EUROPEAN UNION 


e EU’s Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives 

Committee of the Regions 

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS’ 
WHITE PAPER 
ON MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE 


The Committee of the Regions is launching a general consultation to canvas the views of the local and 
regional authorities, associations and other stakeholders and calling on them to submit their comments 
on the best way of implementing multi-level governance in Europe. Comments can be submitted up to 
30 November 2009 to the following address: 

Committee of the Regions of the European 
Forward Studies Unit 
Cellule de Prospective 
Office VMA 0635 
Rue Belliard 101 
1040 Brussels 
BELGIUM 


or by email to: governance@cor.europa.eu 

EN 



 
EUROPEAN UNION 


Committee of the Regions 

CONST-IV-020 
80th plenary session 
17 and 18 June 2009 

OWN-INITIATIVE OPINION 
of the 
Committee of the Regions 
on 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS’ WHITE PAPER 
ON MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE 


The White Paper reflects the determination to "Build Europe in partnership" and sets two main strategic objectives: encouraging 
participation in the European process and reinforcing the efficiency of Community action. The fact that public interest in European 
elections is decreasing, whilst the European Union itself is largely seen as an asset in facing the challenges of globalisation, should 
prompt political action to be refocused on the principles and mechanisms of multi-level governance. 

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

- 
The Committee of the Regions considers multilevel governance to mean coordinated action by the European Union, the 
Member States and local and regional authorities, based on partnership and aimed at drawing up and implementing 
EU policies. It leads to responsibility being shared between the different tiers of government concerned and is underpinned by 
all sources of democratic legitimacy and the representative nature of the different players involved; 

- 
recommends that each major Community strategic reform should be accompanied by a regional action plan agreed between 
the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions, setting out the political mechanisms to facilitate the ownership, 
implementation and evaluation of the policies adopted, and including a decentralised communication plan; 

- 
establishing appropriate tools to support participatory democracy, particularly in the framework of the Lisbon Strategy, 
social agenda, Gothenburg Strategy and development of “Local Agenda 21” type mechanisms, which are participatory and 
integrated mechanisms developing long-term strategic plans; 

- 
recommends reinforcing the partnership practice, both vertically between “local and regional authorities – national 
government and European Union” and horizontally between “local and regional authorities – civil society”, particularly in the 
context of social dialogue; 

- 
invites the Commission and the Member States to reform the open method of coordination to make it more inclusive, by 
developing participatory governance indicators and territorial indicators, in conjunction with regional and local 
authorities; 

- 
recommends that the territorial impact analysis should become standard practice through the involvement, upstream of the 
policy decision, of the various actors concerned in order to understand the economic, social and environmental repercussions 
on the regions of Community legislative and non-legislative proposals; 

- 
undertakes to submit proposals to support the use of experimentation at local and regional level in certain areas of 
intervention of the European Union, such as the strategy for growth and jobs, the social agenda, integration policy, innovation 
policy, cohesion policy, sustainable development and civil defence; 

- 
recommends establishing European territorial pacts capable of bringing together, on a voluntary basis, the different 
competent tiers of government in order to adapt the implementation of the major political priorities and objectives of the 
European Union on a partnership basis with the local and regional authorities and invites local and regional authorities 
interested in committing to such a process to indicate their interest as part of the consultation on the implementation of the 
White Paper. 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 

- 101 rue Belliard - B-1040 BRUSSELS - Tel. +32 (0)2/282 22 11 - Fax +32 (0)2/282 23 25 - 
Internet http://www.cor.europa.eu 

EN 


- 1 -


Rapporteurs: 

Luc Van den Brande (BE/EPP), Member of the Flemish Parliament, President of the Committee of 
the Regions 
Michel Delebarre (FR/PES), Mayor of Dunkirk, First Vice-President of the Committee of the 
Regions 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms .../... 


- 2 -


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................3 


2. Building Europe in partnership ..................................................................................................5 


3. Encouraging participation in the European process.................................................................9 


4. Reinforcing the effectiveness of Community action................................................................18 


5. Implementing and monitoring the White Paper .....................................................................33 


CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms .../... 


- 3 -


“There are many goals which we cannot achieve on 
our own, but only in concert. Tasks are shared 
between the European Union, the Member States and 
their regions and local authorities”1 . 

