DRAFT MINUTES of the Meeting in Strasbourg on 10 March 1989
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*** * * PACECOM078101 * * COUNCIL * A * CONSEIL OF EUROPE * * DE L'EUROPE Parliamentary Assembly Assemblee parlementaire Strasbourg, 15 March 1989 CONFIDENTIAL AALPRIXPV2.40 AS/Loc/Prix (40) PV 2 COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, REGIONAL PLANNING AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize DRAFT MINUTES of the meeting in Strasbourg on 10 March 1989 PRESENT MM AHRENS, Chairman Federal Republic of Germany JUNG, President of the Assembly France HARDY, Chairman of the Committee United Kingdom Lord NEWALL (for Lord Kinnoull) United Kingdom MM THOMPSON United Kingdom VARA Portugal ZIERER Federal Republic of Germany APOLOGISED FOR ABSENCE MM ALEMYR Sweden BLENK Austria Mrs BROGLE-SELE Liechtenstein MM CACCIA Fulvio Switzerland LACOUR France ROBLES OROZCO Spain 20.455 01.52 Forty years Council of Europe Quarante ans Conseil de I'Europe AS/Loc/Prix (40) PV 2 - 2 - The meeting was opened by Mr Ahrens, Chairman, at 9.30 am. 1. AGENDA [AS/Loc/Prix (40) OJ 2] The draft agenda was adopted. 2. MINUTES [AS/Loc/Prix (40) PV 1] Mr Thompson said that the minutes eroneously stated that he had attended the meeting. Amended in this respect, the draft minutes of the meeting in Aalborg on 22 August 1988 were adopted. 3. EUROPE PRIZE, PLAQUES OF HONOUR, FLAGS OF HONOUR AND EUROPEAN DIPLOMAS a. Consideration of candidatures for the Europe Prize The Chairman reminded members of the principle of the Europe Prize, which was awarded annually to a community which had already received a flag of honour and had been a regular candidate for the Europe Prize. Mr Ahrens went through the 13 candidatures proposed by the Secretariat and suggested that the prize be awarded either to the Italian municipality or to one of the French municipalities. This would achieve the desired geographical distribution. Mr Hardy agreed and proposed the municipality of LUCCA, in Italy, which he preferred to a French municipality. The Italian municipality's candidature seemed particularly deserving. The Chairman agreed and proposed that the sub-committee forward Lucca's candidature Lucca to the plenary committee. Agreed. b. Consideration of candidatures for plaques of honour The Chairman pointed out that candidates have to be chosen from the list of candidates for the Europe Prize. For financial reasons, he thought it desirable to limit the number of award-winners. Mr Zierer wished to know whether a municipality which was awarded a plaque would remain in contention for the Europe Prize. The Chairman said that it would. Mr Thompson said that the list of twelve candidates was too long, and that it would not reflect well on the public image of the prize if too many plaques of honour were awarded. He believed that four or five prize-winners would suffice. - 3 - AS/Loc/Asa (40) 1 the role of the tourist industry in the economic and social development of mountain regions; the increasing need of Europeans for relaxation and unspoiled nature, particularly in mountain regions; the dangers of the tourist industry for the natural environment and way of life in mountain regions; the importance of protecting the landscape or using it carefully with full regard for the balance between man and nature which is always delicate. This report was adopted unanimously by the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities, presented to the Parliamentary Assembly, and adopted by the latter on 3 July 1974, with Resolution 570. The Assembly particularly insisted on the role of Alpine regions in any comprehensive scheme for regional planning in Europe and on their special importance for purposes of recreation, communications and trade and the regeneration of natural resources. These functions fully justified the emphasis laid by the Assembly on the need for bilateral and multilateral transfrontier co-operation between states, regions and peripheral local authorities in Alpine regions as a way of solving problems of general concern. Alpine regions should become a kind of European pilot zone for transfrontier co-operation, on the understanding that the preparation of binding legal instruments would help to facilitate such co-operation in legal terms. The Assembly was also of the opinion that certain questions called for international co-operation at Alpine and even European level, particularly: establishment of the European network of trunk communications, with a view to securing both North-South and East-West trans- alpine routes; alpine research, glaciology, alpine meteorology, forecasting of avalanches and defence against them; civil defence and disaster relief; alpine cartography and cartographic inventory of Alpine regions, particularly those which are threatened by avalanches. Finally, the Assembly considered that the various projects then under way should be synthesised. This was expected to be one of the practical results of the Conference of Alpine Regions. » In Order No. 362 (1977) on regional planning, the Parliamentary Assembly instructed the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities to initiate