently cooperate in boosting and implementing sustainable development.
Therefore, we accept:
- as regions and cities living with and making living from the Adriatic Sea, to take responsibility for its preservation through planning, cooperation with others and development based on sustainability principles, but also by inviting other active participants at the local level to do the same;
- to follow the "Rio documents" and the impetus from Johannesburg as guiding documents for our work on sustainable development;
- to follow and expand the sustainable development policy of EU and its 6t h Environment Action Programme, contributing to a faster enlargement process in Europe and to the preservation of the environment of the European continent as a whole;
- to join the existing European cooperation network on sustainable development, which is coordinated by the European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign;
- to contribute to the peace and stability of the South-East Europe by fostering mutual cooperation and understanding;
- to learn from, to establish cooperation with, to further develop the activities and achievements of the existing networks, initiatives and programmes concerning sustainable development in the Mediterranean area;
- to enrich our work with the mechanisms and culture of transnational and cross sectoral approach when dealing with complex development issues in the Adriatic and Mediterranean areas;

Jointly, we shall create a vision of the Adriatic area as we want it to be for future generations, and make a document – the "Adriatic Agenda 21" – through which we shall plan our actions, define our goals and make concrete commitments in order to make the vision true. We shall define necessary changes to be made in all sectors that have significant influence on the Adriatic area with respect to its sustainable development, such as:
- Spatial planning as a tool in achieving sustainability
- Raising public awareness for sustainability issues and lifelong learning
- Tourism - environmental and social limits
- Environmental protection and protection of cultural and natural heritage
- Fisheries - overfishing and limitations to fish farming
- Agriculture - preservation of local species, organic agriculture
- Water - preservation of fresh water resources, prevention of sea pollution
- Waste - focusing on the prevention of waste generation and the reusing of waste
- Transport - sustainable transport systems, the establishment of maritime transport rules and supervision that will minimise the risk of sea pollution
- Energy - focusing on renewable energy and local self-sufficiency
- Industry - orientation toward cleaner production and "symbiotic clusters" (cooperation network of SMEs and other public or private enterprises and organisations in order to use resources in the most efficient way)

We shall establish a monitoring system to evaluate the progress of sustainable development of the Adriatic area and to evaluate the progress in the realization of the assigned tasks – in order to get an early warning of negative trends and to foster activities where they are most needed. The monitoring system will be based on European common sustainability indicators, but the number of indicators will be tailored to suit the specific needs of the Adriatic area.

ORGANISATION
Adriatic regions will take care of the organisation and field activities of the Adriatic Agenda 21. However, all the governments of the Adriatic states and of Greece are invited to support the initiative and contribute to the activities of Adriatic Agenda 21. National environmental ministries will play a very important role. Activities that accompany Adriatic Agenda 21 as well as the complex process of creating the document of the "Adriatic Agenda 21", in which the participation of many stakeholders must be provided, will be supervised and steered by the Adriatic Agenda 21 Steering Committee. The Adriatic Agenda 21 Steering Committee will be composed of distinguished representatives from all Adriatic countries and Greece.
The county of Primorje and Gorski Kotar, together with its partners – the counties of Istria and of Dubrovnik and Neretva - organisational support to the first phase of activities concerning the Adriatic Agenda 21. The county of Primorje and Gorski Kotar will also organize the first meeting of the Adriatic Agenda 21 Steering Committee, which is to define: the organisational structure of the Adriatic Agenda 21, national and regional contact points, the programme of activities and financing. The first meeting of the Adriatic Agenda 21 Steering Committee is to be organised by the end of 2002.

We invite institutions and organisations that operate within the EU to support the Adriatic Agenda 21, especially in its first 3 years. For transitional countries the financial help from outside would be precious and serve as a catalyst in developing transnational and cross sectoral approach to problem resolving. The European Union is invited to respond favourably and give its support to the Adriatic Agenda 21 in the years to come, using its existing legal and economic instruments as well as those that are yet to be created.

Opatija, 10 September 2002

² With the exception of Poland which took part in the programme as a host region in 2001

³ Table taken from the report by Professor Mattijs