Reply to Recommendation 1272 (1995) on a comprehensive European regional planning strategy (10th session of the CEMAT)
Doc. 7468
22 January 1996
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS
adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 16 January 1996 at the 555th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies
1. The Committee of Ministers shares the view of the Parliamentary Assembly that it is crucial to provide a comprehensive framework, together with clear and coherent objectives, for the management of the European space and decided, at the 541st meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (June 1995), to bring Recommendation 1272 to the attention of the governments of member States.
2. Like the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers believes that the knowledge and experience accruing from almost thirty years of activities in the sector of European regional planning should allow the Council of Europe to play a significant role in the definition of a new forward-looking Pan-European policy covering all countries and regions of Greater Europe.
3. Within the framework of the 1996 budget, financial efforts have been made with a view to providing the Council with adequate resources enabling it to fulfil its due place in this sector of activity which is vital to the future and the sustainable development of Europe. In addition, the Directorate of Environment and Local Authorities plays an important role institutionally in assisting the Committee of Senior Officials of the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT).
4. The Committee recalls that, as proposed by CEMAT at Oslo in 1994, it has endorsed CEMAT's 1994/1997 programme of activities which namely includes Topic 5 "Co-ordination of Europe-wide planning policies through a European Spatial Development Perspective". This activity refers to work done by the member States of the European Union with the aim of providing it with a European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) focusing on balanced, long term development. The European Commission has been asked by the Ministers of the European Union to carry out a thorough study of the territorial impact of Community policies which should be taken into account in the ESDP, enabling it to include recommendations furthering greater coherence in all these policies.
5. The Committee of Senior Officials of CEMAT organised a second joint Conference with the European Commission in Prague on 16 and 17 October 1995 on the theme "Regional planning of Greater Europe in co-operation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe". The aim was to hear experts and to learn of their proposals concerning strategies capable of ensuring the development of a united Europe in a climate of co-operation; on that basis, the above-mentioned Committee will compile a consolidated overview taking into account the work of the European Union.
6. The Council of Europe is co-operating closely with the European Commission and will make every effort to intensify these relations as evidenced by the review of the 1987 Arrangement currently in progress. At the Prague Conference, the European Commission stated its availability to organise jointly with the Council, a pan-European Forum for regional planning. This should be a discussion forum in which input from each participating State can contribute to shaping the main lines of a European spatial planning policy.
7. The Committee of Senior Officials has also planned to hold a colloquy in collaboration with the Parliamentary Assembly in 1996 on the distribution of territorial planning powers and co-ordination machinery. Invitations will be issued to the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) and other bodies with important responsibilities in spatial planning.