EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions

ALDE Group SecretariatCommittee of the Regions

Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat, 1011040 Bruxelles/Brussel

Tel: +32 2 282 2059alde@cor.europa.eu

LeaDeRsThe newsletter of Liberal and Democrat Regional and Local Politicians

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for EuropeAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for EuropeAlliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'EuropeAlliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe

OctOber 2013

ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk participates alongside EU national leaders at Inter-parliamentary Conference on Economic and Financial Governance of the European Union For the first time in the history of the Committee of the Regions, a CoR delegation has been invited to participate at the high-level inter-parliamentary conference on Economic and Financial Governance of the European Union on 16–17 October 2013, among them ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk in his capacity as the Chairman of the Budget Commission.

The Inter-parliamentary Conference, one of the key events within the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, is held as an outcome of the agreement reached at the Conference of Speakers of the EU Parliaments on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union and the Guidelines for Inter-parliamentary Cooperation in the European Union. The conference provides the national Parliaments with a unique opportunity to consider their role in ensuring democratic accountability and legitimacy in the EU in the context of a more integrated financial, fiscal and economic policy framework.

The topics discussed ranged from post-crisis economic governance to financial integration in the EU. During his intervention, Mr Bas Verkerk pointed out that European decisions related to the EMU have a considerable impact not only on national, but also on sub-national finances, on budgetary rights and responsibilities at sub-state level and on fiscal decentralisation. Yet the involvement of regional authorities in shaping EU economic, employment and budgetary policies - and notably in those Member States which have regions with legislative powers - is limited. The subsidiarity principle and the current division of powers and competences between levels of government within the EU assign to the Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) a key role in the design and implementation of most public policies related to growth and jobs; in addition, LRAs are responsible for a substantial share of public expenditure and direct investments in Europe.

Other participants of the conference included Algirdas Butkevičius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Olli Rehn, Vice President of the European Commission, Algirdas Šemeta, Member of the European Commission for Taxation, Customs, Statistics, Audit and Anti-Fraud.

ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk participates alongside EU national leaders at Interparliamentary Conference on Economic and Financial Governance of the European Union 1

Unnecessary regulation: European Commission President Barroso assures Lord Tope (UK/ALDE) of the Commission’s interest to work more closely with the Committee of the Regions 2

“Investing in the future” - ALDE Open Days seminar on financial engineering instruments 2

ALDE activity at the October 2013 plenary session of the Committee of the Regions 2-3

Piet De Vey Mestdagh (NL/ALDE) speaker at high-level conference on Resource-efficient Europe in Vilnius 3

Lord Tope (UK/ALDE) argues the case for better regulation within the European Union at Open Days workshop on Subsidiarity 3-4

European Entrepreneurial region (EER) jury member Simone Beissel (LU/ALDE) chairs Open Days workshop on Promoting Smart Financing for SMEs 4

Upcoming ALDE activities: Fringe seminar at the ALDE Party Congress in London titled “What will Europe look like in 2020?” and joint breakfast meeting with ALDE Party GEN on Gender Equality and Innovation; ALDE LeaDeR awards ceremony on 4 December 4

Ongoing ALDE opinions: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on amending Regulation on the shipments of waste; European Long-term Investment Funds; and Towards an integrated Urban Agenda for the EU 4

IN tHIS ISSUe

Inter-parliamentary Conference

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“Investing in the future” - ALDE Open Days seminar on financial engineering instruments

The ALDE Open Days seminar titled “Investing in the future: Meeting Climate & Energy Challenges with innovative Financial Instruments” addressed the role of Financial Engineering Instruments (FEIs) in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Integrating climate change and energy efficiency in investment decisions could generate considerable financial savings to government and society, stimulate economic activity and job creation and deliver substantial health benefits.

In order to make cohesion policy more efficient and sustainable, the European Commission developed four joint initiatives in co-operation with the European Investment Bank and other financial institutions in the framework of the 2007-2013 programming period. Two of them refer to the promotion of financial engineering instruments, JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) and JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas), the latter of which was the topic of ALDE Open Days workshop. The conclusion of the workshop held on 8 October was that there are many untapped opportunities to save energy and encourage the use of renewable energy sources in Europe, but market conditions do not always help. Therefore, there is no question that financial instruments for climate action will play a big part in the next MFF, being an innovative way of delivering results and creating stronger incentives for successful projects. In fact, the Commission is building on the positive experiences gained under the 2007-2013 MFF by simplifying and expanding the use of financial instruments and thereby making it more accessible to climate-friendly projects.

The seminar was chaired by ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk. Speakers included Bogna Filipiuk-Olteanu, DG Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission, Frank Lee, Head of Holding Funds and Advisory, Northern Europe, JESSICA and Investment Funds, European Investment Bank and Alex Conway, European Programmes Director, European Programmes Management Unit, Greater London Authority.

