news REGION MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF THE REGIONS OF EUROPE • 51 / DECEMBER 2018 Austrian‘s young people are very much interested in Save the date: 8th IRE-Expert Conference The future of Western ”Smart Regions“ 20 February 2019 Cultural Center Hallwang/ Balkans Salzburg, Austria 4 CoR-Working Group 6 Conference of the 7 Elections: Western Balkans: Austrian Presidency: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Territorial reform in Albania “Subsidiarity as a construction Hesse, South Tyrol, Poland principle of the European Union“ and Andalusia FOCUS 14th Conference of European Regions and Cities Oberösterreich. Land der Möglichkeiten. Manfred Weber Leading candidate of the EPP for the office of the EU Commission President 2019 Phoenix © MEHR WIRTSCHAFT. MEHR MÖGLICHKEITEN. Let us keep regions in the heart of Europe OÖ auf Innovationskurs When we talk about Europe, we talk a lot about identity. Re- economically advanced regions in Europe are on the national gions are the places where we take our first steps in the world, borders. Many regions like Rhône-Alps region, Lombardi, Lower where we grow up, where we define and shape our personali- Silesia, or my home region Bavaria, have only a real chance to Zukunftstechnologien, innovative Produkte und ties. Our identities are not simply based on national thinking develop thanks to Europe. and culture. European identity is much more than that. The Eu- Fourth, Europe means to live in safe regions. How else could in- Dienstleistungen sowie qualifizierte Fachkräfte sind ropean identity begins in our schools, during a chat at the usual dividual regions deal with the threats of terrorism or the exter- bar, passing the street in our hometown. Europe is deeply rooted nal problems with China and Russia? Europe shields the regions die Erfolgsfaktoren, um den Erfolgskurs des in our regions. Without regions, Europe would be homeless. It from an increasingly insecure world. Wirtschaftsstandortes Oberösterreich weiter fortzusetzen. is about feelings, community, participation, and responsibility – all of which we can learn in our regions. Without a communi- Some bureaucrats would say that we could only be efficient with Das Wirtschaftsressort des Landes ty, without regions, Europe falls apart. Therefore, it is precisely greater centralisation. Some business leaders would say that we unterstützt das in vielfältiger Weise. the combination of its regional diversity that makes Europe so would have much more economic success through greater cen- unique in the world. tralisation. I say, Europe is built on diversity, not on monotony. Everything that can be done better or just as well at local, regio- However, the relationship between Europe and its regions is a nal, and national level must be done at the lowest level possible. two-way love affair. Thanks to the regions, Europe is grounded, OÖ Leitprojekte in der Forschung That is why I ask for a competence check to determine which but thanks to Europe, regions can take off. I want to give you a level should be dealing with which political matter in Europe. few examples: Gründerstrategie „Start Up(per) Austria“ Let us keep the power of the regions. One of the battles that we We saw it in Jean-Claude Juncker’s recent proposal for the next fought and won in the European Parliament was to ensure that Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF): in Europe, we spend a it is not for the big companies to have a say about who provides lot of money on the development of our regions. The European Leitinitiative Digitalisierung the drinking water for the people, but it is the people, at the local Regional Development Fund is a key element for our policy re- level, who can take this decision on their own. garding the regions. We do not simply want to preserve the regi- Ausbau des ultraschnellen Breitbandes ons as some sort of history museum, as the populists would pro- Finally, let us put the region in the heart of European demo- bably do. We want regions to have a brighter future. We want cracy. Staying close to our citizens means staying close to our to have competition between regions. And we want to invest in regions. And that is why we, as parliamentarians, must stick to Pakt für Arbeit & Qualifizierung human capital and innovation, infrastructure and quality of the our homes, our constituencies, and forget about such abstract institutions. ideas like transnational lists. The future of Europe must be made by the citizens, in close contact to their elected representatives. Let me give you a second example: Europe means taking pride in our cultural roots. In a globalised world, this pride is more Bezahlte Anzeige I am a proud Bavarian. My nation is Germany and I am a Eu- needed than ever before. Only with Europe, we can preserve our ropean believer. These three elements belong together. Europe regional identities. has no future if it does not start from its roots. So let us keep re- gions at the heart of Europe. A third element: Europe means moving regions from the cor- ner to the centre. Most regional potentials would go to waste Excerpt from a speech by