EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions

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LeaDeRsThe newsletter of Liberal 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

DECEMBER 2014

With migratory pressures constantly increasing in the EU, the ALDE group is calling for support to be stepped up for local authorities on the front line so that they can cope with migratory fl ows, manage reception of immigrants and refugees, and deliver an appropriate humanitarian response. CoR members support the introduction of a comprehensive EU policy on migration based on a sharing of responsibility between the Member States, regions and municipalities. The principle of solidarity towards both migrants and countries of origin outside the EU, but also between the destination regions themselves and the various levels of government, must be given practical eff ect.

The Italian presidency of the EU made the development of a common European immigration policy one of its key priorities. It consulted the Committee of the Regions on the matter, and at its plenary session on 2-3 December, the Committee adopted its recommendations on providing more support to local authorities in managing migratory fl ows and involving them more closely in EU immigration policy.

Presenting the opinion at the CoR plenary session, the rapporteur, François Decoster (FR/ALDE), mayor of Saint-Omer and member of Nord-Pas-de-Calais Regional Council, warned: “More and more local authorities are fi nding themselves unprepared for and overwhelmed by migratory pressures and the humanitarian situations that so sadly often ensue. Over the past few years, for example, we have seen a tripling of fl ows into the city of Calais, which has eff ectively become a port of entry into the United Kingdom. We cannot leave a region or city to manage this type of situation unaided. A proper European immigration policy must make solidarity and equal sharing of responsibilities between diff erent levels of government a reality.”

The opinion’s proposals are based on three main ideas. Firstly, making it easier to forecast migratory fl ows at local level by encouraging the development of systems for local authorities to share experiences and good practice, which have produced practical solutions for many of them. Secondly, local authorities should also have readier access to the data and expertise of partners such as the International Organization for Migration and Frontex. Finally, to ensure more involvement of local authorities in EU immigration policy, the CoR as the EU body that represents cities and regions in the EU reiterates its wish to become a member of the Bureau of the future European Migration Forum alongside the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee.

Immigration policy; internet policy and governance - ALDE’s focus at the December plenary session 1-2

Results of the ALDE-CoR 2014 LeaDeR Awards announced at Brussels ceremony 2

Syria and the Ebola outbreak: ALDE Extraordinary Group Meeting hears how local authorities can help 3

Congress of European Liberals again sees a large ALDE-CoR delegation 3

Doreen Huddart (UK/ALDE) keynote speaker on Child Poverty and Homelessness 4

“Successful transition to the green economy is of vital importance for the competitiveness of the European Union” - Satu Tietari (FI/ALDE) at the EEA EFTA Forum of Local and Regional Authorities 4

Ongoing ALDE opinions: Green Action Plan for SMEs and the Green Employment Initiative; and Interoperability as a means for modernising the public sector. 4

Season’s Greetings from ALDE group in the CoR 4

IN THIS ISSUE Immigration policy; internet policy and governance - ALDE’s focus at the December plenary session

François Decoster (FR/ALDE)

LeaDeRs The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians

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her citizens, her region, her locality not only relate to Europe and benefi t from Europe, but actually link to other European areas.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Best Liberal European Elections Campaign: Ms. Kristina Yngwe, Member of the Swedish Parliament of the Centre Party, for running a European Elections campaign which - in less than 10 months - established her name in Swedish politics and launched her next campaign for national parliament resulting in her election.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Promoting Party Interaction with Citizens: Mr. Carsten Schuster, district councillor of Hamburg-Harburg of the German Free Democratic Party, for his determined and targeted action to tackle the limited capacity of public transportation services in Harburg and for launching an initative called “yellow card for the Hamburg Transport Association”.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Achievement in Opposition: Mrs. Françoise Bertieaux, President of the MR Group in the Parliament of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, for her tireless eff orts in lobbying for parental choice and for a special relationship between school, students and parents in Brussels schools.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Achievement in Government: Mr. David Tutt, Eastbourne Council Leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, for his visible leadership in having put core liberal values of innovation, forward-thinking and opportunity into action in transforming what was offi cially the worst Council in the south-east of England into one widely recognised as among the very best in the country.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Jury’s Special Award: Mr. Violin Ivanov Krushovenski, Mayor of Misia of the Bulgarian National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, for the action he took to protect homes from the fl oods and in making public buildings available to victims of the fl oods.

