Council of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe

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The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is a non-profit association of national associations of municipalities and regions from over 30 European countries.

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The Council of European Municipalities was founded in Geneva in 1951 by a group of European mayors. Today it is the largest umbrella association of local and regional authorities in Europe , its members are over 50 national associations of cities, municipalities and regions from 37 countries. Together, these associations represent around 100,000 local and regional authorities. The budget of CEMR is around € 2 million, the largest part of which comes from the membership fees of the national associations. The rest, around 10%, consists of an annual grant from the EU Commission as part of the Active European Citizenship Program . On October 23, 2006, the current statutes of CEMR were adopted by the Seville Committee.

The CEMR archives are kept in the EU Historical Archives at the European University Institute in Florence. Stefano Bonaccini has been President since December 2016 , with a staff of around 20 members of the Executive Committee, led by General Secretary Frédéric Vallier .

CEMR is also active worldwide beyond Europe. It forms the European section of the World Organization of Cities and Towns, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). Today this world association is the most important point of contact for the UN, wherever it deals with or influences communal issues. At the suggestion of CEMR and the then International Union of Local Authorities (predecessor of today's UCLG), the UN set up an Advisory Council for Local Authorities (UNACLA = United Nations Advisory Council of Local Authorities) in which cities and municipalities around the world have been involved ever since community-relevant consultations of the United Nations are involved. In 2004, the UN General Assembly jointly (with the UN Habitat Department) accepted so-called “guidelines for decentralizing and strengthening municipalities”, which are intended to strengthen the idea of ​​local self-government.

The activities of CEMR

The main aim of CEMR is to support a united and strong Europe based on local and regional self-government and democracy; a Europe in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen and in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. With this goal in the negotiations of the EU Constitutional Convention 2003/2004 the inclusion of the regional and local levels of the member states and the strengthening of the subsidiarity principle could be achieved for the first time, which then became contract law of the EU with the EU Reform Treaty 2009.

The association's work covers a wide range of topics: public services , transport , regional policy , environmental policy , equality etc.

Participation in European legislation
EU legislation - in areas such as the environment, public procurement, structural funds, state aid and competition law - has a significant impact on local and regional authorities. Influencing European legislation is therefore one of the key tasks of CEMR. In close cooperation with its member associations, CEMR elaborates statements that serve to represent its position vis-à-vis the European Commission, in particular through its dialogue and consultation mechanisms, and to represent interests vis-à-vis the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
Shaping the future of Europe
CEMR is committed to a Europe in which the subsidiarity principle and local and regional self-government are respected. A Europe in which all political levels (local, regional, national, EU level) work together as partners. CEMR has actively campaigned for a European constitution that recognizes the importance of municipalities, cities and regions; He also supported the local and regional authorities in the new member states in their preparations for accession to the European Union .
Exchange of information and experience
The local and regional authorities have a lot of experience in their areas of responsibility (training, economic development, environment, transport, etc.). CEMR supports the exchange of experiences in order to disseminate knowledge and skills between its members. To this end, CEMR organizes working groups, seminars and conferences in which its members meet and exchange views and ideas.
Support of town twinning
CEMR is the originator of the town twinning concept, which was based on the idea that a united and peaceful Europe can best be built from its base, i. H. through its citizens. There are currently over 26,000 town twinning projects ( town twinning ) in Europe and it remains a focus of CEMR to further develop this unique movement - in particular by coordinating the work of town twinning officers. Here, CEMR works closely with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture as well as with the European Parliament to secure the necessary financial and political support for town twinning. CEMR is working closely with DG Education and Culture of the European Commission on this issue .
Strengthening municipalities and regions on a global level
CEMR is the European section of the World Organization of Local Authorities, United Cities and Local Authorities (UCLG - CGLU). As part of this organization, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions promotes democracy and local self-government, as well as the exchange of experiences around the world. It also supports the North-South dialogue and the development of skills (capacity building).

International management level of CEMR

The President of CEMR at European level is Annemarie Jorritsma , Mayor of Almere , Netherlands. Its representatives are the mayors of Venice , Giorgio Orsoni , and of Santander , Íñigo de la Serna .

German section

The German section is supported by the Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe , Dr. Frank Mentrup , before. The German section has been publishing the magazine Europa kommunal since 1981 , but since 2008 it has only appeared in electronic form and is sent by email.

literature

  • Claudia Münch: Emancipation of the local level? Municipalities on the way to Europe. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 978-3-531-14850-2 , p. 222 f. ( Preview on Google Books).

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b CEMR introduces itself. In: RGRE.de .
  2. ↑ Europe communal in the catalog of the German National Library