6th European Conference of Border Regions (Ljubljana, 13-15 October 1994)

Recommendation 1268 (1995)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 27 April 1995 (15th Sitting) (see Doc. 7273, report of the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities, rapporteur: Mr Grau). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 April 1995 (15th Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Assembly has taken note of the Final Declaration of the 6th European Conference of Border Regions held in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 13 to 15 October 1994 and of the general theme of the conference, relating to the new challenges of transfrontier co-operation at the interface between western Europe and central and eastern Europe.

2. It welcomes the fact that sound co-operation and concordance of views with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) attended the organisation of the conference, and asks that the 7th conference be prepared in the same spirit and in conjunction with the CLRAE.

3. The Assembly notes that during the work of the conference dealing with sustainable economic and social development of border regions, special attention was paid to the specific problems of infrastructure and transport.

4. In this connection it recalls its earlier proposals, in particular its Resolutions 977 (1992) and 1023 (1994) on European transport problems.

5. The Assembly stresses the importance of transfrontier co-operation as a factor of integration, political stability and peace in Europe, and expresses the wish that such co-operation should develop specifically towards and among the countries of central and eastern Europe.

6. The Assembly remains convinced that local and regional authorities can and must play a conspicuous part in bringing populations closer together and in solving practical problems encountered by neighbouring communities or like problems affecting more widely separated authorities.

7. It observes in this respect that notwithstanding their considerable interest, the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities has so far been ratified by only eighteen member states, and the draft European convention on inter-territorial co-operation has yet to be adopted.

8. The Assembly considers that transfrontier co-operation can contribute in a large way to implementing activities of current high priority for the Council of Europe, for instance as regards minorities, combating intolerance and xenophobia, cultural co-operation and environmental protection.

9. It further considers, and this is especially important where the countries of central and eastern Europe are concerned, that trans-European infrastructures and transport networks would not only accelerate the economic development of those countries but also intensify exchanges and improve mutual understanding in other areas such as legal co-operation or elimination of legal and administrative obstacles.

10. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

10.1 invite the member states:

a to sign and ratify:

the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities;

the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;

the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities;

b to set up advisory transfrontier co-operation committees open to local and regional authorities and social and economic groups in order to consider and put forward solutions to the wide variety of legal and administrative impediments persisting in border regions;

c to assist the creation of transfrontier co-operation bodies, constituted by the territorial authorities concerned, for administering public services of common interest, and fostering more harmonious social and economic development of border regions;

d to take the "transfrontier dimension" into account in framing national or regional spatial planning or transport policies, so as to avoid "border effect" in frontier regions;

e to integrate transfrontier regional job markets into their economic and social development policy and make them accessible;

f to facilitate clearance at borders both for persons, in particular frontier workers, and for goods, by eliminating existing administrative and technical hindrances;

10.2 adopt with all dispatch the draft additional protocol to the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation;

10.3 adopt also, without further delay, the draft convention on inter-territorial co-operation in accordance with the wish expressed by the heads of state and government at the Vienna Summit regarding transfrontier co-operation between non-adjacent regions;

10.4 promote teacher training and provision of cross-border educational facilities, particularly for teaching the languages or the history of border regions or countries, and to make these subjects compulsory in the schools of the border regions;

10.5 invite the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT):

a to step up its work on transfrontier co-operation, by promoting in particular the establishment of transfrontier spatial planning commissions open to participation by local and regional authorities;

b to study, if appropriate in conjunction with the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT), the spatial planning problems linked with transport infrastructures in the specific context of transfrontier regions and especially those of the central and eastern European countries;

c to further the development of inter-modal transport nodes in border regions as a factor of economic vitalisation and development, and to improve the complementarity of transport modes;

10.6 invite the European Conference of Ministers of Transport and the Commission of the European Communities to develop trans-European transport networks, first and foremost railway networks and in particular where transalpine traffic is concerned, and to eliminate the bottlenecks created by interconnection problems between national networks;

10.7 invite the European Union:

a to draw up a statute for frontier workers from non-member countries in order to facilitate the development of transfrontier job markets along the external borders of the Union;

b to harmonise its member states' customs, police and immigration legislation so as to dispense with, or reduce to the bare minimum, formalities and controls at the internal borders of the Union