1. Introduction 
Governance is one of the main keys to the success of the process of European integration. Europe will 
be strong, its institutions legitimate, its policies effective, and its citizens feeling involved and 
engaged if its mode of governance guarantees cooperation between the different tiers of government, 
in order to implement the Community agenda and meet the global challenges. 

This was acknowledged by the Heads of State or of Government in the Berlin Declaration on 
25 March 2007. By recognising the scope of multilevel governance, they accepted the vision and 
conception of Europe that the Committee of the Regions had formulated a few days earlier in its 
Declaration of Rome2. 

Within the European Union nearly 95 000 local and regional authorities currently have significant 
powers in key sectors such as education, the environment, economic development, town and country 
planning, transport, public services and social policies. They also help ensure the exercise of 
European democracy and citizenship3. 

Both the closeness to the citizens and the diversity of governance at local and regional level is a real 
asset to the Union. However, despite significant advances having been made in recent years in terms 
of recognising their role in the European process, substantial progress has yet to be achieved, both at 
Community level and within the Member States. Change will be gradual , but real efforts are now 
needed to do away with such administrative cultures that stand in the way of the ongoing processes of 
decentralisation. 

The current global crisis underlines the importance of governance, particularly at European level, and 
the need for local and regional authorities to be closely involved in shaping and implementing 
Community strategies, since they implement nearly 70% of Community legislation and therefore play 
an essential role in implementing the European Economic Recovery Plan. What is more, in a context 
of increasing scarcity of public funds, attempts could be made to renationalise common policies and 

1 

Declaration on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the signature of the Treaties of Rome, Berlin, 25 March 2007. 

2 

Declaration for Europe of the Committee of the Regions – DI/CdR 55/2007 fin. 

3 

Local and regional authorities represent: 
16% of the GDP of the EU-27; 
1/3 of public spending; 
2/3 of all public investment expenditure; 
56% of public employment (Dexia figures – http://www.dexia.be/fr/particulier/press/pressrelease20090205-localauthorities.htm). 


CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms .../... 


- 4 -


centralise resources, despite the fact that globalisation reinforces the relevance of multilevel 
governance. 

The EU’s ability to adapt to the new global context actually depends largely on the potential of its 
regions to react, act and interact. The European Union must, therefore, have a form of governance that 
combines: 

• 
accepting globalisation and the emergence of a multi-polar world that determines the issues to 
be addressed by the European Union; and 
• 
continuing the process of European integration that abolishes borders, unifies markets and 
brings people closer together whilst respecting national sovereignties and preserving identities. 
In order to secure and develop the European model, it is imperative to overcome two of the main 
dangers posed by globalisation: 

• 
the danger that our societies will become completely uniform: diversity is a value worth 
promoting; 
• 
the danger that inequalities will grow within and between Member States: solidarity is a value 
that must be defended. 
The Committee of the Regions’ political initiative comes at a time of transition and change in the 
process of European integration. The renewal of the European Parliament and the European 
Commission, the transition to a new institutional framework, the recast of the EU budget and the 
direct and indirect effects of the global crisis all illustrate the new shape of the Community agenda for 
the coming years. 

Over the coming months the European Union will have to define, review and adjust Community 
strategies to meet the major global challenges and establish new instruments for implementing them. 
This next cycle must lead to a new approach to European governance, both in terms of the 
methodology behind and substance of proposals and the impact of Community intervention. 

Multilevel governance actually serves the fundamental political objectives of the European Union: a 
Europe of citizens, economic growth and social progress, sustainable development, and the role of the 
European Union as a global player. It reinforces the democratic dimension of the European Union and 
increases the efficiency of its processes. It does not, however, apply to all EU policies, and when it 
does, it rarely applies symmetrically or homogenously. 

The activities carried out by the Committee of the Regions and the recommendations made are based 
on the Treaties, but nevertheless reflect the prospect of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, 
which enshrines the territorial dimension, notably territorial cohesion, as part of the process of 
European integration and strengthens the mechanisms of multilevel governance. 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 5 -


Establishing genuine multilevel governance in Europe has always been the strategic priority of the 
Committee of the Regions. It has now become a condition of good European governance4. This White 
Paper acknowledges this priority, proposes clear policy options for improving European governance and 
recommends specific mechanisms and instruments for stimulating all stages of the European decisionmaking 
process. It identifies lines of action and discussion, which may facilitate, in the interests of the 
citizens, the design and implementation of Community policies5, it makes commitments to develop 
these and it offers illustrations of shared governance. In addition, it represents an initial contribution by 
the Committee of the Regions to the Reflection Group that has been given the task by the European 
Council of helping the European Union to anticipate and meet challenges more effectively in the 
longer term (i.e. 2020-2030), taking the Berlin Declaration of 25 March 2007 as its starting point. 

