Summary: 7 June 2007, Brussels - Introductory remarks in the Plenary session of Committee of Regions by Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement, 70th Plenary Session of Committee of the Regions, Charlemagne Building
Dear Representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Introduction
It is an honour to speak to you today in my capacity as acting Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Affairs. The past month has been an exciting period, both for development policy and for me personally.
I have presented a number of new policy proposals to the member states. I have discussed with the African Union and South Africa. I have debated with civil society in my home country, Finland, on the main challenges of today's development aid.
It is an enormous pleasure to be able to also exchange with you, as representatives of yet another major -and increasingly important- stakeholder in development policy.
The acceleration of globalisation over the past decades has led -some might say paradoxically- to an increased demand for strong regions, strong municipalities and other local authorities, both in the North and the South.
Only recently someone said: "States are both too far removed in order to be able to manage the populations' preoccupations, and too small and too weak to be of any importance in a globalized world. (..) Creating an immediate correlation between the social need felt by local agents and the corresponding public decision: that is the pledge of a democratisation which enables a stronger implication of the citizen."
This someone was not a representative of this Committee, but Ousman Sy, probably Africa's greatest governance expert of current times.
While there are of course many differences, the parallel between the European and African thinking on the role of local authorities is indeed striking.
Many African countries have picked the path of decentralisation with a high degree success. In several regions, decentralisation has been empowered people; it has strengthened democracy, development strategy and action. A consensus has emerged that local authorities are the key to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. They are crucial in delivering basic services and fundamental in fostering economic activity, especially in those poor rural areas where local infrastructure is
requited and decisions should be made close to the people.
A good example is Rwanda. The decentralisation process in that country, ravaged by the genocide of 1994, has proven to be of a key element in the reconstruction of the state and, more broadly, in the rebuilding of the self-reliance and self-confidence of its citizens.
Today, support to local authorities is a central element of the Commission's development policy and is firmly embedded in the European Consensus. I'm happy to read in the draft opinion on "governance" which you submitted to this Committee today, that our ideas on this subject are very close, not to say converging.
But the question I'd like to tackle today is how we can we turn this policy into action? How do we address the proposals you made in your draft opinion on governance? And how did we take into account the excellent opinion on "decentralised cooperation" which you already made in 2005? Let me suggest three strands of action.
- 1. Increased financing
My first element of response relates to financing. The decentralisation of administrative power is meaningless if it does not entail the decentralisation of financial means. Local governments often lack the basic infrastructure and capacity to work properly. Even in Mali, a country often states described as showcase for successful decentralisation, nine out of ten euros of the national budget are spent in the Malian capital Bamako only.
The Commission has adjusted its instruments to address this kind of situation. Commissioner Michel has made governance the corner stone of the country programmes and of the dialogue with our partners. The last twenty years of development cooperation made us realise there will be no poverty reduction without strong states; states that are legitimate and effective; states that can assume their responsibilities and offer all citizens the basic services. Local governance is integral part of this
discussion. The country programmes designed and agreed with our partners remain the framework for supporting local governments.
A concrete expression of this new governance approach -known as the "Governance Initiative"- is the "Governance Incentive Tranche", worth 2.7 billion €. This Incentive Tranche has been set aside in the programming of the 10th European Development Fund to provide incentives and to support ACP countries that show political will for reform.
We are currently assessing, together with member States, the "Governance Action Plans" that partner countries put forward to address the main governance weaknesses identified and discussed in the programming dialogue. It is encouraging to see that in many cases, these Plans include measures to improve local authorities' capacities, to increase budgetary transfers to them, and to set an appropriate regulatory framework for decentralised authorities.
Another new element is the thematic programme under the Development Cooperation Instrument focused on "Non-state actors and local authorities in development". One of the objectives of this programme is to strengthen local authorities' networks and platforms and to build trans-national alliances and to disseminate best practices. Admittedly, the funding that will be available remains limited, but it has an important catalytic function that should be fully exploited.
- 2. Better dialogue and exchange of experience
The second element of my response relates to dialogue and consultation. Local governments should be part and parcel of the design and implementation of development strategies of our partner countries. This requires a sustained dialogue and serious consultation.
