Doc. 9834

20 June 2003

The sustainable development of mountain regions

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr Gubert and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

For many years now the Assembly has been working to help mountain regions and enable them to benefit from sustainable development, thereby guaranteeing their social and economic development and the preservation of their resources.

It is aware of the fact that mountain regions are characterised by a number of disadvantages arising out of their difficult geo-climatic conditions, for example, thin soils, difficult access, tough climatic conditions, low density of population and fragile ecologies.

The Assembly has always been of the opinion that mountain regions require a special approach, different from rural regions, and a specific policy corresponding to the above-mentioned particularities.

      It regrets that the Committee of Ministers has not considered it necessary to submit to member states for signature either the draft European Charter of Mountain Regions, drawn up by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) in 1995 and officially endorsed by the Assembly (Rec. 1274 (1995)), or the draft European Outline Convention on Mountain, presented by the CLRAE in 2000.

      It is pleased to note that in 2002, which the United Nations declared “The International Year of Mountains”, the CLRAE started transforming these two draft conventions into a European Charter of Mountain Regions, a document with a strong political impact but which is not binding on member states.

      The Conference on the Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions, European Transit Policy and the Challenge of Globalisation, which took place in Cavalese (Trento) from 16 to 18 June 2003, welcomed the CLRAE and the Parliamentary Assembly’s efforts to ensure that a text setting out the basic principles of an appropriate pan-European policy for mountain regions is finalised.

Signed (see overleaf)

Signed 1:

Gubert, Italy, EPP/CD

Etherington, United Kingdom, SOC

Fernández Aguilar, Spain, EPP/CD

Giertych, Poland, EDG

Giovanelli, Italy, SOC

Libicki, Poland, EDG

Maissen, Switzerland, EPP/CD

Masseret, France, SOC

Mincevič, Lithuania, EPP/CD

Nessa, Italy, EPP/CD

Rizzi, Italy, EPP/CD

Timmermans, Belgium, SOC

1        SOC: Socialist Group