The White Paper forms part of a proactive political approach to “Building Europe in partnership” and 
sets two main strategic objectives: encouraging participation in the European process and reinforcing 
the efficiency of Community action. The fact that public interest in European elections is decreasing, 
whilst the European Union itself is largely seen as an asset in facing the challenges of globalisation, 
should prompt political action to be refocused on the principles and mechanisms of multi-level 
governance. 

2. Building Europe in partnership 
The European Union’s capacity to perform its role and achieve Community objectives depends not 
only on its institutional organisation but also and above all on its mode of governance. The 
legitimacy, efficiency and visibility of the way the Community operates depend on contributions from 
all the various players. They are guaranteed if local and regional authorities are genuine 
“partners” rather than mere “intermediaries”. Partnership goes beyond participation and 
consultation, promoting a more dynamic approach and greater responsibility for the various players. 
Accordingly, the challenge of multilevel governance is to ensure that there is a complementary 
balance between institutional governance and partnership-based governance6. The development of 
political and administrative culture in the European Union must therefore be encouraged and 
stimulated. The European public seems to want it. 

4 

In its report of 17/09/2008 on governance and partnership at national and regional levels and a basis for projects in the sphere of 
regional policy (A6-0356/2008), the European Parliament “calls on the Committee of the Regions to step up its efforts to develop 
the practice of governance, in both quantitative and qualitative terms”. 

5 

The process of preparing this White Paper has involved contributions from the academic world, through the Ateliers of the 
Committee of the Regions (www.cor.europa.eu/ateliers), and a preliminary consultation of the main European associations of 
local and regional authorities. 

6 

European Parliament report on governance and partnership at national and regional levels and a basis for projects in the sphere of 
regional policy (A6- 0356/2008). 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms .../... 


I. Citizens and shared governance: Eurobarometer results7 
•The Special Eurobarometer 307 Report on the role and impact of local and regional authorities 
within the European Union, published in February 2009, highlights the fact that shared 
governance seems natural for Europeans. The results of this survey, conducted among 27 000 
European citizens in the 27 Member States during the autumn of 2008, show that citizens consider 
that their national political representatives, Members of the European Parliament and local and 
regional political representatives are equally able to defend their personal interests at European 
level (29% trust in their national political representatives, 26% in their MEPs and 21% in local 
and regional representatives). 
•It confirms that citizens expect a Europe more in step with their day-to-day lives and reliant on 
the actions of their local and regional elected representatives. In fact, 59% of them consider that 
local and regional authorities are not sufficiently taken into account in the European process. 
•It demonstrates their attachment to local and regional democracy, illustrated by the level of trust 
that they place in their local and regional elected representatives (50%) in comparison with the 
government of their country (34%) and the European Union (47%). 
•In conclusion, this Eurobarometer encourages the establishment of decentralised communication 
strategies: 26% of Europeans consider that local and regional elected representatives are best 
placed to explain how European policies impact on their daily lives (28% for national political 
representatives and 21% for Members of the European Parliament). 
•The Special Eurobarometer 307 Report on the role and impact of local and regional authorities 
within the European Union, published in February 2009, highlights the fact that shared 
governance seems natural for Europeans. The results of this survey, conducted among 27 000 
European citizens in the 27 Member States during the autumn of 2008, show that citizens consider 
that their national political representatives, Members of the European Parliament and local and 
regional political representatives are equally able to defend their personal interests at European 
level (29% trust in their national political representatives, 26% in their MEPs and 21% in local 
and regional representatives). 
•It confirms that citizens expect a Europe more in step with their day-to-day lives and reliant on 
the actions of their local and regional elected representatives. In fact, 59% of them consider that 
local and regional authorities are not sufficiently taken into account in the European process. 
•It demonstrates their attachment to local and regional democracy, illustrated by the level of trust 
that they place in their local and regional elected representatives (50%) in comparison with the 
government of their country (34%) and the European Union (47%). 
•In conclusion, this Eurobarometer encourages the establishment of decentralised communication 
strategies: 26% of Europeans consider that local and regional elected representatives are best 
placed to explain how European policies impact on their daily lives (28% for national political 
representatives and 21% for Members of the European Parliament). 

