ALDE-CoR October 2014 newsletter

EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions

ALDE Group SecretariatCommittee of the Regions

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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 2014

EU cohesion funds, Italian Presidency, TTIP and Undeclared Work - ALDE’s focus at the October plenary session

At the opening session of the Open Days 2014 - 12th European Week of Regions and Cities, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) urged that sufficient financial re-sources be made available to reimburse local and regional authority expenses for EU cohesion policy co-funded projects. President of the CoR ALDE Group, Bas Verkerk, insisted: “The economy is made at city level. It is in the cities that jobs are created and social cohesion is established. I call on the Commission to present a White Paper for an integrated Urban Agenda that makes it possible to anchor the urban dimension structurally in European policies and legislation”.

The Italian Secretary of State for European Affairs, Sandro Gozi, also ad-dressed the plenary to present the commitment of the Italian Presidency to pro-mote growth-enhancing investments. Responding to him was ALDE-CoR Vice President Gian Mario Spacca (IT) who in his intervention welcomed the Presi-dency’s objectives and pointed out that “now is the time to reach out to our citi-

EU cohesion funds, Italian Presidency, TTIP and Undeclared Work - ALDE’s focus at the October plenary session 1

“We need to stimulate local communities whilst allowing for tailor-made solutions” – ALDE study visit in the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen 3

“Improving access to finance” - ALDE Open Days seminar on microcredit 4

“The future of Europe will be designed in cities. If we don’t get it right in cities, we won’t get it right at all” – Bas Verkerk (NL) at the Regional Policy Meeting of 28 Mayors 5

Rogier Van Der Sande (NL/ALDE) keynote speaker at Bio-economy Stakeholders’ Conference hosted by the Italian Presidency 5

“CLLD is a procedure to give decision-making power to local communities” Graham Garvie speaking at EESC hearing 6

Liberals making a difference locally: ALDE-CoR co-hosting a workshop on Roma integration 6

Upcoming ALDE activities: Joint welcome reception at the ALDE Party Congress in Lisbon; LeaDeR awards ceremony and group meeting in Brussels on 10 December 8

Ongoing ALDE opinions: The possibilities and instruments available to local authorities to support the accession process; Internet Policy and Governance; Efforts to promote genuine solidarity on a real European migration policy; Green Action Plan for SMEs and the Green Employment Initiative; and Interoperability as a means for modernising the public sector 8

IN tHIS ISSUe

Bas Verkerk (NL/ALDE)

LeaDeRs The newsletter of Liberal Democrat Regional and Local Politicians

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During the plenary session local and regional politicians from across Europe unanimously called for the EU to tackle un-declared work in the Union. The Committee of the Regions adopted a report the establishment of the Platform against Undeclared Work. The rapporteur Dainis Turlais (LV) argues that achieving the platform’s aims is largely dependent on the efficient actions of regions (municipalities) as the closest level to the citizens.

Statistics indicate that the number of undeclared workers varies from region to region. It does not just depend on the weight of the tax burden, enforcement and other aspects within the power of public authorities. It also reflects other factors, such as the relative size of the immigrant population, the distribution of jobs between sectors and the extent to which they are seasonal, among others. Consequently, the fight against undeclared work will have to take into account the circumstances specific to each local and regional author-ity individually, rather than across all the countries concerned. This is why the rapporteur stressed that representatives from among the CoR’s own ranks should play a role in setting up the platform. They should be treated as equal partners alongside the national authorities designated by the Member States and the Commission, to see to it that local and regional interests are taken into account when addressing these problems, and to ensure a bal-ance between the points of view of the EU’s central insti-tutions and those of its constituent countries.

zens through the fundamental role played by the local and regional authorities.” He further welcomed the Presidency’s definitive approval of the macro-regional strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian region – the first one involving Italy in particular and the south of Europe in general.

On 8 October the implication for local and regional authori-ties of the TTIP negotiations was examined in a debate with Commissioner de Gucht and Anthony Luzzatto Gardner, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union. Responding on behalf of the ALDE group was Roland Werner (DE) who wel-comed the agreement and its potential to create jobs and economic growth. However, he also called on the European Commission to create a more transparent dialogue and to in-clude the local and regional authorities more in view of their high democratic legitimacy.

Gian Mario Spacca (IT/ALDE)

Dainis Turlais (LV/ALDE)

Roland Werner (DE/ALDE)

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

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The Northern Netherlands encompassing the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen, is an incubation zone for clean, reliable and innovative energy. Companies, knowledge institutes and government bodies are working in close coop-eration to implement specific projects to achieve a future-proof energy economy and to expand the Northern Nether-lands into the undisputed Energy Valley for all of Europe. The share of renewable energy in in northern Netherlands has in the recent years increased to 8.4%, whereas the national average is 4.5%. This is thanks to the region’s active efforts to save energy and a result of renewable energy production from wind, biogas, green gas, waste incineration installations and biofuels.

