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HELLO
EVERYBODY
As the initiator of globalisation through
a number of "major discoveries", Europe has sent its
men and its goods out into the world for five hundred years.
During this time, it was the main, if not the only, area to
benefit from globalisation. However, the two bloody fratricidal
conflicts of the 20th century and the collapse of the Berlin
Wall have now made it one of the world's provinces rather than
its sole organiser.
Continents
that have remained passive for a very long time, falling prey
to a form of internal paralysis, are now emerging as additional
driving forces. Today, it is Asia and Latin America; tomorrow
it will be Africa.
It
is to this new landscape that we shall have to become accustomed
if we are to act and adapt our means of action. This work has
been started through numerous missions and bilateral cooperation
agreements between our member Regions and regions on other continents.
The CPMR was no stranger to this, supporting, from the outset,
the world Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development
(NRG4SD) that was set up at the Johannesburg Summit and co-chaired
by the Basque Country and Cape Province. It has now acquired
observer status at a number of world bodies concerned with climate
change.
If,
however, we want to preserve our Regions' chances of development
in the new global context, we must go further in our involvement
in current changes.
Just
as, thirty years ago, it was urgent to structure a capacity
for expression at a regional level in a European Union that
was in its infancy, so the voice of Peripheral and Maritime
Regions must be heard tomorrow in the emerging arenas of future
world governance (World Trade Organisation, International Maritime
Organisation, Kyoto Agreement, General Assembly of the United
Nations etc.). This awareness will not be more spontaneous when
faced with market forces that lead of their own accord to a
concentration of wealth and people....
Xavier
Gizard
Secretary General, CPMR
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COMMISSION'S
MESSAGE TO THE REGIONS: FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION ON CONTENT
RATHER THAN FORM
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Interview
by Enrico Mayrhofer
"We have to concede that the situation in the enlarged
EU has worsened. It has to be acknowledged that decision-making
responsibility is stronger at national level. The responsibility
of the Regions, though not lost, is not evolving. That is a
fact. But do not let this defeat you in advance. You must focus
your attention on the content and act as a source of proposals!"
This was the message from Jean-Charles Leygues, Deputy Director
General for Regional Policy and former adviser in Jacques Delors'
Cabinet, speaking to the Regions at the Seminar on "Territorial
Cohesion and the National-Regional Partnership for the 2007-2013
Programming Period", organised by the CPMR at the Committee
of the Regions on 31 May.....
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TOWARDS
A WORLDWIDE EXPRESSION OF REGIONS
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Interview
by Enrico Mayrhofer
Christophe
Nuttall is Director of the Innovative Partnerships Centre
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the
UN's global development network with which the CPMR will be
signing a cooperation agreement next 24 June on the occasion
of the Seminar on "Regions and Globalisation" in the
Azores. The UNDP advocates change and connects countries to
knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better
life. It is present on the ground in 166 countries, helping
them to identify their own solutions to the national and global
challenges they are facing in terms of development....
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ONE
“ISLAND” SHOULD NOT HIDE OTHERS
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By
Jean-Didier Hache
When
presenting his Green Paper on Europe's Maritime Policy to the
European Parliament on 7th June last, Commissioner Borg wittily
declared, "Our planet consists of a series of islands which,
set in the immense vastness of the oceans, cover approximately
30% of its surface"....
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OPENING
OF THE CONSULTATION ON INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY
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The
General Directorate for the Environment of the European Commission
is conducting a consultation on integrated coastal zone management
strategy (ICZM). This constitutes an assessment phase for the
National Strategies drafted in compliance with the Recommendation
on coastal zones, which should result in proposals from the
Commission on how this initiative is to be taken forward.
The consultation is open until 30 June 2006 on the following
url:
http://www.rupprecht-consult.eu/iczm/
This
consultation is in the form of a questionnaire in which the
maritime regions can express their points of view, their needs
and their expectations on this subject.
The CPMR secretariat invites all regions to participate in this
consultation which presents a major interest for the future
of their coastline.
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