Working Group on Turkey to discuss participative local democracy and gender equality strategies

Members of Committee of the Regions are meeting Turkish local and regional representatives in the city of Giresun on the Turkish Black Sea coast on November 25th. The CoR Bureau Working Group will discuss the state of ongoing accession negotiation talks between EU and Turkey and their impact on local and regional authorities. The negotiation chapter on regional development was opened in November 2013.

Participants will be welcomed by the chair of the working group Heinz Lehmann (DE/EPP), member of Sachsen State Assembly, and Kerim Aksu, Mayor of Giresun. Andreea Schmidt, Deputy Head of Political Section of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, and CoR member Arnoldas Abramaviāius (LT/EPP), Mayor of Zarasai District Municipality, will also express their views on the territorial dimension of the accession negotiations.

This will be followed by a debate on participative local democracy, which will count with the participation of Veli Ağbaba, member of the Turkish Parliament Responsible for Local Authorities (CHP), Recep Şahin, Deputy Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, David Simmonds (UK/ECR), Member of London Borough of Hillingdon and Rafet Vergili, Mayor of Karabük.

Promotion of gender equality strategies by sub-national authorities also figures on the meeting agenda. The progress report on Turkey issued by European Commission in October 2014 takes note of encouraging trends that include the increased number of women in the labour market and their progress in securing better education and training. In the political field, number of female candidates in the March local elections increased and three metropolitan mayor posts are now held by women. The debate will include a presentation from Doreen Huddart (UK/ALDE), Member of Newcastle City Council.

Turkey, which started accession negotiations in 2005, remains an important partner for the European Union due to its dynamic economy and strategic location. In its progress report European Commission pointed out that active and credible accession negotiations provide the most suitable framework for exploiting the full potential of EU-Turkey relations and that EU should remain an important anchor for Turkey's economic and political reforms.

See the meeting agenda for more information

The CoR's Working Group on Turkey:

The Working Group on relations with Turkey was set up in December 2006 to ensure that the CoR and the Turkish local and regional authorities are involved in the enlargement process in particular with regards to the implementation of the acquis communautaire at regional and local level. Through this Working Group, the CoR also intends to foster permanent dialogue with local and regional political representatives in Turkey, and encourage the organisation of debates on the enlargement process in the cities and regions of both the EU and Turkey.

The Working Group is composed of 12 CoR members and meets twice a year with its Turkish counterparts. The participation of local and regional representatives from Turkey varies according to the topics discussed and the place of the meeting.