Transcript PowerPoint-presentatie

Baltic conference on European Union and
Local Government
Evaluation
Norbert Pijls
23 – 25 April, 2003
Riga, Latvia
Soup
Limitations
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Limited time for formulating results
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Limited perspective for formulating results
Expectations:
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General conclusions for the Baltics
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Points for further discussion
Objective 1
1.
Increased awareness in the Baltic States of the
influence of the EU on the local level
a) Improved knowledge of adoption and
implementation of the acquis communautaire at
the local level
b) Improved knowledge of EU Funds
c) Familiarity with lobbying for local governments in
the EU
Objective 2
2. Increased awareness of the need for local
governance reform in the Baltic States
a) Increased awareness about need for increasing
the administrative capacity of local governments
b) Increased responsibility of national institutions to
assist local governments on the implementation
of the acquis communautaire
c) Increased responsibility of national institutions to
assist local governments in acquiring European
Funds
1A:
Improved knowledge of adoption and
implementation of the acquis communautaire
General:
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Distinction between direct effect and indirect effect for
local governments.
Make information accessible for local governments
(information centres)
Article 10: Loyal co-operation is expected
Article 226: Member state liability (this also affects local
governments)
Key players and their roles
Committee of Regions is your representative player.
Agree on procedures for selection of representatives of
local governments
1A:
Improved knowledge of adoption and
implementation of the acquis communautaire
Procurement:
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EU procurement takes place in a glass house
EU public procurement breaks the tradition of home
supplier
EU public procurement leads to competition with foreign
companies
Local companies will go to court if necessary
Current public procurement legislation in the Baltics is
EU conform
Developing and implementing procedures at local level
will take time [and not always lead to good results]
1A:
Improved knowledge of adoption and
implementation of the acquis communautaire
State aid:
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State aid becomes problematic when it reduces the
freedom of competition and trade between member
states
Clarification is needed on state aid in relation to
privatisation of public tasks
Procedures need to be developed on how to inform the
EU commission on ‘local’ state aid
In case of uncertainty of possibilities of state aid notify
the EU commission.
1A:
Improved knowledge of adoption and
implementation of the acquis communautaire
Water management:
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Good maintenance of existing installations is a first step
EU conform water management starts with joint
development of planning strategies (scale, legislation,
institution building and economy [cost recovery])
National governments give no priority to water
management (nor in legal nor in financial terms). Local
government should put it on the agenda
1A:
Improved knowledge of adoption and
implementation of the acquis communautaire
Social Affairs and employment:
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Policies for social affairs and unemployment are unified
by a bottom up approach: open co-ordination method
Open co-ordination stimulates learning from other
countries
Develop capacity at local level for statistical analyses
Important problems in EU member states are mismatch
of demand and supply in the labour market and
insufficient co-operation between stakeholders to
overcome this gap
Reintegration is more difficult in the case of long term
unemployed, low education, alcoholism and an aging
population.
1B:
Improved knowledge of EU Funds
1. Pre accession funds
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Information on PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD widely
available
Absorption capacity seems to be sufficient.
There is however:
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A lack of good proposals
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A lack of project management skills at local level
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A lack of small local governments working together to
achieve funds
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A lack of familiarity with outsourcing
Competition within and between countries
The principle of jealousy
1B:
Improved knowledge of EU Funds
2. Structural funds
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Information on ERDF, ESF, EAGGF and FIFG not yet
widely available
Project Proposal Facilities are being made available for
local governments
The role for local governments:
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Project identification
Project development
Partnership building
Project management and monitoring
Co-funding, payments and financial control
Local governments need logical framework trainings
1C:
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Familiarity with lobbying for local
governments in the EU
Lobbying is the exchange of information
Lobbying is based on a network of changing coalitions
that try to exercise influence
Lobbying is 80% homework and 20% meetings
Effective and efficient lobbying for local governments
needs close co-operation (between local governments
and between local government associations)
Next step: representative office for the Baltic States in
Brussels?
2A:
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Increased awareness about need for
increasing the administrative capacity of local
governments
Administrative capacity is considered insufficient by
local governments in all Baltic States
– Lack of local expertise on legal EU issues
– Support from political and management layers is
prerequisite for change
– Supply and demand of training needs to be finetuned through co-operation between Training
Centres and Local Government Associations
– Stimulate amalgamation in Latvia and Estonia
2B:
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Increased responsibility of national
institutions to assist local governments on
the implementation of the acquis comm.
In all Baltic States local governments need
more assistance of central government
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Associations fulfil a central role in opening
communication channels
Loc. Gov. EU Information desks at national level
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Provision and pre-selection of information
Assistance to local governments with advice
Answering questions
Maintain and broaden network of expertise
2C:
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Increased responsibility of national
institutions to assist local governments in
acquiring European Funds
National government is aware of need for assistance but
needs information for defining role of local governments
Local governance should be mentioned as key issue in
National Programming Document and Single
Programming Documents
Local governments associations should lobby for both
Timely preparations of projects for local governments
needs timely information from central government on
programme requirements and deadlines
Co-operation between national and local governments is
needed to find sufficient sources for co-financing
Establish a national EU information centre for local
governments that provides info. on EU funds