Increased solidarity in migration policy and "multi-level" protection of the rule of law to dominate debate at next CIVEX meeting
Efforts to promote genuine solidarity on a real European migration policy and the role of local and regional authorities in protecting fundamental rights will be among the main focus of debate at the next Committee of the Regions' commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX). The meeting, to be held in Brussels on 17 November, will be followed by a joint meeting with the Governance Committee of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. The aim will be to deepen the debate on the protection of the rule of law in Europe, the process of regionalisation and new forms of local governance.
Last March, the European Commission adopted a new framework to address threats to the rule of law in EU Member States that will be complementary to existing infringement procedures. The new framework establishes an early warning tool allowing the Commission to enter into a dialogue with the Member State concerned to prevent the escalation of systemic threats to the rule of law. CIVEX members will discuss the initiative on the basis of a draft opinion prepared by Luc Van den Brande (BE/EPP), Chairman of the Flemish-European Liaison Agency and former president of the Committee of the Regions (CoR). In light of the essential role of cities and regions in safeguarding fundamental rights, the rapporteur calls for the concept of multi-level governance to be explicitly taken as the starting point for the protection of fundamental rights and puts forward concrete proposal in that sense.
The Italian Presidency of the EU has placed the issue of immigration and the development of a Common European Migration Policy at the top of its political agenda. It has called on the CoR to put forward the views of cities and regions in an opinion drafted by François Decoster (FR/ALDE), Mayor of Saint-Omer. Coming himself from a region subject to increasing migration pressure (Nord-Pas de Calais in France), Mr Decoster emphasises that the reception of migrants is unevenly spread both within and between Member States, with some regions having to take a greater share of responsibility by processing a large proportion of new arrivals which often exceeds the capacities of individual region. With this in mind, he urges for mechanisms to be put in place so as to ensure "genuine solidarity" between, on the one hand, the various levels of governments in the EU, and with the local governments of the third countries of origin of migratory flows on the other.
CIVEX members will also hold a first exchange views on the EU enlargement strategy and main challenges 2014-2015 (rapporteur Franz Schausberger (AT/EPP)) and on the issue of local and regional support for fair trade in Europe (rapporteur Barbara Duden (DE/PES)).They will also hear the reports on the Election Observation Missions to Ukraine and Georgia.
The CIVEX meeting will be followed in the afternoon by a joint meeting with the Governance Committee of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Among the topical issues to be debated are the protection of the rule of law, the process of regionalisation in Europe and new forms of governance implemented at local level. Alongside members of CIVEX and the Congress's Governance committee, speakers will include representatives from the European Commission and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions.
The Committee of the Regions' CIVEX commission:
The CIVEX commission is responsible for issues including justice and home affairs, fundamental rights, smart regulation and the reduction of administrative burdens, citizenship and broader institutional issues such as governance and devolution. It also deals with the EU external dimension, focusing on neighbourhood and enlargement countries, as well as decentralised cooperation for development. CIVEX gathers more than a hundred regional and local elected representatives from all the 28 EU Member States. It is chaired by Antonio Costa (PT/PES), Mayor of Lisbon.