Doc. 11131
22 January 2007

Conservation and use of the landscape potential of Europe
Recommendation 1752 (2006)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers
adopted at the 984^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (17-18 January 2007)

1.       The Committee of Ministers has noted with interest Recommendation 1752 (2006) on the conservation and use of the landscape potential of Europe and thanks the Parliamentary Assembly for having referred to Recommendation Rec(2002)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the guiding principles for sustainable spatial development of the European continent.

2.       Like the Assembly, the Committee of Ministers attaches great importance to the Council of Europe’s legal instruments relating to the protection and management of the natural and cultural heritage, and to regional/spatial planning. It therefore encourages member states that have not yet done so to consider signing and/or ratifying the European Landscape Convention, in order to create an extensive pan-European area of landscape protection, management and planning.

3.       In the view of the Committee of Ministers, the European Conference of Ministers Responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT), to which the Assembly so rightly refers, is a very useful body for the exchange and co-ordination of common objectives and strategies in the field of spatial development throughout Europe. For this reason, it has forwarded Recommendation 1752 (2006) to the Committee of Senior Officials of the European Conference of Ministers Responsible for Regional Planning (CSO-CEMAT), requesting its comments on the strategic measures advocated by the Assembly. It has also forwarded the recommendation to the other committees responsible for implementing the European Landscape Convention, ie the Steering Committee for Cultural Heritage (CDPAT) and the Committee for the Activities of the Council of Europe in the field of Biological and Landscape Diversity (CO-DBP).

4.       In response, the above committees have forwarded to the Committee of Ministers a substantive and detailed opinion, appended to this reply.

5.       The Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Assembly, with reference to its recommendations, that in the light of the budgetary context it is undertaking an in-depth discussion on refocusing the Council of Europe’s activities in the field of sustainable development and the environment. The Assembly’s observations and any comments from the relevant committees will be of considerable value in deciding on the way forward in this field.

Appendix to the reply

Comments of the Committees of Experts in charge of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention:

- the Steering Committee for Cultural Heritage (CDPAT)

- the Committee for the Activities of the Council of Europe in the field of Biological and Landscape Diversity (CO-DBP)

- the Committee of Senior Officials of the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CSO-CEMAT)

In accordance with Article 10 of the European Landscape Convention and the decisions adopted at the 718th meeting on 19 July 2000 and the 840th meeting on 28 May 2003 of the Committee of Ministers (CM/Del/Dec(2000)718 and CM/Del/Dec(2003)840), the Committees of Experts responsible for implementation of the European Landscape Convention, namely the Steering Committee for Cultural Heritage (CDPAT), the Committee for the Activities of the Council of Europe in the field of Biological and Landscape Diversity (CO-DBP) and the Committee of Senior Officials of the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial/Regional Planning and Landscape, thanked the Parliamentary Assembly for adopting Recommendation 1752 (2006) on conservation and use of the landscape potential of Europe.

Concerning the preamble of the recommendation, the Committees considered notably that it should be necessary: at paragraph 2, to refer to the Granada and Valetta Conventions; at paragraph 8, to mention the several Committees of Experts and to deal with management and planning as well as protection; at paragraph 9, to take into consideration the respective definitions of landscape and biodiversity; and, at paragraph 10, to take into consideration the conclusions of the current activities.

They pronounced on the following paragraphs as recommended to the Committee of Ministers by the Parliamentary Assembly, and decided to transmit them to the Committee of Ministers.

11.1       ask the governments of member states to sign and/or ratify the European Landscape Convention of they have not already done so and, if necessary, ensure that it is transposed into existing legislation and implemented:

The Committees noted that at 23 November 2006, 26 states had ratified the Convention – Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom – and that seven further states had signed it – Azerbaijan, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

They therefore noted the firm commitment already being shown by many Council of Europe member states to the European Landscape Convention, and invited those governments which had not yet done so to sign or ratify the Convention. Moreover, they encourage them to develop landscape policies in accordance with the philosophy of the European Landscape Convention. They considered notably essential to promote specific measures concerning awareness-raising of the population, education and training.

11.2       set up Europe-wide programme to establish a “pan-European system of national socio-natural landscapes as a genuine mechanism for sustainable development”:

The Committees noted that according to Article 2 of the Convention the latter “applies to the entire territory of the Parties” to the extent that, as stated in the Preamble, the landscape was an important part of the quality of life for people everywhere: in urban areas and in the countryside, in degraded areas as well as in areas of high quality, in areas recognised as being of outstanding beauty as well as everyday areas. This meant that the Convention covered natural, rural, urban and peri-urban areas. It included land, inland water and marine areas. It applied not only to landscapes that could be considered outstanding but also to everyday and degraded areas.

While bearing in mind that the Convention covered the entire territory, the Committees concluded that natural, cultural, rural, urban and peri-urban networks could make a useful contribution to the implementation of the Convention as they favour exchange of information and the definition of common policies. Therefore, they encouraged these developments and decided to promote the creation of landscape networks under the Convention work programme.