Results of the ALDE-CoR 2013 LeaDeR Awards announced at Brussels ceremonyThe results of the fourth edition of the LeaDeR awards were announced Wednesday 10 December in Brussels at a ceremony held in the Jacques Delors Building of the EU’s Committee of the Regions. Awards were presented in nine categories by Sir Graham Watson, President of the ALDE Party and Mr Bas Verkerk President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the EU’s Committee of the Regions.

The results were as follows:The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Young European of the Year: Ms. Guoda Lomanaite of the Lithuanian Liberal Youth, for having brought together young people and decision makers from all over Europe to co-create and suggest recommendations on how to tackle topical policy issues.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Most Effective EU Ambassador: Mrs. Conny Bieze-van Eck, member of the Provincial Government in Gelderland of the Dutch VVD Party, for having ensured that

As a global information area, the internet is an inseparable part of modern society and has become a public resource. Therefore its proper functioning is a matter of international public interest. In an opinion drafted by Odeta Žerlauskienė, Member of Skuodas District Municipal Council (LT/ALDE), the ALDE group calls for the European Union to be actively involved in the

process of developing global internet governance, in order to consolidate and strengthen its role as an exemplary and responsible actor.

The opinion, adopted at the CoR plenary session, emphasises that the development of the internet as a technology-based area of human coexistence and data exchange is inseparable from the values underpinning human relations. Therefore the EU must have a role in the future shaping of internet governance, and its involvement must be based on the core European values. Net neutrality is considered to be one of the key principles that must be upheld.

Local and regional authorities are also key internet policy players, not only as developers of internet content but also in relation to improving internet access. They should be pioneers in building a secure internet, setting high standards for its responsible use and off ering digital services. The protection of privacy is crucial in this respect, and needs to be ensured already at protocol level.

Growth related to the internet economy is forecast at almost 11% in the EU, with a contribution to GDP expected to rise from 3.8% in 2010 to 5.7% in 2016. Small and medium-sized enterprises intensively using the internet grow almost twice as fast as others. This economic potential needs to be further exploited ensuring that individuals can access the content, goods and services they want, and control which personal data they want to share or not. Secure, stable and resilient networks form the basis of a trusted and fl ourishing internet economy. An open and free internet in which all rights and freedoms that people have offl ine also apply online facilitates social and democratic progress worldwide.

The opinion also emphasises that internet service providers should not be held liable for content that they have not created themselves, and calls upon the European Commission to investigate alleged abuses of dominant positions of major IT companies.

Odeta Žerlauskienė (LT/ALDE)

LeaDeRs The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians DECEMBER 2014

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During the presentations and debate, the ALDE members heard that the situation in Syria is getting worse in terms of scale and violence. There have been 200,000 dead, there are millions of displaced people, the needs are rising, yet public attention is dropping. The World Food Programme has suspended food vouchers for 1.7 million Syrians. Getting the warring parties to agree to basic rules to allow the humanitarian work to function is proving to be very diffi cult. Of the millions of refugees, only 2.5% are in Europe, with the rest in Lebanon and Jordan, taking these countries close to breaking point. Islamic State has thirty thousand fi ghters, twelve thousands of which are in Syria, the rest in Iraq. Half of them come from 90 countries around the world, and there are probably 3000 from Europe. Europe needs to understand why there are so many volunteer fi ghters from Europe and why so many women willing to provide support; why more fi ghters come from Flanders and Brussels, but very few from Wallonia or Spain, despite having large Muslim communities. Prison is a big incubator of radicalisation, therefore only those who have committed crimes or who are unwilling in participating in rehabilitation programmes should go to prison. Allowing radicalised youth to go and fi ght is not a good idea, because they often return traumatised and having gained experience in handling weapons.