consultation of the representatives of the various socio-economic groups and the authorities responsible for planning and nature conservation in Alpine regions. AS/Loc/Am (40) 1 - 4 - In implementation of these intructions, the committee decided to co-operate with the Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe in organising a conference of Alpine regions, to be attended by local and regional authorities, experts and representatives of the European organisations and various interest groups. The conference was to discuss: a. the main problems which arise in Alpine regions, including the possibility of reconciling the needs of economic and social development with the protection of an irreplaceable natural heritage; b. the possibilities of promoting co-operation between Alpine regions to ensure improved management of this area-, its integration within a consistent European regional planning scheme and its function as a forum for trade and contact between Europeans. The conclusions of the Lugano Conference were submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in a report by MM Ahrens and Baumel in January 1979. The Assembly's own strategy was formulated in Resolution 687, adopted at the end of the debate, which laid particular stress on the model role of Alpine regions in any overall regional planning programme in Europe, thus fully justifying their European function. Referring to the final Lugano Declaration, the Assembly endorsed the affirmation of the dual role of the Alpine range as a living space for its inhabitants and a heritage for all Europeans. It also observed that tourism and agriculture cannot on their own provide enough jobs, and that there is a need to develop industry in a small number of suitable centres and encourage handicrafts. The major hazards threatening the ecological balance of the Alps should be combated by means of a policy aimed at protecting water and forestry resources (the disasters of last summer have clearly shown how serious the threat is, and that protection policies have not always been given the attention, or funds, they deserve). Finally, the Assembly Resolution also pointed out that other mountain regions, above all the Pyrenees, should be enabled to take advantage of the experiences gained in the Alpine range and called for a conference to be organised to allow all mountain regions to exchange their views. Although we have had to wait rather longer than the authors of the Assembly Resolution anticipated, the fact that this exchange of experiences is finally taking place, here in Trent, is to be welcomed. The suggestion that other mountain regions, and above all the Pyrenees, should be able to take advantage of the Alpine experience was also taken up by the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) which, in conjunction with the Assembly, organised the Jaca Conference in June 1982. In addition to its main objective of mobilising regional energies for close and systematic transfrontier co-operation, as occurs in other frontier regions, the Conference also outlined the specific socio-economic problems faced by the Pyrenees, and set out in its final declaration, the instruments of a new policy based on transfrontier co-operation and the correction, by substantial investment in communications infrastructure and active support of traditional activities, of the structural weaknesses affecting most of the region. - 5 - AS/Loc/Am (40) 1 Once again, the results of the conference were the subject of a report presented by Mr Ahrens and myself, as well as an Assembly debate in January 1983; they were also reflected in Resolution 791 which welcomed the fact that the Jaca Conference had constituted the starting point for genuine interregional co-operation through the setting up of a working community of Pyrenean regions. Another specific initiative regarding mountain regions was the report on transalpine traffic (Doc. 5610) which drew attention to the growing problems of traffic, especially road traffic, through the Alps, and the serious damage this causes to the beauty of the Alps and the Alpine environment, as well as the barely tolerable burden it imposes on. the local inhabitants. In its Recommendation No. 1041, adopted in 1986, the Assembly urged that freight should gradually transferred from road to rail and that railway lines through the Alps should be modernised rapidly so as to provide a service at least comparable with that offered by road transport. In its various reports on the environment (water and air pollution, forest dieback etc), the Assembly has frequently drawn attention to the special problems of mountain regions and their fragile ecological balance. The sociological, ecological and economic problems of mountain regions will also be on the agenda of a hearing entitled "A new management approach for rural areas", to be held in Strasbourg from 5 to 6 September under the auspices of the Parliamentary Assembly and the CLRAE. - 11 - LISTE DBS DECISIONS La Sous-commission du Prix de 1'Europe de la Commission de 1'environnement, de 1'amenagement du territoire et des pouvoirs locaux, reunie le 10 mars 1989 a Strasbourg, sous la presidence de M.