THE VALENCIA APPEAL

                                                       18 Juanuary 1996
 

AUTOR : COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS
                                                 European Section of IULA

WE, THE MAYORS AND POLITICAL LEADERS OF CITIES AND MUNICIPALITIES, PRESIDENTS OF COUNTIES, (DEPARTEMENTS,
PROVINCES) AND REGIONS OF EUROPE,

Welcome the determination of the governments of Europe shown by the organisation of the intergovernmental Conference, to continue the construction of the
European Union. We believe that Europe can only be built with the full consent and participation of its citizens and with the support of the European Parliament. The
European Union must have a strong identity, simple political structures and efficient means as well as open and transparent decision making.

We welcome the advances made in the Treaty on the European Union which introduced the concept of European citizenship and recognised the role of local and
regional authorities in the formation and the implementation of European policy through the creation of the Committee of the Regions.

We call on the Intergovernmental Conference to use the next stage of European development to bring the Union closer to its citizens by defining their fundamental
rights and by clarifying the functioning of European processes, and by including in the Treaty:

   1.a guarantee of the right of citizens to manage a substantial share of public affairs through locally elected assemblies, by incorporating the principles of the
     European Charter of Local Self Government;
   2.a broader expression of the principle of subsidiarity and its application to recognise the place of local and regional government;
   3.a basis for partnership between the various levels of government where local and regional authorities have responsibility for implementing European policy;
   4.a greater measure of organisational independence and a guarantee of the democratic legitimacy of the Committee of the Regions which should become an
     institution with a fair and balanced representation of local and regional authorities in each member state to ensure its effective contribution to European
     policy-making.

We wish the governments of Europe assembled in the Intergovernmental Conference every success in shaping a future Europe which can advance with the
confidence of its people.

FONTE : http://europa.eu.int/en/agenda/igc-home/eu-doc/regions/ccre2en.htm