- 7 -


In 2001, in its White Paper on European Governance8, the European Commission identified five 
principles underpinning good governance, namely: openness, participation, responsibility, 
effectiveness and coherence. Multilevel governance ensures that these principles are implemented, 
maintained and enhanced. 

The implementation of multilevel governance depends on respect for the principle of subsidiarity, 
which prevents decisions from being restricted to a single tier of government and which guarantees 
that policies are conceived and applied at the most appropriate level. Respect for the principle of 
subsidiarity and multilevel governance are indissociable: one indicates the responsibilities of the 
different tiers of government, whilst the other emphasises their interaction. 

The European Union is underpinned by a set of common values and fundamental rights that has been 
the basis for the emergence of a common political culture at the level of the European Union. 
Subsidiarity, proportionality, proximity, partnership, participation, solidarity and mutual loyalty are 
the key principles that inspire and guide Community action. They shape the European model of 
protection for fundamental rights, which include local and regional autonomy and respect for 
diversity. Promoting and preserving this model requires responsibility to be shared between all 
tiers of government. 

The Committee of the Regions is also helping to implement the Memorandum of Understanding 
between the European Union and the Council of Europe, with a view to establishing a pan-European 
consensus on multilevel governance based on democratic values and principles and the 
constitutional set of fundamental rights9. 

Multilevel governance is not simply a question of translating European or national objectives into 
local or regional action, but must also be understood as a process for integrating the objectives of 
local and regional authorities within the strategies of the European Union. Moreover, multilevel 
governance should reinforce and shape the responsibilities of local and regional authorities at national 
level and encourage their participation in the coordination of European policy, in this way helping to 
design and implement Community policies. 

The conditions for good multilevel governance actually depend on the Member States 
themselves. Although there is a clear trend in Europe towards a process of decentralisation, which is 
certainly not uniform but nonetheless widespread, the conditions for this shared governance have not 
yet been met in full. The principles and mechanisms of consultation, coordination, cooperation 
and evaluation recommended at Community level must firstly be applied within the Member 
States. 

8 

European Commission White Paper (COM(2001)428 final). 

9 

The Committee of the Regions and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe of the Council of Europe 
cooperate to this end under a cooperation agreement. 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms .../... 


- 8 -


The constituent shift from a resource-based to a knowledge-based European society necessitates a 
corresponding change in modes of governance, which should focus in the future on a more crosscutting 
holistic and inclusive approach resulting in more targeted Community strategies and the 
introduction of coordinated and integrated common policies. The European Union’s budget should 
reflect the progress towards integration, based on drawing-up and financing of common policies 
and Community actions of an experimental nature. 

The Community method must remain the cornerstone of European governance10. It has in fact 
so far ensured the success of the process of European integration but must, however, be adaptable in 
order to remain an effective and transparent model of political organisation. 

To put multilevel governance into practice, the Committee of the Regions: 

Undertakes to: 

- 
initiate a consultation process with a view to drawing up a European Union Charter on 
multilevel governance, which would establish the principles and methods for developing a 
common and shared understanding of European governance, based on respect for the principle of 
subsidiarity, which would support local and regional governance and the process of 
decentralisation in the Member States, candidate countries and neighbouring states, and which 
would stand as a guarantee of the political will to respect the independence of local and regional 
authorities and their involvement in the European decision-making process; 

- 
encourage the protection of fundamental rights at various levels and cooperate to this end with 

the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in order to promote and disseminate the best 

- 
practices developed at local and regional level11; 

- 
take part in the Community debate and future negotiations in order to advocate an ambitious 
Community budget which will have the necessary resources to anticipate responses to global 
challenges and implement integrated and coordinated strategies, and which will form the 
anchorage and leverage for partnerships contracted between the different public levels. 

10 

In its White Paper on European Governance, the European Commission proposed a reinvigorated Community method as a 
method for the future, which “means ensuring that the Commission proposes and executes policy; the Council and European 
Parliament take decisions; and national and regional actors are involved in the EU policy process” (COM(2001)428 final). 

