to welcome that in December 2013 the European Council instructed the European Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to draw up an EU strategy for the Alpine region. This also significantly strengthens the role of the regions in the process of drawing up and implementing the Alpine macro-regional strategy;
to address multilevel governance issues, i.e. the involvement of the regional level on an equal footing, which, with strong support from the Committee of the Regions, was the driving force behind the establishment of the Alpine macro-regional strategy. This involvement on an equal footing must also be reflected in equal representation of regional interests in the main decision-making bodies of the Alpine strategy;
to address the scope of the Alpine macro-regional strategy, focusing on the area covered by the Alpine Convention and the actual Alpine massif. The strategic priorities should also be chosen in such a way that the interests of the core Alpine mountain regions most directly concerned are given a higher weighting than those of the neighbouring Alpine foothills with their major cities;
to call for an involvement of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in the Alpine macro-regional strategy, particularly given that two states - Switzerland and Liechtenstein - which are not EU Member States but are members of the Council of Europe are to be part of the strategy.
On 28 July 2015, the European Commission published a Communication and an Action Plan for the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP). The EUSALP focuses on three thematic policy areas: (1) economic growth and innovation, (2) mobility and connectivity, (3) environment and energy, and a cross-cutting policy area: (4) governance, including institutional capacity. The Action Plan identifies the objectives for the three thematic policy areas and formulates actions including examples for possible projects and indicators/targets to measure progress and achievements.
Whilst the Communication and Action Plan are in line with the CoR suggestions on the themes and actions to be tackled by the EUSALP, they do not mention the CoR suggestions concerning the area of application of the EUSALP and the relationship between the national and the local level.
Concerning the governance structure, the CoR proposal of establishing a rotating Presidency has been taken on board, whilst the proposal to create a coordinator position analogous to the TEN-T coordinator hasn't been considered. Instead, there will be objective coordinators in addition to the national coordinators, who will steer and coordinate the activities in the specific policy area across the area of application.
On 13 October 2015, a letter signed by Mr Cattaneo, Mr Van Staa and Mr Soulage was handed over to Commissioner Creţu highlighting the CoR policy recommendations that have not been considered in the Communication and Action Plan on the EUSALP, asking her to duly take into account these recommendations within the further development of the governance and management arrangements of the EUALP, in particular:
to provide specific provisions for the implementing methods that ensure that the regional level is involved on an equal footing with the national level, as required by the principle of multilevel governance set out in the Committee of the Regions' Charter;
the need to develop the right conditions so that local and regional authorities can run flagship projects and that European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation can be envisaged as instruments for implementing strategies within their own areas of competence;
to choose the strategic priorities of the EUSALP s in such a way that the interests of the core Alpine mountain regions are prioritised and that those of the surrounding areas and their cities are given appropriate consideration, so that relations between these regions can be of mutual benefit.
On 27 November 2015, the Council (Foreign Affairs) adopted its conclusions on the European Union Strategy for the Alpine Region. In the conclusions, the Council endorses the Strategy, as set out by the Commission's communication, and takes note of the Action Plan elaborated by the Commission. Inter alia, the Council calls upon Member States to set up an effective multilevel governance system for the implementation of the Strategy and to ensure that the partnership principle is respected and fully made operational, which is principally in line with the CoR position. However, the conclusions do not make any specific references to the governance structure and the implementing methods, as requested by the CoR. Concerning the relationship between the Alpine core area and the surrounding areas, the Council recommends that the EUSALP enhances solidarities and synergies between mountainous and non-mountainous areas, urban and rural areas and peripheral regions surrounding the Alps, thus not following the recommendation of the CoR opinion to prioritize the interests of the core Alpine mountain regions.
Le Comité des régions,
- souligne que ce sont les régions alpines elles-mêmes qui ont pris l'initiative de définir une position stratégique commune de l'espace alpin au niveau de l'UE, et que la stratégie alpine, qui a ensuite été élaborée selon un véritable processus ascendant, devrait intégrer le travail considérable réalisé grâce aux instruments de coopération transfrontalière disponibles dans la région alpine, afin de regrouper le vaste éventail de projets de coopération pour ainsi gagner encore en efficience et en efficacité;
- préconise une mise en œuvre flexible du champ d'application de la stratégie alpine, de manière à ce que la portée de la coopération stratégique soit déterminée au cas par cas, en fonction des besoins spécifiques du domaine d'intervention et compte tenu des relations fonctionnelles entre le centre de la région alpine et son arrière-pays;
- est favorable à ce que les priorités de la stratégie alpine soient définies de manière à ce que les intérêts des zones de montagne situées au centre de la région alpine soient prioritaires et ceux de l'arrière-pays et de ses villes pris en compte de manière appropriée, afin que l'interdépendance entre ces régions se transforme en avantage réciproque;
- demande que les modalités de mise en œuvre de la stratégie soient définies sur la base du principe de gouvernance à niveaux multiples inscrit dans la charte du Comité des régions pour la gouvernance à multiniveaux en Europe, en garantissant la participation des régions sur un pied d'égalité avec le niveau national, en fonction de leurs compétences respectives;
- plaide pour la mise en place d'une présidence tournante de la stratégie alpine et recommande aux régions et États membres de la stratégie de créer une fonction de coordinateur sur le modèle des coordinateurs du RTE-T afin de soutenir la Commission européenne et la Présidence et de permettre un ancrage plus solide de la stratégie au sein des institutions européennes;
- espère que la stratégie alpine reposera sur une meilleure coordination des fonds disponibles au niveau européen, national, régional et local, et invite la Commission européenne et ses services responsables à la fois des programmes opérationnels relevant des FSIE et des programmes de gestion directe à garantir, dans le cadre de leurs compétences respectives, la mise en œuvre des objectifs et des mesures de la stratégie dans le cadre de ces instruments et politiques.