The Cotonou Agreement has been revised to allow for such a multi-actor dialogue and for better consultation of local governments. For the first time, the Agreement clearly states that local authorities shall be consulted in the preparation of cooperation strategies between ACP partner countries and the EU. This is an important step forward.
This dialogue should however not be just a matter of the Commission and the partner countries. You, as representatives of the European regions and municipalities, are the natural partners for those local authorities in the South. You have an enormous knowledge to offer. You have extensive hands-on experience in managing local administrations and delivering services close to the populations; in reforming local government reform towards a better service-delivery; in introducing modern management
practices and training; in democratic, pluralistic and decentralised political practice. Very often you also have financial resources at your disposal.
I personally see tremendous opportunities in exploring this potential further. I know a lot has already been done and even more is ongoing; but I believe we need be more ambitious, both in qualitative as in quantitative terms. The draft opinion on "governance" provides a lot of interesting elements in this respect.
I believe it is time to expand twinning programmes between European local authorities and those in developing countries through a more structured framework. The Committee of the Regions can play a very useful role in this respect: by mapping out existing initiatives; by bringing together the those local authorities that are interested in working with the counterparts in the South; by organising a comprehensive "offer" of cooperation to those authorities in the South.
The European Development Days, which will be held in Lisbon in November this year, could constitute an important moment of reflection in how we could take such a process forward. The Commission will therefore be more than happy to invite you to this event.
- 3. Support more effective
The third element of response relates to the effectiveness of our support to local governments. Developing countries do not only want more aid. They also need better and faster aid. In Tanzania, for instance, there are not less then 600 projects of less than 1 million € each in the field of health care, most of them to combat HIV/AIDS. In Kenya, medicines are purchased simultaneously by 20 donors through 13 different procurement bodies.
This is not acceptable. Aid must help; it must not become a burden. If we really want to reduce poverty, we have to drastically cut red tape, burdens in aid delivery, caused by the need for developing countries to respond to a panoply of different donor requirements, rules and conditions.
It's exactly for these reasons that the May Council adopted a voluntary Code of Conduct for a better division of labour. The Code contains a number of operational principles which should guide donors' action. One key principle is that EU donors limit their involvement in a partner country to a maximum of three sectors. The first reactions following the adoption of the Code are hopeful. In Vietnam for example, the government has instructed all donors -and not only the EU- to apply scrupulously
the Code.
I hope all donors will implement the Code in the coming months and years. And this includes you as European regions. Many regions are indeed substantial donors. For some development aid is already a long tradition; they fund exchanges, or do classical development cooperation, they finance activities from their own budgets - sometimes with co-funding from other official sources. For others, the support is less ambitious and involves very limited financial commitments.
As much as I can encourage this type of aid -especially, as we discussed earlier, as it is accompanied with a transfer of your long-standing expertise-; as much we should respect the basic principles of aid effectiveness. We should be transparent and exchange information; we should align our policies on the partner country's priorities, we should improve coordination and respect ownership.
As direct aid from different European regions will expand these issues will become even more pressing. I would therefore invite you to utilise the Code of Conduct as a guideline for development cooperation in the partnerships you have with local authorities in developing countries). This would be a major step forward.
Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the end of this year, the Lisbon Summit will -so we hope- adopt a Joint Strategy for a stronger alliance between Europe and Africa. A large scale public consultation is on-going. If the EU Africa strategy of 2005 was unique in unifying Europe vis-à-vis the development challenges posed by Africa, the "Joint Strategy" is unique in developing a truly joint approach between the two continents: there is no precedent for this. An outline for this joint strategy has recently been approved in a
ministerial EU-Africa Troika meeting.
We have a major opportunity today of enlarging the traditional circle of governments and institutions and to build a genuine people's partnership, brining together businesses, trade unions, civil society groupings and local governments. I would invite you to take fully part in the consultation process and to share your opinion on how to take this process forward.
Your role is crucial. This Committee and all European local authorities can help Africa in building up capacity and help us reach out to our own citizens in Europe. You are by definition closer to the people than we could ever be here in Brussels. The complexities of globalisation and how it affects our citizens must be understandable to them; the commitments for increasing official development aid must be acceptable to them.
I believe we have all ingredients for a strengthened and fruitful collaboration.
Thank you.
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