11 

In a report on “Realising the Charter of Fundamental Rights”, ordered by the Committee of the Regions from Birmingham 
University, initial proposals are made on increasing citizens’ awareness of their rights and examples of good practice applied by 
local and regional authorities are presented (CdR 6623/2008). 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 9 -


Recommends: 

- 
that each major Community strategic reform should be accompanied by a regional action plan 
agreed between the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions, setting out the 
political mechanisms to facilitate the ownership, implementation and evaluation of the policies 
adopted, and including a decentralised communication plan. This measure would allow a sea 
change in the current process, which too often leaves local and regional authorities out of the 
Community action design phase; 

- 
that the growth and stability pacts produced by the Member States, and their evaluation by the 
European Commission, should take proper account of the quantitative and qualitative dimension 
of local and regional finances and should more closely involve local and regional authorities in 
the process of controlling public spending. 

3. Encouraging participation in the European process 
Getting the citizens to sign up to the European process is a challenge of credibility for European 
democracy. European citizenship is built, and European governance is based, on participation. 
This has two dimensions: representative democracy, which is its foundation, and participatory 
democracy, which enhances it. Good European governance actually requires the elected authorities 
and civil society actors to cooperate for the common good. Local and regional authorities are invested 
with an indisputable democratic legitimacy. Being directly responsible to the citizens, they represent a 
huge part of the democratic legitimacy within the European Union and exercise a large number of 
political powers. As a result, multilevel governance must combine the institutional recognition of the 
different tiers of government in Europe, through appropriate mechanisms, with the organisation of 
political cooperation and the stimulation of the European public sphere. 

Strengthening institutional representation 

Guaranteed since the Treaty of Maastricht, institutional representation for local and regional 
authorities has been strengthened in the course of the successive institutional reforms. The entry 
into force of the Lisbon Treaty would represent an important step towards institutional recognition of 
multilevel governance in the way the European Union operates. In this respect, strengthening the 
representation and influence of local and regional authorities in the Community decision-making 
process must be encouraged both within the Committee of the Regions and in the activities of the 
Council of the European Union. Since 1994 the Treaties have allowed the regions, in accordance with 
the respective national constitutional structures, to participate in the activities of the Council of the 
European Union. This direct participation allows the representatives of the regions concerned to be 
included in Member State delegations, to be authorised to lead the national delegation and, where 
necessary, to assume the presidency of the Council. 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 10 -


To put multilevel governance into practice, the Committee of the Regions: 

Undertakes to: 

- 
reinforce, in accordance with its Mission Statement, its status as a political assembly, its 
involvement upstream of the decision-making process in the design of European strategies and 
Community legislation, monitoring of the principle of subsidiarity in the spirit and tenor of the 
Treaty of Lisbon, evaluation of the territorial impact of Community policies, and its role as a 
facilitator of participatory democracy in Europe; 

- 
develop, to this end, its interinstitutional relations with the European Commission with a view 
to revising its cooperation agreement, with the European Parliament in the context of the policy 
programme for the next legislative term and, finally, with the Council of the European Union in 
order to harmonise the intergovernmental dynamic of the political action of local and regional 
elected representatives in designing and implementing European decisions; 

- 
continue its work to get closer to the national parliamentary assemblies and regional 
legislative assemblies, particularly within the process of monitoring subsidiarity. 

Calls on the Member States to: 

- 
invite the CoR to participate systematically in the formal or informal Councils on 
Community policies falling within the areas in which they must be consulted or involving in 
particular the responsibilities of local and regional authorities; 

- 
allow the CoR to take advantage of access to Council documents, in the same way as the other 
European institutions participating in the preparation of Community legislation. 

Invites the Member States to: 

- 
put in place, where there is no possibility of formal representation within the Council or its 
preparatory commissions, internal processes of consultation and coordination with local and 
regional authorities with electronic access to the Member States' database for monitoring draft EU 
legislation, in order both to take account of their know-how in the preparation of the national 
position and to provide an opportunity for them to take part in subsidiarity monitoring; 

- 
strengthen and enhance existing mechanisms for preparing the national position and for formal 
representation in the Council, so that these mechanisms are fully in line with the distribution of 
competences as established in the relevant constitutional system. 

