Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe
Chamber of Regions
Council of Europe/Conseil de l’Europe
F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Tel : +33 (0)3 88 41 20 00
Fax : +33 (0)3 88 41 27 51 / +33 (0) 3 88 41 37 47
http://www.coe.int/cplre/
INSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEE
CHAMBER OF REGIONS
AGENDA of the meeting which was held in Strasbourg
on 24 November 2003
09.00 am – 12.00 pm – Room 7
1. OPENING OF THE MEETING BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE
2. ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA
3. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (29 October 2003)
List of decisions: 29 October 2003
4. PREPARATION OF THE AUTUMN SESSION OF THE CHAMBER (25 November 2003)
Autumn Session programme
5. ORGANISATION OF THE FUTURE WORK OF THE COMMISSION
5.1 Colloquy on regionalisation in Ukraine (Kiev, 3-4 December 2003)
Draft programme
Information on the progress of the project by the Secretariat and by the Ukrainian delegation.
5.2 Report on regional fiscal policies in Europe
Rapporteur: M. Roberto RUOCCO (Italy)
Introduction statement by M. SEMMELROGGEN, Expert
Information on the progress of the project by the Rapporteur and by the Secretariat
Discussion
Conclusions by the President
6. DEVELOPMENTS IN REGIONAL DEMOCRACY AND IN REGIONALISATION IN THE MEMBER STATES
6.1 Regional democracy in Hungary
Follow-up given to Recommendation 116 (2002) of the CLRAE
Speech delivered in the Chamber of Regions on 20 May 2003 by Mr Tibor Pál, State-Secretary, Ministry of the Interior, Republic of Hungary
Information on recent developments the members of the Hungarian delegation
6.2 Reform of the regional structures in Romania
Information by the Secretariat and by the Romanian delegation on the follow-up given to the Sinaïa Colloquy concerning the regional reforms in Romania
Sinaïa Conclusions
6.3 Challenges of regionalisation in South-Eastern Europe
Information document prepared by Ms CUK, Political Advisor and Deputy to the Head of the Council of Europe Belgrade Office
Exchange of views on recent developments
Preparation of a final document
Discussion on the preparing of a future report
6.4 Creation of English regions
Information presented by M. SHAKESPEARE (United-Kingdom)
6.5 Contributions and proposals by interested delegations
7. REGIONS WITH LEGISLATIVE POWERS
7.1 Conference on the constitutional status of the regions in the Russian Federation and in other European countries - the role of regional legislative bodies in strengthening “Unity in diversity” (11-12 July 2003, Kazan, Russian Federation)
Results of the Conference [Final declaration]
Information by the Secretariat
7.2 4th Conference of the Presidents of Regions with legislative powers
Salzburg, 11-12 November 2003
Conference programme
Results of the Conference
Information by the Secretariat
7.3 Meeting of the Working Group in Salzburg on 12 November 2003 and on 27 June 2003, Paris
Draft agenda
List of decisions
Information by the Secretariat
8. WORK AND STUDIES UNDER THE AUTORITY OF THE COMMITTEE
8.1 Analytical study of the structures and competencies of European regions with legislative powers
a. Status of the Crimea (Ukraine)
Statement presented by Mr BATALIN, Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Vice-president of the Committee on Social Cohesion of the Chamber of Regions
Exchange of views on the follow-up to be given
b. Status of Gagauzia (Moldova)
Information by the Secretariat
8.2 Institutional progress at European Union level
Repercussions of the work of European Convention on regional self-government
Report on the present state of discussions on a European Constitution
Information by the Secretariat
Discussion
Conclusions by the President
9. HEARING OF THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH INSTITUTES SPECIALISED IN REGIONALISATION AND FEDERALISM
The institutes taking part in the Hearing:
Austria :
Institute of federalism (Innsbruck)
Statement by Dr. Peter BUSSJÄGER, Director of the Institute
Germany :
European Centre for Research on Federalism (Tübingen)
Statement by Dr. Rudolf HRBEK, Speaker of the Board of the Research Centre
Hungary :
Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Science
Statement by Prof. Ivan ILLES, Former Director-general of the Centre
Russian Federation :
Kazan Institute of Federalism
Statement by Dr. Rafael KHAKIMOV, Director of Scientific Programs of the Institute
Annual report
Switzerland :
Institute of Federalism of Fribourg
Statement by M. Nicolas SCHMITT, Research Director
Questions/answers
Exchange of views on the prospects for the setting-up of a European network of specialised institutes
Conclusions by the President
10. WORK OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF INTEREST FOR THE COMMITTEE
Information by the Secretariat on the reports under preparation
Report on “Positive experiences of autonomous regions as a source of inspiration for conflict resolution in Europe” presented at the June Session 2003 by M. GROSS (Switzerland), Rapporteur of the Committee on Political Affairs
11. WORK OF THE ASSEMBLY OF EUROPEAN REGIONS (AER)
Activities of the Committee on “Institutional Affairs” of the AER
Information by the Secretariat
12. PREPARATION OF THE INSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE CONGRESS
12.1 Draft agenda
12.2 Proposals for possible working terms of reference for future activities of the Committee to be discussed by the Institutional Committee of the Congress
13. OTHER BUSINESS
14. DATE AND PLACE OF THE NEXT MEETING
STATEMENT by Dr. Rafael KHAKIMOV
on the meeting in the Council of Europe (24.11.2003, Strasbourg)
«The Kazan Institute of Federalism» is the autonomous noncommercial nongovernmental organization. It was established in 2001 with the purpose of studying conditions, problems and prospects of federalism in Russia and distribution of received results of researches among interested persons, organizations and a wide public. In Russia there are no other independent specialized research institutions studying problems of federalism in view of interests and problems of regions. The research centers in Moscow carry out, basically, orders of federal authorities.
A long time ago Kazan became a center for holding conferences on the problem of prospects of federalism in Russia, as the Republic Tatarstan is one of initiators of state’s federalization.
Work of Institute is carried out on the following directions:
research of problems of development of federalism in Russia;
propagation of an international experience of federalism in Russia;
formation of a culture of federalism in Russian society and new generation of experts in a field of a law and public policy;
establishment and support of scientific inter-regional and international communications.
Now the Institute finishes a realization of the project «Perspectives of federalism in Russia: experience of comparative research» under the grant allocated by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur’s Foundation (USA). The purpose of the present project – in view of international legal experience – to give a forecast of the most probable scripts of development of federal attitudes in Russia in conditions of a new allocation of political forces and to finish this information with politicians and structures which influence decision-making or directly of the decision make in the field of the state construction of the Russian Federation.
At conferences and seminars of Institute scientists, statesmen, foreign experts take part. A number of expert estimations affected decisions of federal authorities on questions of prospects of federalism in Russia, understanding of a mechanism of a self-management, and also a status of subjects and their mutual relations with the center.
The Institute issues a magazine «Kazan Federalist» and has a website in the Internet www.kazanfed.ru.
Perspectives of federalism in Russia
After 12 years of reforms – as well as before their beginning – there are not clear prospects of development of Russia statehood. If to start with a real political situation the following ways of development of Russia are more probable:
- return de facto to a unitary state,
- continuation of federalization and decentralization of a state system.
Behind each of these scripts real political forces cost, which nature’s research and potential opportunities is one of the most actual problems, both theoretically and practically.
The majority of representatives of scientific community and experts mark that a continuation of federalization is optimum for development of Russia. However the problem that a federal way is not unequivocally determined therefore is required display of a big political will for realization of this purpose.
