Tradities en verleden mogen democratie in Wit-Rusland niet verhinderen (en)

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COR/09/63

Brussels, 27 May 2009

Tradition and historical circumstances must not prevent Belarus from moving rapidly towards the development of a strong local and regional democracy

The role of local authorities in Belarus was the focus of a high level round table discussion on the EU's Eastern Partnership project and the future of Belarus-EU relations held at the Committee of the Regions' (CoR) headquarters on Wednesday. The round table was organised by the CoR and the Association of Local Development Agencies (ALDA) .

The discussion led to a very lively debate with the audience during which the difficult situation of local authorities in Belarus was tackled through a series of critical questions, answered by John Kjaer , Head of Unit responsible for relations with Belarus at the European Commission's DG RELEX, Istvan Sertö-Radics , Chairman of the CoR’s Commission for External Affairs, Ian Micalleff , President of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and CoR member, Antonella Valmorbida , Director of ALDA, Yury Ambrazevich , Minister -Counsellor at the Mission of Belarus to the European Communities and Miraslau Kobasa , Chairman of the Lev Sapieha Foundation.

On the development of local democracy in Belarus Mr Ambrazevich underlined that any reform in Belarus had to take into consideration the historical circumstances, which differ massively from other European countries. "Historically our system differs strongly from political systems in Western Europe, which have been polished for centuries," he said. "We are working on a new law on a reform of local self-government in Belarus and we consider sending our draft legislation for comments and advice to the Council of Europe. Any moves to create a new law should aim to improve the current system of local government in Belarus, which grew out of a particular historical situation. We do not want reform for the sake of reform."

Commenting on Belarus-EU relations, Mr Kjaer stressed that the EU's relations with Belarus were developing rapidly since the release of the last remaining political prisoners in August 2008. "We came to the conclusion that isolation had lasted a long time but had brought no results. It was important to create a positive momentum." However, he, also made it clear that "the political situation in Belarus as regards human rights, democracy and the rule of law remains under scrutiny and the EU will reassess the situation in the autumn." Mr Ambrazevich also highlighted the positive developments of the last two years, which he said were mainly due to the new approach from the EU, which replaced pressure and sanctions with a process of constructive cooperation, particularly within the framework of the Eastern partnership initiative.

Mr Micalleff , who had recently received the Chairman of the Upper Chamber of the Belarusian Parliament in Strasbourg, agreed that cooperation with Belarus had improved in recent years but insisted that major progress still had to be made to increase local autonomy in the country: "Democratic local self-government is the way to help Belarus' citizens to have a better life with more autonomy and more democracy, as well as better economic conditions and prospects. We need a straightforward dialogue with the Belarus' national authorities. This process is ongoing. It's a long journey but we are on the right path."

Mr Sertö-Radics presented the CoR position regarding the EU's Eastern Partnership initiative , which will be at the heart of a CoR seminar in Kosice , Slovakia, on 2-3 June and at a Forum during the next CoR Plenary session from 16 to 18 June in Brussels. Summarising the CoR position on relations with Belarus, Mr Sertö-Radics said: "Belarusian national authorities should set up a structured dialogue with sub-national authorities and civil society in order to strengthen democracy. My message to the Belarusian government is that they should involve local authorities and civil society in the Eastern Partnership project. The traditions and historical circumstances surrounding Belarus that have favoured centralism must not prevent Belarus from developing democratic local and regional structures which meet the standards established by the Council of Europe."

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The Committee of the Regions

Around two-thirds of EU legislation is implemented by local and regional authorities in the Member States. The Committee of the Regions was created in 1994 to give representatives of local government a say over the content of these laws. The CoR organises five plenary sessions a year, where its 344 members vote on opinions issued in response to proposed legislation. The European Commission, which initiates EU laws, and the Council of Ministers, which determines the final content of the legislation (usually in tandem with the European Parliament), are obliged to consult the CoR on a wide range of policy areas including the environment, employment and transport. The Lisbon Treaty will strengthen the position of the Committee of the Regions further. In future, the Committee must be consulted by the European Parliament on all issues that are important for regions and municipalities. The Committee can also appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it believes that an EU law violates the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers.

For more information, please contact:

Christian Gsodam

Tel. + 32 (0)2 282 21 21

christian.gsodam@cor.europa.eu

Chris Jones

Tel. + 32 (0)2 546 8751

christopher.jones@cor.europa.eu

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