Unnecessary regulation: European Commission President Barroso assures Lord Tope (UK/ALDE) of the Commission’s interest to work more closely with the Committee of the Regions“We are very keen to work with the Committee of the Regions on reducing unnecessary regulation”, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso assured Graham Tope (ALDE/UK) at the recent meeting of the High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens (better known as the Stoiber Group after its President, Edmund Stoiber, former Premier of Bavaria). The meeting, held on 19 September, was one in a series of meetings held since 2007 to advise the Commission on the Action Programme for reducing administrative burdens for businesses in the EU.

During the meeting, Lord Tope reminded President Barroso that he had invited CoR to be an Observer at the Group in 2008 and that CoR has been active in that

role ever since. Lord Tope has been the CoR’s Observer since 2011, following his Opinion on Smarter Regulation and, last year, on the REFIT (Regulatory Fitness and Performance) Programme.

Although the Stoiber Group is primarily concerned with burdens on the private sector, particularly Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs), Lord Tope reminded the President, and the Group, that the reduction of administrative burdens is an important topic for regional and local authorities too. It is said that 70% of EU legislation is implemented at this level, so the effects and costs are felt keenly.

President Barroso agreed with Lord Tope that multi-level governance required the active participation of regional and local authorities. “We are keen to work ever more closely with the Committee of the Regions to achieve this”, he said.

In his intervention Lord Tope also reminded the Group, and President Barroso, that local and regional authorities already have a wealth of data available about the impact and effectiveness of existing legislation, but that it remains largely unused.

Lord Graham Tope (UK/ALDE)

ALDE-CoR Open Days seminar on Financial Engineering Instruments

ALDE activity at the October 2013 plenary session of the Committee of the Regions

In the context of the Open Days in conjunction with the October plenary session, the ALDE group in the Committee of the Regions focussed on three topics currently de-bated on in the European Union.

The CoR endorsed the report of ALDE Vice-President, Cllr. Paul O’Donoghue (IE/ALDE) on the European Commission’s proposed Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM). The main purpose of the proposed directive

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is to promote the sustainable growth of maritime and coastal activities and the sustainable use of coastal and marine resources by establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal management in the form of a system-atic, coordinated, inclusive and trans-boundary approach.

Although generally welcoming of the proposed directive, Cllr. O’Donoghue (Mem-ber of the Kerry County Council and South West Regional Authority) nevertheless points to the flaws inherent in the document. The Impact Assessment, which is part of the proposed Directive, fails to take into account the increased costs and administrative burdens local and regional authorities will be subjected to. Cllr. O’Donoghue also points out that the proposed directive infringes on the proportionality principle, which is to say that the European Commission is exceeding what is necessary to achieve the objectives set out in EU Treaties.

The aim of the opinion on Urban-rural partnership and better governance by Ro-meo Stavarache (RO/ALDE) is to improve economic exploitation of urban-rural inter-dependency and introducing territorial cohesion. However, the rapporteur questions whether EU-level action is appropriate, given that the Committee of the Regions at-taches great importance to compliance with the subsidiarity principle.

Urban-rural partnerships make proper and reasonable use of the potential for territorial development and link up partners to promote local development span-ning the entire area. Both urban and rural partners must be aware of the long-term ben-efits of the partnership or the partnership will not last. Functional regions and cross-border urban-rural partnerships are in a category of their own. Mr Stavarache’s opinion supports the view that the cross-border approach should be used as a point of reference for draw-

ing up multiannual development programmes in cross-border functional regions.

In his opinion, Mr Stavarache (Mayor of Bacău Municipality) emphasises that best practices developed by the regions should be put to use and promoted, particularly in less developed EU regions where knowhow is needed. European regional development policy will be more ef-fective when authorities work together.

The opinion by Alin-Adrian Nica (RO/ALDE) emphasises that local and regional authorities should be systematically consulted in the conception, implementation and governance of the measures related to financing the trans-European telecommunication net-works, particularly concerning the roll-out of broadband in less populated areas, provi-sion of cross-border services, access to digital resources and safety and security.

This initiative is anchored in the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, which put digital infrastructures at the forefront as part of the flagship initiative “Digital Agenda for Europe”. The Digital Agenda seeks, among other things, to deploy cross-border public online services, in order to facilitate the mobility of businesses and citi-zens. The timely adoption of the opinion is also reflected in the upcoming meeting of the Council of the European Union in which one of the thematic topics is digital agenda, with a view to providing guidance towards the completion of the Digital Single Market by 2015.