Henk Brink, Member of the Board of the Province of Drenthe, who hosted the study visit together with Bote Wilpstra, Member of the Board of the Province of Gro-ningen, said in his opening remarks that “European regions need to make the move towards a more sustainable energy system. The close co-operation between different levels of

ALDE President Bas Verkerk at the group’s study visit in Northern Netherlands: “We need to stimulate local communities whilst allowing for tailor-made solutions”

During the ALDE-CoR study visit to Groningen (NL) on re-gional energy plans, the ALDE President Bas Verkerk (NL) sent a clear message of encouragement to the new Euro-pean Commission but stressed the need to allow room for manoeuvre to local communities by calling for a clear ad-herence to subsidiarity: “the European Commission needs to stimulate local communities towards energy transition while at the same time allowing for tailor-made solutions that take into consideration the specifics of each local area.” The re-gional energy plans in northern Netherlands witnessed by the ALDE-CoR delegation on 15 September illustrate how lo-cal approaches can contribute to the international ambition for secure, sustainable and clean energy supply.

ALDE study visit to Provinces of Drenthe and Groningen


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government and all other stakeholders to develop the en-ergy system of the future in the Northern Netherlands is a good example of regional collaboration”.

The delegation also explored the economic impact of energy transition. The energy sector is namely one of the biggest economic sectors in the northern Netherlands. It encom-passes more than 4,000 business companies and 32,000 jobs. Henk Van de Boer, Member of the Board of the Province of Drenthe, noted that “in economic terms, energy transition offers us great opportunities. A sustainable energy supply creates economic growth and jobs. It offers opportunities for innovation in the Netherlands in general, and in our region in particular. Our Regional Innovation Strategy, RIS3, has innova-tion as its central focus in order to cope with major societal challenges. Energy is one of them.”

The study visit included stops in Green gas Hub ATTERO in Wijster where the delegation was welcomed by Marko Kwak, Project Development Manager of Waste to Energy and Erik Koops, representative of AVEBE, followed by Mul-tifuel Gas station Green Planet in Pesse, Powermatching

City Groningen (on the photo) and EnTranCe – a hotspot of applied sciences for businesses and innovations. The ALDE-CoR delegation was joined by ALDE MEP Jan Huitema and former MEP Jan Mulder.

“Improving access to finance” - ALDE Open Days seminar on microcredit

Just as the multiple microfinance organisations across Europe, so too was ALDE group in the Committee of the Regions do-ing its part to create more awareness of the possibilities of accessing finance via EU microcredit schemes. As part of the EU Open Days, the group held a workshop on using EU mi-crocredit schemes on 7 October. The workshop explored the joint initiatives of the EC, EIF and EIB, therefore provid-ing a forum for best practices in terms of both technical and financial assistance. Increasing the supply of microcredit is essential for encouraging new businesses, self-employment

ALDE Open Days workshop


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and stimulating economic growth. Micro entrepreneurs are often faced with the difficulty of raising money due to what the banks see as a high-risk, low-return activity coupled with high handling fees. This is not just a problem for business-es; it’s a problem for the wider economy because it slows growth. In order to counter this trend and to improve access to finance, enhancing the capacity of non-bank microcredit providers is essential.

In addition to JASMINE and the financial mechanism called Progress Microfinance the seminar also addressed the new mechanism called EaSI (EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation) s a financing instrument at EU level to pro-mote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection.

The seminar was chaired by ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk. Speakers included Per-Erik Eriksson, Head of Mi-crofinance team at European Investment Fund, Patrick Sapy, General Manager of microStart, and Jorge Ram-irez, General Manager, European Microfinance Network (EMN).

“The future of Europe will be designed in cities. If we don’t get it right in cities, we won’t get it right at all” – Bas Verkerk (NL) at the Regional Policy Meeting of 28 Mayors

“The Urban Agenda is key for a more inclusive, sustainable and smarter Europe. Cohesion policies are one of the main pillar of the growth and development policies, hence cities shall adopt brave policies” stated Graziano Delrio, Secre-tary to the Italian Presidency of the Council of Minis-ters, at the meeting of the European majors “Developing an EU Urban Agenda”, held in Rome at Campidoglio on 1 October and that saw the participation of Johannes Hahn, outgoing Commissioner for Regional Policy and the Ur-ban Agenda.

Speaking on behalf of the Committee of the Regions, ALDE-CoR President Bas Verkerk (NL) called upon the Eu-

ropean Commission to present an integrated Urban Agenda at the earliest possibility and to ensure the integration of two recent developments in EU policy making: 1. The establishment of functional regions and

agglomerations2. A new relationship between local government and

society

In his intervention Mr Verkerk stated that the need for a more profound urban dimension in the EU funds. He pointed out that “if Europe needs its cities for growth and jobs, the EU should facilitate cities and towns with the financial means in order to achieve EU policy objectives”.