Organising political cooperation 

Multilevel governance presupposes the existence of mutual loyalty between all the various levels 
of government and the institutions to reach common goals. The institutional framework is 
fundamental but is not enough to guarantee good governance. On the contrary, good cooperation 
between the various levels of political power and the institutions is absolutely vital; it has to be based 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 11 -


on trust, rather than on confrontation between the different legitimate political and democratic 
roles. 

European democracy would be reinforced by more inclusive and flexible interinstitutional cooperation 
and by more sustained political cooperation between the various levels of power; European political 
parties, which are a particularly important element for strengthening the European political sphere and 
thus helping to develop a political culture of multilevel governance. 

Because of the political nature of the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament, it is 
logical that they should work closely together to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the process 
of European integration, both in the context of the European political groups and families, and also 
in the context of their various decision-making bodies12. 

Interparliamentary cooperation is gradually becoming a vital component of democratic legitimacy 
and of the process of drafting European legislation. Multilevel governance is a way of also involving 
all local and regional authorities more explicitly in the process. In particular, under the "early 
warning" mechanism proposed in the Lisbon Treaty, regional parliaments and regional legislative 
assemblies will be able to play a part in appraising the application of the subsidiarity principle. 

The proposal of the Lisbon Treaty applies to all Member States but can be implemented in different 
ways. Consequently, the CoR encourages Member States whose national parliaments do not have a 
chamber representing local and regional authorities to provide for their involvement in the monitoring 
of the subsidiarity principle. 

To put multilevel governance into practice, the Committee of the Regions: 

Undertakes to: 

- 
strengthen political and institutional cooperation with the European Parliament to ensure that 
the concerns of citizens are taken into account in the design and implementation of Community 
action; 

- 
support the pilot initiative of an “Erasmus programme for local and regional elected 
representatives” and cooperate to this end with the European Parliament, the Council and the 
European Commission on its conceptual and operational development, and encourage the 
introduction of training programmes and experience and good practice exchange programmes 
intended for local and regional elected representatives. 

In its opinion on Parliament’s new role and responsibilities implementing the Treaty of Lisbon, the Committee on Regional 
Development of the European Parliament stresses the importance of its relations with the Committee of the Regions 
(PE404.556v02-00 (30/05/2008)). 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 12 -


Invites: 

- 
councils of local and regional elected representatives to devote special sessions to European 
integration and European policies and to involve, in their debates, representatives of the various 
European institutions engaged in shared governance. 

The Covenant of Mayors forms a reference model for the active engagement of cities and regions in 
achieving strategic goals in the European Union and should be extended to other areas such as 
employment, integration policy or social exclusion. 

II. The Covenant of Mayors: committing to and cooperating in the fight against climate 
change 
•The Covenant of Mayors is a political initiative which seeks to unite the Mayors of European 
towns and cities around a shared goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 2020: 20% reduction in 
greenhouse gas emissions, 20% improvement in energy efficiency and 20% use of renewable 
energies in the consumption of energy. 

• 
Cities and regions are responsible for over half of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the use 
of energy in human activities. It was therefore essential to create an appropriate framework so that 
cities, regions and Member States could assume responsibility in the fight against climate change. 
• 
By signing this Covenant, Mayors voluntarily commit to implementing an Action Plan for 
sustainable energy in their community. The Covenant allows pioneering experiments to be shared, 
facilitates the exchange of good practices and increases the awareness of citizens and local 
socioeconomic actors with regard to sustainable energy use. 
• 
The Committee of the Regions is working with the European Commission to develop this 
initiative and plans to extend it to regional authorities. The action plans of towns and cities 
actually need to fit within the context of regional and national action plans. 
• 
To reinforce the effectiveness of the Covenant of Mayors, it is also essential that the political 
mobilisation on the ground is followed by specific responses in terms of European policy and 
funding: loans from the European Investment Bank should be readily accessible for local 
authorities and regions willing to invest in energy efficiency programmes and promote the use of 
renewable energy sources. 
Note: In March 2009 nearly 470 European cities had signed the Covenant and many others had 
stated their intention to do so. 

Local and regional authorities have over time become vital players in the external policy of the 
European Union and in the enlargement strategy. Without duplicating the relevant mechanisms at 
Community level, the empirical approach which has predominated in the development of the 
international relations of local and regional authorities is now turning them into players in 
globalisation. 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 13 -


The added value of participation by local and regional authorities in the enlargement process has been 
proven during previous enlargements and must be a reference point in the implementation of the 
current strategy to create a dynamic for lasting democracy at local and regional level13 14 . 

