Regional planning in Europe - conclusions of the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (Bari, 21-23 October 1976) and the Conference of European Ministers responsible for Local Government (Athens, 25-27 November 1976)

Recommendation 802 (1977)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 25 January 1977 (22nd Sitting) (see Doc. 3914. report of the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities). Text adopted by the Assembly on 25 January 1977 (22nd Sitting).

Thesaurus

The Assembly,

1. Having examined the report of its Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities on the conclusions of the two European ministerial conferences on regional planning and the development of local and regional authorities in Europe, held in 1976 at Bari and in Athens respectively (Doc. 3914);

2. Underlining the importance at the present time of a proper regional planning policy in view of the growing scarcity of natural resources and particularly of open spaces, an indispensable element in man's environment ;

3. Noting that the Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT) has, with its Committee of Senior Officials and its specialised sub-committees, become an instrument of technical co-operation of major political importance ;

4. Emphasising that the conference must be, in consequence, allowed to retain its autonomy and be given, within the Council of Europe, the administrative resources which it needs to fulfil its own function with maximum effectiveness and to devise a genuinely European regional planning policy ;

5. Welcoming the substantial progress made towards a concerted European approach to regional planning since the first ministerial conference held in Bonn in 1970, and the promising development of collaboration between European Ministers of Local Government, initiated in Paris in 1975 and continued in Athens in November 1976 ;

6. Noting with particular satisfaction the Athens Conference's approval of the draft European outline convention on transfrontier co-operation between territorial authorities or communities, which, after ten years of efforts following Assembly Recommendation 470, should lay the foundation for a system of operational co-operation in regional planning ;

7. Convinced that direct collaboration between specialist Ministers in these conferences, backed by the indispensable assistance of the Council of Europe and of the relevant organisations, can give a powerful impetus to European co-operation ;

8. Hoping, in this regard, that the resolutions adopted by the specialist Ministers will receive greater attention from the Foreign Affairs Ministers in the Council of Europe's executive organs and from the international organisations to which they are addressed ;

9. Considering that a Council of Europe intergovernmental committee should, as a general rule, be made responsible, jointly with other committees where necessary, for implementing the resolutions addressed to the organisation by a ministerial conference, and be associated in the preparation of future ministerial meetings under the authority of the specialist Ministers themselves,

10. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

a As regards the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning held at Bari from 21 to 23 October 1976 :

include in the Council of Europe Intergovernmental Work Programme examination of the following matters raised by the conference :

a a "medium-sized towns" policy as an instrument for the control of urban growth and for balanced regional development ;

b land-use legislation providing public authorities with a means of ensuring that in urban growth due account is taken of recent national experience and of regional development plans ;

c recent population trends in Europe and their effects on regional planning, with special reference to urbanisation and needs as regards public facilities (education, transport, communications etc.) ;

d comparative study of the social costs of constructing new buildings and rehabilitating existing buildings, having regard especially to the need for judicious use of developed land ;

e thorough study and definition of the capacity limits of sensitive areas, for example mountain areas, so as to provide an objective criterion for formulating a balanced planning policy ;

f study of measures for the protection and enhancement of the architectural and artistic heritage and of the cultural values of rural areas as complementary to the urban heritage, and of the possibility of a special campaign or "European Year" on that theme ;

g continuation and acceleration of activities in the cartography and terminology sectors ;

h study of forms and methods of public participation in regional planning policy, risks involved in and opportunities for popular and group action (conditions for the formation of groups, legitimacy and representativeness) ;

examine jointly with the Committee of Senior Officials the possibility of establishing a European Regional Planning Institute to co-ordinate and stimulate, in close liaison with the Council of Europe and under the aegis of the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning, the research work being planned or conducted in national organisations and institutes, and place at the disposal of the ministerial conference, of the intergovernmental committees and of the national departments the basic data indispensable for the framing of a European regional planning policy ;

bear in mind generally the numerous possibilities afforded by this ministerial conference of initiating discussion with European countries which are not Members of the Council of Europe, including the East European countries, and thereby contribute to implementing the resolutions of the Helsinki Conference ;

b As regards the Conference of European Ministers of Local Government held in Athens from 25 to 27 November 1976 :

a give effect to Resolution No. 1 of that conference by instructing the Committee on Co-operation in Municipal and Regional Matters to finalise the text of the draft outline convention on transfrontier cooperation between territorial authorities or communities ;

b submit the draft outline convention to the Assembly for an opinion ;

c open this draft convention for signature by member states at the 3rd Conference of Ministers of Local Government ;

d give effect to the conference recommendation, also expressed many times by the Assembly, to institute, within the Council of Europe, a system for information on transfrontier co-operation.