Eurocommissaris Hübner (Regionaal beleid): succes van regionaal beleid door samenwerking Europa en lokale overheden (en)
Member of the European Commission i responsible for Regional Policy
Opening Speech on "Regional Governance in a Global context"
Conference "Regional Governance in the context of globalisation
Charlemagne Building – Brussels 11 May 2009
Ladies and gentlemen, honoured guests
I. Introduction
I am delighted to welcome you all here in Brussels for our conference on Regional Governance in a Global Context.
It is rare indeed that I have the opportunity to welcome in Brussels visitors from so far afield. You have come not only from the regions and the outermost regions of the European Union itself, but also from many other countries such as Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, Senegal or Burkina Faso.
This is the proof, if proof were needed, that there is much concern on a global scale with the kind of issues we are here to discuss together. As you know, the theme of the conference is that of how to address the imbalances that exist in standards of living and levels of opportunity between regions and how region governance can contribute to solve the huge global challenges that our societies are facing. My contacts and visits with governments outside the Union have revealed that there is much interest outside the Union in our regional policy (or cohesion policy as it is often called) and in learning in about how EU policy works. This, interest reflects the fact that this is a policy which is viewed as efficient, as it delivers value-for-money for the citizens and effective, as it provides concrete answers to the current economic and social challenges.
We are here to look at EU regional policy and the ways in which it might be useful for regional development in other parts of the world. But let me say that we are also here to learn from you and to develop a fruitful exchange of experience which will be rewarding for all sides. Indeed with many of you this exchange has already begun. As my friend and Nobel Prize winner Professor Michael Spence already pointed out back in October 2007, there is an increasing demand among our international partners to engage with the Commission in order to discuss policies that aim to produce a balanced territorial development. This goes for developing countries such as countries in Africa, as well as for countries that are experiencing rapid economic growth such as China, Brazil and Russia. All such countries share the concern to ensure that the benefits driven by this "catching up" growth are widely spread, and have looked at European Union experience when designing mechanisms that can help to achieve a better geographical balance and to mobilise the under-used endogenous potential, allowing more regions to contribute to overall growth. And let me add that the need to unlock the regional under-used potential has never been greater than in the context of the current international crisis.
Let me on this special occasion share with you my thoughts about two important messages I would like to convey: 1) Regions are increasingly becoming key actors in the global arena in order to deal with most of the economic, social and environmental challenges the world is facing today. I am firmly convinced that global challenges need regional and local solutions; in other words, as has been put forward by many multidisciplinary researchers, we need to think globally and act locally.
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2)In order to allow the regions to play an increasingly active role, a multi-level system of governance provides the right institutional answer, and the EU regional policy framework is the most outstanding example from which some lessons can be drawn.
II. Why regions are becoming key actors in addressing the global challenges
There are a number of factors influencing the increasing role of the regional level. One of the most important is globalisation and its effect on regional economies. Competition is increasingly taking place along regional lines in the world market. Regional economies are becoming nodes in global production networks and increasingly outward-looking.
The rapid emergence of new global actors poses serious challenges for European competitiveness. The challenges do not care about national, institutional or policy borders and they impact directly on regional and local communities. Many regions throughout the European Union have strong concentration of economic activity in sectors where competition from emerging economies is high. These are regions which need to diversify their economic structures into new, growing sectors, and modernise existing activities to move up the value chain.
In Europe the responses to these competitiveness and growth challenges were brought together in the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs in 2000. However, the Kok report in 2004 argued that one of the difficulties facing the Lisbon strategy was the lack of ownership at sub-national level. Many of the policy responses in the Lisbon framework need to be implemented at sub-national levels. The cohesion policy method addresses these issues. It is an investment policy based on multi-level partnership and allows for better targeting of Lisbon priorities, as it takes account of different situations and growth strategies of EU territories. Therefore it corroborates the fact that decentralisation towards the regional level is increasingly synonymous with effectiveness of structural public expenditure. The region or sub-region as a functional economic area therefore tends to be the most effective level to deliver regional and local public goods (such as urban, education, health and social infrastructure).
Moreover, when we look at other major challenges confronting us such as climate change and demographic trends, we see that they have a strong territorial dimension that requires action at regional and local level.
This is reflected in recent research which points to the key role of place-based policy approaches in capitalising on region-specific assets, such as knowledge, skills, specialisation, and on proximity between economic agents. These specific assets remain a significant source of potential productivity gain for enterprises as do localised knowledge spillovers in the form of inter-firm linkages or a versatile labour pool. This is notably the case for innovation, which is a process largely determined by local circumstances and can be a core driver of regional economic development: Regions are the scale at which interaction between economic actors, universities and research institutes takes place. Evidence suggests that there are strong advantages to a regional system of innovation that uses proximity to build trust-based relationships for risk-sharing and open and networked innovation.