Convincing examples of the relevance of multilevel governance can also be found in the regional 
approach to the European neighbourhood policy (e.g. the Mediterranean Dimension, the Eastern 
Partnership, the Black Sea Synergy initiative and the Northern Dimension), as well as the European 
wider neighbourhood policy (incorporating the EU's outermost regions), which is intended to be 
supported by effective cooperation at local and regional level. It is in this way that the Euro-
Mediterranean Local and Regional Assembly (ARLEM), part of the governance of the Union for the 
Mediterranean, a Local and Regional Assembly for Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus for the 
Eastern Partnership proposed by the European Commission or a permanent territorial Forum for the 
Northern Dimension suggested by the Committee of the Regions could add an integrated and 
operational dynamic to the neighbourhood policy. 

III. Local and regional authorities as partners of the Union for the Mediterranean 
•In order to give the renewed Euro-Mediterranean Partnership a territorial dimension and to ensure 
local and regional political representation within it, the Committee of the Regions has decided to 
set up the Euro-Mediterranean Local and Regional Assembly (ARLEM). 

• 
The Euro-Mediterranean Heads of State and Government who met in Paris on 13 July 2008 
supported the political initiative of the Committee of the Regions. ARLEM aims to enhance this 
partnership through a local and regional dimension and, consequently, to guarantee appropriate 
representation of local and regional authorities and their active participation in its governance. It 
enables local and regional authorities to produce concrete results and to make this partnership a 
tangible reality for citizens. 
• 
ARLEM consists of an equal number of local and regional representatives of the EU and its 
Mediterranean partners and aims to be recognised as a consultative assembly of the new 
governance of the Union for the Mediterranean. It will also focus on the participation of local and 
regional authorities in specific projects in a wide range of areas such as business development, the 
environment, energy, transport, education, culture, migration, health and decentralised 
cooperation. By promoting the exchange of good practices, it will encourage territorial 
cooperation and offer new paths for dialogue. 
Moreover, traditional multilateralism, characterised by collaboration between national governments 
and the United Nations, is developing and expanding due to the systematic collaboration of local and 

13 

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the added value of participation by local and regional authorities in the enlargement 
process (CdR 93/2008 fin). 

14 

The United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) association regularly publishes reports on decentralisation and local 
democracy in the world. 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 14 -


regional authorities. Given this observation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 
has set up “a platform for innovative partnerships”15. 

Multilevel governance no longer takes a sectoral approach, but rather a territorial approach to 
development strategies in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, given the constraints 
of overly centralising, sectoral and vertical approaches, which have for too long predominated in 
development aid16. Diplomacy by towns and cities forms another lever for political cooperation in the 
framework of the European Union’s external action that should not be ignored because it allows major 
diplomatic and political obstacles to be overcome. 

Twinnings and programmes for border region cooperation have become an essential tool in the 
accession and pre-accession process and in the framework of the neighbourhood policy. In the context 
of globalisation, they perpetuate the values of European integration by developing new forms of 
solidarity17. 

By recognising the contribution of territorial governance and decentralised cooperation, international 
and European institutions have in recent years strengthened the role of local and regional 
authorities in global governance18. 

To put multilevel governance into practice, the Committee of the Regions: 

Undertakes to: 

- 
evaluate the experiences of local and regional authorities during previous enlargements, 
assisted by its working groups on the Western Balkans, Turkey and Croatia, and by the Joint 
Consultative Committee for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; 

- 
develop the political and operational potential of local and regional assemblies in support of 
the European neighbourhood policy; insists in this respect on the importance of interinstitutional 
cooperation and coordination with the other existing mechanisms; 

15 
ART GOLD is an international cooperation initiative that brings together the programmes and activities of several United 
Nations agencies (UNDP, UNESCO, UNIFEM, UNCDF, WHO, UNOPS, etc.) in favour of a new multilateralism. 
16 
The Forum of Global Associations of Regions (FOGAR) and the FAO have signed a memorandum of understanding. 
17 
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has developed an Internet portal to encourage twinnings: 
www.twinning.org. 
18 
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social 
Committee and Committee of the Regions: “Local Authorities: Actors for development” (SEC(2008)2570). 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 15 -


- 
drive, in partnership with the European Commission, the “decentralised cooperation stock 
exchange”, in the form of an Internet portal, in order to organise, using virtual means, the 
exchange of information between European local and regional authorities active in development 
cooperation, thus helping to match up the projects of European local and regional authorities and 
developing countries19; 

- 
strengthen its institutional position as a body of the European Union which is responsible for the 
development of local and regional democracy in the framework of the EU’s external policy, 
through electoral observation missions in Europe and third countries, and reinforce its 
cooperation to this end with the European Commission and the Congress of Local and Regional 
Authorities of the Council of Europe. 