11.3       set up a pan-European international landscape centre:

The Committees noted that with reference to the provisions of the European Landscape Convention several landscape observatories, centres and institutes were beginning to emerge throughout Europe. They encouraged this development and the setting-up of local, regional, national and international landscape centres.

They advocated continuing to network the bodies in question under the work programme of the European Landscape Convention of the DG IV of the Council of Europe, as publicised on the Council of Europe website on the Convention, http://www.coe.int/EuropeanLandscapeConvention, under the heading “Network of partners of the European Landscape Convention”.

11.4       ask the governments of member states to use all the financial, scientific and technical resources at their disposal to preserve the cultural and natural heritage and ensure that it is provided for in national and European sustainable development programmes:

The Committees agreed that in accordance with the Warsaw Declaration and Action Plan adopted on 17 May 2005 at the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the member states of the Council of Europe it was vital to promote sustainable development and cultural diversity. The Heads of State and Government had undertaken to improve the quality of life of citizens, adding that “the Council of Europe shall …, on the basis of the existing instruments, further develop and support integrated policies in the fields of environment, landscape (and) spatial planning … in a sustainable development perspective”.

The Committees recalled that the Council of Europe member states signatory to the European Landscape Convention declared in the Preamble to the Convention that they were “concerned to achieve sustainable development based on a balanced and harmonious relationship between social needs, economic activity and the environment”, and noted that “the landscape has an important public interest role in the cultural, ecological, environmental and social fields” and “constitutes a resource favourable to economic activity and whose protection, management and planning can contribute to job creation”. They also stressed that “the landscape contributes to the formation of local cultures and that it is a basic component of the European natural and cultural heritage, contributing to human well-being and consolidation of the European identity”.

The Committees therefore acknowledged the importance of using all available financial, scientific and technical resources to protect that cultural and natural heritage and ensure that it was provided for in national and European sustainable development programmes.

11.5       ask member states to make due provision in their regional/spatial planning policies for landscape measures, prudent management of urban ecosystems, effective rural development schemes, the preservation of particularly vulnerable landscapes, particularly in mountain and coastal regions and on islands, and the development of transfrontier co-operation:

The Committees recalled that under the terms of the European Landscape Convention “each Party undertakes to integrate landscape into its regional and town planning policies and in its cultural, environmental, agricultural, social and economic policies, as well as in any other policies with possible direct or indirect impact on landscape”. This was why they considered it vital to make due provision in regional/spatial planning policies for landscape measures, prudent management of urban ecosystems, effective rural development schemes, the preservation of particularly vulnerable landscapes, particularly in mountain and coastal regions and on islands, and the development of transfrontier co-operation. They therefore expressed the wish that the work programme of the European Landscape Convention should continue to pursue these goals.

11.6       instruct the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT), in conjunction with the Committee for the Activities of the Council of Europe in the field of Biological and Landscape Diversity and the Steering Committee for Cultural Heritage, to:

The Committees recalled that Article 10 of the European Landscape Convention states that “existing competent committees of experts set up under Article 17 of the Statute of the Council of Europe shall be designated by the Committee of Ministers … to be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention”. The European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT)
(cf. document T-FLOR(2004)16) should be involved in the monitoring mechanism of the European Landscape Convention, as it will be put into place by the Committee of Ministers depending on the structure of the steering committees.

11.6.1       organise a pan-European landscape forum or hold an international landscape congress to enable member states to share their experiences in such areas as landscape legislation and give thought to a European landscape policy:

The Committees thanked the Parliamentary Assembly for its proposal, and observed that the “meetings of the workshops for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention”, which had been going on since 2002, were intended, despite their different headings, to serve as a forum for encounters among landscape operators at the pan-European level in order to pool the experiences of member states. For instance, the 3rd meeting of the workshops for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention had taken place in Cork on 16 and 17 June 2004 on the subject of “Landscapes for urban, suburban and peri-urban areas”, the 4th in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 11 and 12 May 2006 on the theme of “Landscape and society”, the 5th would be held in Girona, Spain, on 28 and 29 September 2006 on “Landscape quality objectives: from theory to practice”, and the 6th in Sibiu, Romania, in June 2007 on the theme of “Rural heritage and landscape” as past of “Sibiu, European Capital of Culture Year”.

11.6.2       adopt an integrated pan-European system of landscape typology and classification:

The Committees will include this item on the agenda of their subsequent meeting. However, the complexity and diversity of European landscape may not be suitable to an integrated and might make it difficult for individual member states to have their own tailor-made approach best suited to their individual needs. An analysis must be also made on the aims of the classification, criteria and methods used.

11.6.3        prepare model framework legislation on the landscape for use by Council of Europe member states:

The Committees recalled that the programme of the joint meeting of the Steering Committee for Cultural Heritage (CDPAT) and the Committee for the Activities of the Council of Europe in the field of Biological and Landscape Diversity (CO-DBP), which had taken place in Strasbourg on 18 June 2004, provided for holding a working group meeting on a model landscape law. They noted that work was already proceeding on this text, and the results should be presented in due course, in the appropriate framework.

Taking into consideration the multiplicity and diversity of landscapes, the Committees considered useful to deal, in the working programme of the European Landscape Convention, with questions common to the different states.