Rogier van der Sande (NL/ALDE) keynote speaker at Bioeconomy Stakeholders’ Conference hosted by the Italian Presidency

In line with the EU strategy “Innovating for Sustainable growth: a Bioeconomy for Europe“, fostering an understand-

Rogier van der Sande (NL/ALDE)


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ing of the bioeconomy is a key objective for the European Commission. The third Bioeconomy Stakeholders Confer-ence hosted by the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in collaboration with the European Commission, was held on 8th-9th October 2014. It built on the conclusions and key recommendations of the last two Bioeconomy Stakeholders Conferences held in Copenhagen (February 2012) and Dublin (March 2013). In particular, the Ital-ian Conference was aimed to trigger discussion on how to integrate the concept of the Bioeconomy into European poli-cies, fostering stronger policy coordination in a top-down ap-proach at national, regional and local level.

In his capacity as the CoR rapporteur on Innovation for sus-tainable growth: A bioeconomy for Europe, Rogier van der Sande was a keynote speaker in the session highlighting bioeconomy potential in prominent Regions of Europe. In his intervention Mr van der Sande said that “each region has op-portunities in the bioeconomy. The challenge we are facing is to develop a profile and a strategy that matches the strength of individual regions and to set this in motion in real life.”

“CLLD is a procedure to give decision-making power to local communities” Graham Garvie speaking at EESC hearing

“An instrument coming from the perceived far distant EU is the one that is precisely designed to engage with local people and local communities; to empower them, to develop bottom up initiatives that can make a real difference in people s lives.” So said Graham Garvie (ALDE/UK), Convener of Scottish Bor-ders Council and the CoR rapporteur on CLLD during a public hearing organised by the European Economic and Social Com-mittee on 29 September. The hearing titled “Community Led Local Development (CLLD) as a tool of Cohesion Policy 2014-2010 for local rural, urban and peri-urban develop-ment” followed the Greek and Italian Presidencies endeavours to make a point of promoting cohesion policy as a vector for economic and social growth.

Community Led Local Development is a tool that allows lo-cal communities to be involved in the Europe 2020 Strategy

through the promotion of territorial cohesion and the imple-mentation of EU policy objectives. In his intervention, Cllr Gar-vie took stock of the experience the UK and other countries have had. He pointed out that “what we are seeing so far is the acceptance and the extension of CLLD as a policy concept but not necessarily of CLLD as a delivery instrument.” This, howev-er, doesn’t mean one should necessarily be pessimistic about such an instrument. On the contrary, in Scotland for example CLLD enabled Local Government to press for a very strong Lo-cal Development dimension of the EU Programmes in the pe-riod 2014-2020.

Other speakers included, among others, Joost van Iersel – President of the ECO section at the European Economic and Social Committee; Stanislav Polcak – Vice-Chair of the Com-mittee on Regional Development at the European Parliament.

Liberals making a difference locally: ALDE-CoR co-hosting a workshop on Roma integration

With a total number of 10-12 million, the Roma are the larg-est minority group in Europe. At the same time, they are ar-guably the least integrated ethnic group in most countries of their residence. The largest number, and the gravest so-

Graham Garvie (UK/ALDE)


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cial problems stemming from their weak integration, can be found in the countries of Central and Southeast Europe. This is why the EU-framework strategy for the integration of Roma is of central importance in this region.

In its opinions, the CoR has emphasised that EU institutions and Member States have a joint responsibility to improve Roma people’s social inclusion and integration. With this in mind, the ALDE group in the CoR co-hosted a workshop on Roma Integration in Central and Southeast Europe together with European Liberal Forum and Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The workshop took place on 26-

28 September in Sofia, Bulgaria and addressed liberal ap-proaches to the integration of the Roma. One of the keynote speakers was ALDE-CoR member István Sértő-Radics whose intervention centred on a need for a comprehensive perspective when it comes to integration. He noted that “Roma face profound difficulties in each of the main policy areas identified by the EU Framework Strategy, i.e. education, employment, housing, health and social care. Yet these are not distinct, but rather interlocking issues. For example, re-housing Roma families without dealing with unemployment and the poor educational attainment of their children does little to reduce their marginalization.”

Liberals making a difference locally


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ʱ On 10 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.cor.europa.eu/alde ʱ ALDE-CoR will be participating in the ALDE Party congress held in Lisbon, Portugal on 20-22 November. In addition to participating in the Congress working groups, ALDE-CoR will also co-host the welcome reception taking place on the evening of the 21st of November.

Upcoming ALDE activities

ʱ Opinion on Internet Policy and Governance by Odeta Žerlauskienė (LT) Adoption at CoR plenary session on 3-4 December 2014 ʱ JCC FYROM Opinion on The possibilities and instruments available to local authorities to support the accession process by co-rapporteur Jasna Gabrič (SI) Adoption foreseen 2 December 2014

ʱ Opinion on the Efforts to promote genuine solidarity on a real European migration policy by François Decoster (FR) Adoption at the CoR plenary session on 3-4 December 2014 ʱ 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

ʱ 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

Ongoing ALDE opinions

Documents

ALDE-CoR October 2014 newsletter