Calls on the European Commission to: 

- 
consider adopting a voluntary political charter on the involvement of local and regional 
authorities in the enlargement process, which would form a common reference for developing 
the pre-accession aid instrument in line with the needs of local and regional authorities and for 
reinforcing cross-border cooperation and the institutional and administrative capacity of the local 
and regional structures of candidate and potential candidate countries20. 

Stimulating participatory democracy 

Governance is increasingly assuming a network structure and favours a horizontal cooperation 
dynamic. This development is ideal for taking account of the many active networks at local and 
regional level in Europe and throughout the world. Connecting them with the European process in 
order to contribute to the success of common policies and their ownership by the citizens is the task 
that falls to the Committee of the Regions with regard to these opinion multipliers. 

IV. Open Days: European Week of Regions and Cities 
•Each year the Committee of the Regions and the Directorate-General for Regional Policy of the 
European Commission organise Open Days in Brussels as part of the “European Week of Regions 
and Cities”. Within the framework of an interinstitutional partnership extended to the presidency 
of the Union and to the European Parliament, this event brings together over 7 000 participants 
and nearly 250 partners. Official partners for the event are regions and their liaison offices in 
Brussels, together with numerous local partners, such as local associations and research institutes. 
These partners play a leading role in organising the numerous seminars, workshops and much of 
the Open Days' main programme. 

19 

Draft opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Local authorities: Actors for Development (CdR 312/2008 rev. 1). 

20 

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the added value of participation by local and regional authorities in the enlargement 
process” (CdR 93/2008 fin). 

CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 16 -


• 
On a theme linked to the Community agenda and to the European priorities of local and regional 
authorities, events, seminars, workshops, media-targeted activities and exhibitions bring together, 
with European, national, regional and local politicians, experts and representatives of 
socioeconomic circles, trade unions, financial organisations and civil society. 
• 
This event in Brussels is accompanied by events in the partner cities and regions, thereby 
encouraging the exchange of experiences, the interconnection of networks and the comparison of 
ideas and expertise21 . 
Networks, organisations and associations of local and regional authorities help to mobilise these 
authorities within the European process and involve them in the operational mechanisms of territorial 
cooperation22. Since the Committee of the Regions was set up, the collaboration pursued with the 
main European and national associations of local and regional authorities and certain thematic 
networks has allowed a complementary balance to be established between its institutional role and 
that of these organisations. In taking forward its work, and in promotion of the objectives and 
measures set out in the White Paper, the Committee of the Regions will strive to work in partnership 
with the European associations of local and regional government. 

Multilevel governance also looks as though it could be extremely useful for promoting active 
citizenship and could provide a decentralised communication policy that is more in line with the 
public’s real and immediate expectations, by gradually helping to bridge the gap separating people 
from the Community institutions and their political leaders. 

The principal aims of decentralised communication on Europe are to foster the integration of the 
European dimension into policy management at local and regional level and to facilitate interaction 
with local and regional media and the use of innovative, new communication technologies, 
particularly Web 2.0 resources, at local and regional level. It will also stimulate the organisation of 
political debates and public meetings on Europe at local and regional level, thereby fostering active 
citizenship and encouraging people to get involved in European matters. 

21 

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/od2009/index.cfm 

22 

- The Assembly of European Regions (AER) has set up a programme of interregional cooperation which has the goal of 
developing European awareness, promoting the Europe of the regions and mobilising regional businesses to take on trainees. 
- The European Association of Elected Representatives from Mountain Regions (AEM) is developing an interregional 
cooperation project for mountain regions within the INTERREG programme. 
- The Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) has set up a network of cross-border regions for the exchange of good 
practices in order to develop concrete proposals which may be realised within Community programmes. 
CdR 89/2009 fin FR/EXT/RS/GW/ym/ms 
.../... 


- 17 -