Ebola can be defeated, as Nigeria and Senegal have demonstrated. The EU is providing humanitarian assistance, supporting the African Union health workers, and focusing on rebuilding urban sanitation and governance. It is important not to over-invest in the health systems, because it is vital that the recipient countries – Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea - dedicate part of their own budget now and in the future to their health systems. In Liberia most schools are closed, so investment in education will be vital. The USA is better at giving recognition to their health workers who volunteer to go to West Africa, and Europe can learn from that.

The meeting was chaired by ALDE President, Bas Verkerk, in the presence of ALDE members and the nominees to the LeaDeR Awards hosted every year by the ALDE Group.

Congress of European Liberals again sees a large ALDE-CoR delegation On 20-22 November the ALDE group in the CoR participated in the annual congress of the European liberal democrats in Lisbon with a large delegation for the second year running. In attendance were ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk (NL), Declan McDonnell (IE), Ralph De Vries (NL), Ulrika Carlefall Landergren (SV), Ossi Martikainen (FI), François Decoster (FR), Doreen Huddart (UK), Patrick McGowan (IE) and Satu Tietari (FI).

The ALDE Party closed its 35th annual Congress, held this year in Lisbon, with the adoption of a number of resolutions to which the ALDE group in the CoR proposed amendments in line with the subsidiarity principle and successfully amended points relating to combatting tax havens, digital economy, COP 21, and the Istanbul Convention.

In addition to successfully amending a number of resolutions, ALDE-CoR co-sponsored the congress welcome reception on Friday the 21st of November.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of Lifetime Achievement: Lord Graham Tope CBE, Member of the UK House of Lords of the Liberal Democrats, for his dedicated work with liberal democrats throughout decades, during which he campaigned for a community that takes pride in participatory democracy and has direct communication with the leadership of the Council.

The 2014 LeaDeR in the Category of President’s Award: Mr. Yousuf Gilani, of the Norwegian Venstre Party, for his leadership in organising a large demonstration in the capital city, in order to reject religious extremism and the atrocities committed in Syria and Iraq of the organisation known as The Islamic State.

For more information please visit www.alde.eu/cor

Syria and the Ebola outbreak: ALDE Extraordinary Group Meeting hears how local authorities can help

Local and regional authorities have a key role in helping to combat two very diff erent crises, but both having major international implications: the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, and the war in Syria. This was the message delivered to the ALDE Group at its Extraordinary Group Meeting, by the EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, and the Deputy Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Stylianides, Kim Eling, and the member of Commissioner Mimica’s cabinet, Maud Arnould.

Specifi cally, local and regional authorities can:

• Help to keep Syria in the headlines and to overcome public fatigue.

• Train front-line workers to identify potential jihadists as quickly as possible.

• Exchange best practice with other European local and regional authorities through the Radicalisation Awareness Network, of which the CoR is a part.

• Work to fi ght islamophobia, and extremist parties that undermine community relations, making a clear distinction between the vast majority of Muslims who wish to live peacefully in Europe and the minority who take up violence.

• Give proper recognition to the European health workers who return from the Ebola-aff ected countries, so that these volunteers are not stigmatised, but instead are hailed as heroes.

• Mobilise resources to encourage more volunteers to go• Exchange best practice with local and regional authorities in

the aff ected countries to help them recover.

LeaDeRs The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians DECEMBER 2014

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Doreen Huddart (UK/ALDE) keynote speaker on Child Poverty and Homelessness

On 28 October UNICEF launched their latest publication entitled Children of the Recession, at a Conference in Rome. The report refl ects a study undertaken into the negative eff ects of the recent economic recession on Child Poverty across the EU.