Which aspects of the European experience can be useful outside Europe?
If the factors I have just described encourage us to develop our special European brand of regional policy, then the most relevant question is: Which aspects of the European experience can be useful outside Europe? Before answering, we do need to exercise caution in drawing conclusions from the European experience to apply to other countries. For instance, regional disparities in emerging countries can be very much greater than those experienced in Europe and the institutional context is very different (in the EU, regional policy develops in the framework of a single market and pooled sovereignty).
Still, we can draw a number of main lessons from our experience of implementing regional policy. And let me highlight that perhaps the most important of our lessons from regional policy is the importance of a multi-level governance system. Successful growth policies require the mobilisation of a wide range of actors at different territorial levels and the development of systems of multi-level governance. They allow for reconciling higher level priorities with local circumstances. The approach of European cohesion policy to multi-level governance is twofold, involving vertical and horizontal partnership. Vertical partnership refers to the involvement of statutory authorities at different territorial levels, including national and sub-national regional or local levels. Horizontal partnership includes the involvement of economic and social partners and civil society organisations representing specific interests and knowledge which regional policy cannot do without such as the environment. This multi-level governance has proved its value all over Europe and has become one of the cornerstones of European regional policy, making it uniquely effective. It is one of the aspects of our successful practice that we most confidently recommend as a model for others seeking to emulate Europe’s success.
And let me say that we are aware that decentralisation is the key factor for efficient multi-level governance, but our experience shows that the decentralisation of competences is not enough. It must be complemented by the adequate decentralisation of funds. Strong regions which are fully-fledged stakeholders of the policy, which have the powers and financial means to plan and manage its development programmes are more likely to develop quicker than the weaker ones.
Another lesson we have learned which arises from the rationalisation of the European Union budget system in the late 80s is the importance of stable budgets and coherent programming. The contribution of the European Union's unique seven year budgetary framework to the success of regional policy cannot be overstated. It allows a stable environment avoiding the short term fixes practised by some Member States who for political reasons cannot plan beyond their annual budget decision.
Let me now refer to a number of other lessons which have applicability far beyond Europe. The first would surely be the need for tailored strategies. The policy mix in each State and each region depends on the needs and potential on the ground. The soundest information on these needs and on the potential often comes from the local level. I would say this lesson is universally applicable.
When it comes to sharing experience, I am aware of the fact that the aspect of Europe's regional policy which is most in demand is the importance of cross border co-operation: A feature of EU Regional policy since the beginning, the encouragement of cross border, trans-national and interregional co-operation has yielded great benefits. On the one hand the ability to promote constructive contacts between regions along the EU's external frontiers has helped many candidate countries prepare for the responsibilities of EU membership. On the other hand co-operation between regions across the EU's internal borders has cemented relations between otherwise divided communities as we have seen most forcefully in the case of Northern Ireland.
But none of the lessons I have described would be very meaningful without taking account of the role of institutions. Institutional factors play a pivotal role in development. Regional policies would fail without an institutional framework conducive to effective public interventions. I would say that Europe has a particularly strong contribution to make to institutional development and capacity building in other parts of the world.
Our conference over the next two days will look at many of the issues I have raised. I am firmly convinced that the EU has a duty to offer its experience of running a successful regional policy to the whole world. In that spirit we have concluded Memoranda of Understanding in the field of regional policy with China, Russia and Brazil and, as from May, with Ukraine. In addition, the European Parliament decided on a one year pilot project for 2009 with the title 'Enhancing Regional and local co-operation through the promotion of EU regional policy on a global scale'. This pilot project includes the organisation of this conference in Brussels and a wide range of activities with regions in the emerging counties.
The programme for the event: We have three sessions in which the lessons and background theory of European Regional Policy will be discussed. The first is entitled 'Regional responses to global challenges' and will put forward selected experiences inside and outside the EU to do with strategic planning and an integrated approach to development. We will have speakers from China, Brazil and Canada as well as the London School of economics and the OECD.
The second session is devoted to 'The role of regional co-operation in a globalized world'. This will be chaired by Claudio Martini of FOGAR and the CRPM. The Director General for Development will speak together with representatives from the Canary Islands, Senegal and the West African Economic and Monetary Union. We will also have a speaker from the Organisation of Latin American Local Government organisations, speakers from the Assembly of European Regions and the United Cities and Local Government and from the Committee of the Regions.
Finally, the last session will deal with 'Regional Inequalities within emerging countries' and will be a chance to discuss different views of 'place based' regional development aimed at reconciling economic growth and poverty alleviation objectives. Here we are privileged to have the World Bank, the University of Leuven, the Russian Academy of sciences, the Brazilian ministry of national integration and the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
I look forward to all these presentations and wish you a solid and fruitful series of sessions and discussions over the next two days.
My thanks for your attention.