Cllr. Paul O’Donoghue (IE/ALDE)

Piet De Vey Mestdagh (NL/ALDE) speaker at high-level conference on Resource-efficient Europe in VilniusOn 2 and 3 September 2013, the Committee of the Regions held a conference on local approaches to resource efficiency in Vilnius, Lithuania, with the support of the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU. The event combined a meeting of the CoR’s Com-mission on Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) and a meeting of the CoR Bureau all taking place in Vilnius.

Speaking at the second session of the conference, Piet De Vey Mestdagh (NL/ALDE, Member of the Executive Council of the Province of Groningen), pre-

sented best practice in the field of energy investment from the region of Groningen. Within the North Netherlands Energy Cluster, knowledge institutions, business companies and authorities cooperate to ensure the sus-tainable use of bio-waste from agriculture and have developed a constantly expanding project entitled the ‘Green Gas Hub’ in the field of biogas production, which has grown by 18% since 2000 and offers new employ-ment opportunities for the population. This illustrates the feasibility of ALDE’s call for progress to be made towards a resource-ef-ficient and ecologically responsible economy. As biogas production expands and the upgraded product is supplied to the natural gas grid, EU-wide standards might be needed in the future in the context of the EU’s trans-national energy market.

Piet De Vey Mestdagh (NL/ALDE)

Lord Tope (UK/ALDE) argues the case for better regulation within the European Union at Open Days workshop on Territorial Impact AssessmentThe purpose of the Thematic Subsidiarity Workshop is to direct the subsidiarity debate towards practical issues in policy-making within specific sectors, i.e. those policy domains where decisions are mostly made at the local, regional or central level and where the European Union does not have exclusive competence.

This year’s focus was on territorial impact

assessments as a tool for territorial cohesion

and better law-making. Lord Graham Tope (UK/ALDE)

LeaDeRs The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians october 2013

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As one of the keynote speakers at the workshop, Lord Tope (UK/ALDE) emphasised the importance and the relevance of the topic for the Committee of the Regions and reminded that before the so-called REFIT opinion, the CoR already expressed its views in two precedent opinions on better law-making and smart regulation. He also congratulated the European Commission for the effort made to improve the quality of EU legislation. Nevertheless, he pointed out that not enough of it takes account on the effect of EU legislation on LRAs and the fact that some 75% of regulation is implemented by LRAs, and not enough of that is taken into account yet.

Tope believes that better regulation does not mean the lack of regulation, but a regulation that is more fit for purpose: “We need to ensure that EU laws are

appropriate and proportionate”. For Tope, “all levels of governance have a responsibility to ensure that legislation produces added value and is appropriate to the objectives and the EU should deliver benefits at minimum costs and respect the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity”.

In his intervention, Lord Tope underlined that territorial impact assessments should be integrated more closely into the whole impact assessment process and that the recently adopted “Ports Package” is a good example where territorial impacts should have been taken into account. Finally Lord Tope expressed his conviction that “Territorial Impact Assessments are essential to ensure multilevel governance and a key factor for territorial cohesion”.

European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) jury member Simone Beissel (LU/ALDE) chairs Open Days workshop on Promoting Smart Financing for SMEsChaired by Simone Beissel, ALDE member and Chair of the Commission for Economic and Social Policy (ECOS), the Open Days workshop on European Entrepreneurial Regions promoting smart financing for SMEs welcomed a selected number of EER regions to demonstrate the progress made in the implementation of their EER action plan-related measures. During

the workshop, possible next steps for the

further promotion of the easing of access to

finance for SMEs and young entrepreneurs

at regional and local level were discussed.Simone Beissel (LU/ALDE)

ʱ On 4 December the ceremony of the LeaDeR Awards (Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians Awards) will be taking place in the Jacques Delors Building of the Committee of the Regions. ALDE Party President Sir Graham Watson will be handing out the awards together with the ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk.

With these awards we aim to recognise the work of outstanding local and regional liberal democrat politicians and by doing so strengthening the ties between communities of Europe. Further information can be found at ALDE-CoR website www.alde.eu/cor

ʱ 30 November - ALDE will be participating in the ALDE Party congress held in London, UK on 28-30 November. ALDE-CoR will be holding a lunch debate titled “What will Europe look like in 2020?” as well as a jointly organised breakfast meeting with the ALDE Party Gender Equality Network on Gender Equality and Innovation.

Upcoming ALDE activities

ʱ Opinion on the Shipments of Waste by Paula BAKER (UK) Adoption at CoR plenary 30-31 January 2014

ʱ Own-initiative opinion European Long-term Investment Funds by Simone Beissel (LU) Adoption at CoR plenary 30-31 January 2014

ʱ Own-initiative opinion Towards an integrated Urban Agenda for the EU by Bas Verkerk (NL)

Ongoing ALDE opinions