From the territory to Brussels” “

The definition of an appropriate role for the Regions in Europe is one of the challenges faced by the Convention on the future of Europe. On the occasion of the meeting of the Committee of the Regions (Brussels, 12-13 February) we present a brief outline of the process of regionalization within the individual member states (cf. SirEurope no.7 of 31.01.03 and no.9 of 07.02.03). Regions, an important role. The institutional and administrative evolution from the birth of the European Community to the present day has assigned an important role to the Regions and to the local authorities, especially with regard to the implementation and application of programmes and measures co-financed by the EU. This situation, however, is not yet matched by an adequate role in decision making, i.e. in the formulation of common policies and the definition of the necessary financial instruments for their implementation. To this is added the process of regionalization internal to the individual member states, whose constitutional systems permit, with varying degrees of accentuation, forms of federalism and decentralization. The German, Belgian and Austrian systems, for example, permit the regional representatives to flank, or even to replace, the national Minister in Council whenever the discussion focuses on questions of direct regional relevance. In other countries, such as France, Greece and the Scandinavian countries, the Regions, on the contrary, are mere administrative entities endowed with reduced prerogatives. There exists, thirdly, an intermediate category, to which Italy belongs, in which the internal constitutional system is characterized by strong regionalism, though without (at least for the time being) the local authorities having the power to start legal proceedings before the Court of Justice and to represent the State in Brussels. Bringing the peoples closer to Europe. According to the president of the European Commission Romano Prodi, if the problem of the institutional representation of the Regions is to be solved, “the optimal balance needs to be sought between the two historic poles of the project of European integration”: the States, which are the primary interlocutors, and the peoples, who need to be brought closer to Europe. How this balance is to be achieved, however, is conceived in different ways, with the result that it is difficult to find a uniform expression. On the one hand, there are the European Convention, Commission and Parliament, for whom the participation of the sub-state levels of government in the EU’s decision-making process should be disciplined by the individual national constitutional systems. On the other hand, there exist the so-called “Regions with legislative power” (RegLeg), which enjoy a high degree of political and administrative privileges in the various States, and aspire to a direct recognition of their own role in the future Constitution. Lastly there is the position of the Committee of the Regions, a consultative organ with little influence, but one that aims to become an Institution of the EU and a privileged interlocutor of the territorial units with the Union, with the power to appeal to the European Court of Justice in cases of violation of the principle of subsidiarity to “preserve its own prerogatives”. The Committee of the Regions (CR). The Treaty of Maastricht (1991) established the CR, whose mandate is to represent the positions and interests of the local and regional authorities in the framework of the EU decision-making process. Composed of 222 permanent members and 222 temporary members, its aim is to give a voice to the European Regions and territorial units and to bring the citizen closer to the Institutions. It has ten sectors of competence: economic and social cohesion, European infrastructural networks, health care, education, culture, employment policies, social policies, environment, vocational training and transport. It has six permanent Commissions: territorial policy and cohesion policy, economic and social policy, sustainable development, education and culture, constitutional affairs and European governance, external relations.