The fi ndings of the UNICEF Report shed light on the growing inequalities between regions and generations across the European Union. While some countries succeeded in protecting children from the eff ects of the crisis, policies adopted by others resulted in increased levels of poverty and social exclusion of children, youth and their families.

The study was produced as part of the programme focus of the Italian Presidency, and there were several Italian parliamentarian speakers as well as academics specialising in policies relating to poverty. Speaking on behalf of the CoR was Doreen Huddart (UK/ALDE) who gave a Local Authority perspective to highlight the diffi culties facing local government in the face of increasing demand and the experience of resource reductions during the fi nancial crisis. She also outlined ways in which local authorities are working creatively, often in partnership with other organisations and NGOs, to ensure the well- being of children in their localities.

The annual policy conference of the European Federation of National Organisations Working with Homeless People (FEANTSA) was held in Bergamo on 24-25 October to coincide with Homelessness week and again was organised as part of the Italian Presidency. Doreen Huddart, representing the CoR, spoke at the introduction of the Friday session and described some of the work her city (Newcastle) has initiated to ensure no one has a ‘second night out’. She also outlined the responsibilities and pressures on Local and Regional government to provide an adequate range of housing to meet the resident’s needs. In her intervention she pointed out that Newcastle has a good reputation for managing homelessness, and that the most recent policies have been reviewed and approved by FEANTSA.

The latest reports of FEANTSA show substantial increases in homelessness in 15 countries over the last 1-5 years, with an increasing number of women, youth, families and migrants experiencing homelessness. Transitional homelessness is aff ecting a greater part of the EU population as vulnerabilities

are increasing. More than ten European countries have developed national homelessness strategies, and other strategies are in the pipeline. The European Commission has stepped up eff orts by publishing policy guidance to support Member States in their actions to confront homelessness, and programmes targeting homeless people are now eligible under the new European Structural and Investment Funds. The European Parliament has twice called for an EU homelessness strategy (in 2011 and 2014), and the EU Committee of the Regions reiterated this call end of June 2014.

“Successful transition to the green economy is of vital importance for the competitiveness of the European Union” - Satu Tietari (FI/ALDE) at the EEA EFTA Forum of Local and Regional Authorities

On 24 and 25 November 2014, the EEA EFTA Forum of Local and Regional Authorities held its tenth meeting in Brussels. During the meeting two opinions were adopted: One on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and one on the green employment initiative

and the circular economy. As Rapporteur of the CoR opinion on two Communications by the European Commission: the Green Action Plan for SMEs, and the Green Employment Initiative, Ms. Satu Tietari (FI/ALDE) was invited to present her opinion as part of the discussion relating to the latter topic. In her intervention Ms. Tietari pointed out that “local and regional authorities can play a crucial role in facilitating the transition to a green economy and that the action plan for SMEs should focus on the European level measures that are designed to coordinate and support SMEs at national and regional level.” She further noted “it is essential to promote the competitiveness of SMEs by improving access to fi nance and reducing the administrative burden.”

The EEA EFTA Forum is an informal body of elected representatives from local and regional authorities in EEA matters. It works closely with other EEA EFTA bodies and has established links with the Committee of the Regions of the European Union. The Forum has 12 members, six from Iceland and six from Norway. Switzerland participates as an observer.

Opinion on a Green Action Plan for SMEs and the Green Employment Initiative by Satu Tietari (FI) Adoption at the CoR plenary session on 11-12 February 2015 Opinion on Interoperability as a means for modernising the public sector by Odeta Žerlauskienė (LT) Adoption foreseen at the CoR plenary session on 11-13 February 2015

Ongoing ALDE opinions Season’s Greetings from ALDE group in the CoR

Wishing youa beautiful Holiday Season anda New Year of good health, happiness and prosperity.

The ALDE-CoR group and Secretariat

Doreen Huddart (UK/ALDE)

Ms. Satu Tietari (FI/ALDE)

Wishing you a great year 2015!

EU Committee of the Regions