"I wish to see stronger recognition of the role of local and regional authorities (LRAs) as a building block in the future of EU-UK relations." Michael Murphy, CoR Rapporteur on 'Strengthening the EU-UK relationship at subnational level and remedying the territorial impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU' made these remarks during an exchange of views held during a CIVEX Commission meeting. Addressing CoR members Murphy called on the European Commission to come forward with a proposal for a structured dialogue with LRAs ahead of the EU UK Joint Partnership Council meetings, thus filling the gap of a permanent structure of exchange between LRAs and the governance of the EU-UK Agreement. Further, Murphy emphasised the need to establish collaboration with the European Parliament's Delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA). Murphy believes that the PPA's Parliament Delegation could benefit greatly from hearing directly about the challenges and opportunities of continued cooperation between European and UK local and regional authorities.
Murphy who serves as Mayor of Clonmel Borough District added that the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) should be implemented together with regions and cities to remedy the territorial impact of the UK's withdrawal. " It is important for the European Commission to closely monitor the involvement of LRAs in the implementation of the BAR. The opinion will examine how regions and cities can build their capacity to remedy the territorial impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. "
Jesús Gamallo Aller, Director-General for External Relations and Relations with the European Union for the Region of Galicia said that the work of Mr. Murphy was important for regions in the north Atlantic. "We need to keep bridges between us and regions in the British Isles open". He thanked representatives from the Welsh Parliament and spoke on the special relationship between Galicia and welsh regions.
Enlargement Package
CIVEX members also discussed the opinion on Enlargement Package. Nikola Dobroslavić, President of Dubrovnik-Neretva County said that Western Blakan countries belong to Europe. "They should become members of the EU, but fulfilling the criteria for membership remains key". In this regard, Dobroslavić who served as the rapporteur on the last opinion on enlargement, said that progress in terms of democracy, safeguarding fundamental rights, the rule of law, press freedom, overcoming state capture and the fight against corruption is expected. The president of the Working group on Western Balkans highlighted that some of the rulings of the Constitutional court and the European Court of Human Rights are not enforced. He said that respect to European values was not negotiable. He called for the proper role of local and regional authorities in the enlargement process.
Reacting to the opinion, Frans Schausberger, Representative of Salzburg Province said that the slow progress of the enlargement process of the Western Balkans currently lacks the participation of the regional and local level. He stressed "The European Commission must significantly strengthen the motivation of enlargement countries and structurally involve cities, municipalities and regions in the enlargement process. There is an urgent need to increase capacity building for the cities and communities in the Western Balkans."
Eleni Loucaidou, Municipal Councilor of Nicosia Municipality commented that: ''Our recommendations on the Enlargement Package 2021 should condemn the provocative and illegal actions of Turkey against EU member states. The persistent violation of sovereignty, International Law and Law of the Sea, Human Rights including UN security Council Regulations 550 and 789 in Varosha are incompatible with European values and integration.'' Mr Loucaidou also reminded that the CoR supports the speedy resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the UN for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.
Combating hate speech
The CIVEX Commission appointed Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk as the CoR rapporteur for the opinion on ' A more inclusive and protective Europe: extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime '. This will build on the work already completed by Dulkiewicz in the context of the European Democracy Action Plan that called for the setting up of a European agency tasked with carrying out preventive measures to tackle hate speech. Last week the CoR awarded the first Paweł Adamowicz Award, an important step to promote tolerance and fight hatred.
Work Programme for 2022 of the CIVEX commission
The CIVEX commission has approved 5 key priority policy areas for 2022:
- Conference on the Future of Europe
- Migration and integration
- Regional/local democracy and governance
- Better regulation and active subsidiarity
- Strengthening resilience in the neighbourhood and in the world
On behalf of the EPP-CoR Group Jesús Gamallo Aller, Director-General for External Relations and Relations with the European Union for the Region of Galicia spoke on the need of continuous involvement of the CIVEX Commission on the Conference on the Future of Europe, even after the Conference delivers its conclusions. "Regional and local politicians need to be involved in the implementation modalities. We need to ensure that initiatives which follow-up from the Conference are screened in terms of subsidiarity."
The EPP-CoR CIVEX Coordinator referred to the work of Piero Mauro Zanin on better regulation and on the need to follow up on conclusions. He said "We should try to consolidate and coordinate our different tools into a well-functioning toolbox – the CoR participation in the Fit for Future Platform, the reports produced by the RegHubs, the Subsidiarity expert group, the work on foresight. This could provide better visibility for our role in revising new and existing legislation."