Manfred Weber on the future of Europe on 3rd of without connections in the European Union. Europe creates a May 2018. network of regions that can develop. In fact, some of the most www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at 2 newsregion 51 / december18 newsregion 51 / december18 3 Fotos: © pressmaster – stock.adobe.com, xiaoliangge – stock.adobe.com INS_Wirtschaft_297 x 210_NewsRegion.indd 1 25.06.2018 10:02:41 FOCUS FOCUS Western Balkans Western Balkans CoR-Working Group Western Balkans in Tirana: Territorial reform in Albania: Slow and cumbersome The Albanian territorial reform was the focus of deliberations of the Working Group Western Balkans of the ted by Bekim Murati, General Director of the Agency European Committee of the Regions (CoR), which met on 13th of November 2018 in the Albanian capital for the Support of Local Government, by Ms. Voltana Ademi, President of the Association of Albanian Mu- Tirana. Under the chairmanship of Franz Schausberger, representative of the state of Salzburg in the CoR nicipalities and Mayor of Shkodra and Adelina Far- and IRE chairman, the CoR members discussed with numerous national and local representatives of Alba- rici, Executive Director of the Association for Local nia the effects of the reform and its implementation. Autonomy of Albania. The position of the opposition was presented by Jorida Hasan Tabaku, Member of the Albanian Parliament. She mentioned opposition The Government of Albania since September 2013 competencies and allocating more public funds to concerns about the way the boundaries of the new started the process of an administrative and ter- them. In July 2014, the Parliament approved the law territorial units were drawn and says accusations of F.l.: Franz Schausberger, Senida Mesi, Deputy Prime Minister, Erion Veliaj, ritorial reform aiming the reorganization of local “On the territorial and administrative division of local gerrymandering have been rejected by the govern- Mayor of Tirana and Mario Mariani, EU-Delegation governments units, to empower local and regional government units” reducing the number of Local Go- ment. Still, certain electoral district boundaries seem governments by decentralizing more functions and vernment Units from 384 to 61 municipalities. This somehow strangely distorted without apparent em- law entered into force after local elections held in pirical reason, she said. June 2015, and since then the local government in Albania operates through 61 municipalities. The 61 Territorial and administrative reform in Albania, is new municipalities should have more opportunities proceeding slowly and has created confusion, a mis- to take part in international cooperation projects; sion of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of absorb more funds from EU and other donors; and the Council of Europe that visited Albania in 2016, enjoy larger bargaining power vis-à-vis the central said. The budget of the Albanian government does government, as well as a greater scope for inter-mu- not correspond to a net increase in the local autho- nicipal cooperation. rities‘ resources. The transparency of the grants- awarding process is a matter of concern because the For the first time in Albania the central government ‚Regional Development Fund‘ is essentially managed should be obliged to consult local government re- by the central government and thus suspected of presentatives regarding decentralization, local fi- political favouritism. An Italian study analyzing the nances and municipal functions. Through the newly historical development of local government and established Consultative Council of Central Govern- the territorial-administrative reform of 2015-2020 in ment and Local Self-Government both levels of Albania comes to the conclusion that the territorial authorities will be able to exchange and discuss any Dhurata Çupi, Member of Albanian Parliament, Voltana Ademi, Ma- and administrative reform has not generated the policies, laws or initiatives that affects local govern- yor of Shkodra, Franz Schausberger, Jorida Hasan Tabaku, Member expected results. Almost 90 percent of the revenues ment and communities. of Albanian Parliament still come from the central government’s unconditio- The Delegation of the European Union to Albania is nal transfers. Therefore, the Albanian Government supporting the consolidation of the Territorial and should build capacities and skills, and train the em- Administrative Reform in Albania, underlined Mario ployees of each level of government that currently F.l.: Franz Schausber- Mariani, Head of Cooperation, EU-Delegation to Al- benefit from international assistance. ger, Johann Sattler, the bania. Undoubtedly there is a lack of information about the Austrian Ambassador F.l.: Helmut Mödl- The consolidation of the newly established 61 mu- new competencies, considerable workforce reduc- to Albania and Helmut hammer and Franz nicipalities is an immediate and pressing priority tion, budgetary uncertainties and inherited financial Mödlhammer, former Schausberger pre- for ensuring a well-functioning local government burdens at the local level.