Conference Of European Regions With Legislative Power

The Conference of European Regions with Legislative Power (RLEG) is a political network and joint initiative of leading regions in Europe with legislative power, their own system of government, parliament and head of government. It primarily consists of representatives of regional governments from European Union (EU) member states. The countries of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are members of the conference, and although located in Europe, they are no longer part of the European Union. It is not a formal EU institution, and only 73 regions of 8 member states participate.

Background

The Conference of European Regions with Legislative Power advocates for a system of multilevel governance across the European Union (EU) by advocating for co-responsibility in the integration process. The body suggests that this would ensure the "precise application of the decentralised dimension of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality".

The network aims to bring together the regions across the European Union and continental Europe who hold legislative powers with devolved systems of government which hold legal competencies that have been created as a result of the political and constitutional mechanism of the member states of the European Union in which the region is part of. In the case of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, these three countries are no longer part of the European Union, following a United Kingdom wide decision to leave the European Union in 2016.

At a point, the regions part of the conference accounted for 56% of the total population of the European Union.

History

Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies

On 7 October 1997, the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE) was established in Oviedo, Spain, following a period of meetings to enhance European roles for regional legislatures.

Three precedents were the founding principles:

* "The Declaration of the Assembly of European Regions (Basle, 1996) in its article 12.1 proposed mechanisms for contact between the European Parliament and Regional Parliaments, considering that they are institutions representing the direct will of citizens"
* "The Stuttgart theses, developed in May 1997 during an International Conference organised by the Landtag of Baden-Würtemberg in collaboration with the European Centre for Research on Federalism of Tübingen, on the role of Regional Parliaments of the European Union in European policy"
* "The Declaration signed by Germany, Austria and Belgium in October 1997, referring to one of the Stuttgart theses on the principle of subsidiarity established by the Maastricht Treaty. This declaration predicated the extension of this principle not only in the relationship between the Union and the Member States but also the Lander and other Regions considering that they have been attributed legislative power assigned by the national Constitution"

The Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies serves as a conference of the seventy-four presidents of the regional legislative assemblies across continental Europe and European Union member states. The current composition of Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies is made up of representation from the parliaments of the Spanish communities, Italian regional councils, the federated states of Germany and Austria, the Portuguese regions of l'Açores and Madeira, the countries of the United Kingdom with devolved national parliaments – Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Ǻland Islands in Finland and Belgium community and regional chambers.

Conference of European Regions with Legislative Power

Following the Barcelona Conference held in 2000, six presidents (heads of governments of the membership regions of the conference) were appointed to manage the network which was agreed following the conference held in Barcelona. The six members responsible for managing the network following the Barcelona Conference were Baden-Württemberg, Catalonia, Scotland, Tuscany, Tyrol and Wallonia. Flanders spearheaded discussions around the creation of a political declaration by Bavaria, Catalonia, North-Rhine Westphalia, Salzburg, Scotland, Flanders and Wallonia and defining regions with legislative power as "regions having a legislature as defined in Article 3 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights".

In November 2002 during a meeting of the conference held in Florence, the REGLEG conference called for greater roles and representation of regions with legislative across the European continent in regards to the European Union. Previously, in 2001, the European Council adopted the Laeken Declaration as part of the Convention on the Future of Europe which acknowledged the enhanced roles regions of Europe with legislative power could have in regards to decision making across the European Union. The European Commission formally recognised the White Paper on Governance which highlighted the role regions of Europe with legislative power and own system of government could. As a result, the European Commission formally recognised the "enhanced inclusion of the sub-national authorities can contribute to the quality of European decision- making" and called on each of the member states of the European Union to suggest how relations and decision making processes between the European Union and regions with legislative power can be improved.

Leadership

* 2003–2004: (Jack McConnell)
* 2010–2011: (Jean-Luc Vanraes)
* 2011–2012: (Michael Häupl)

Membership

* All 9 states of the federal republic of Austria
* All 5 regions and communities of the federal kingdom of Belgium
* Ã…land, an autonomous region of Finland
* All 16 states of the federal republic of Germany
* All 20 regions of Italy
* The two autonomous regions of Portugal: the Azores and Madeira
* All 17 autonomous communities of Spain
* The three countries of the United Kingdom with devolved governments and legislatures – Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

Members

See also

* Committee of the Regions
* Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

External links

Conference of European Regions with Legislative Power

Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE)

regleg.eu

References

{{Regional organizations
Regions of Europe
Politics of Europe
Politics of the European Union