ASSEMBLY OF EUROPEAN REGIONS: DECLARATION ATTACKS DWINDLING FUNDS FOR AUTHORITIES.

The Assembly of European Regions (AER), which counts 250 regions from 26 European countries among its members, is calling on national governments and European institutions "to respect the principle of subsidiarity, by implementing an EU consultation process which genuinely includes the regions at the early stages of the policy formulation process and by granting the regions the right to bring an action before the European Court of Justice". In the Wielkopolska Declaration the AER adopted at its general meeting in Poznan on November 27 and 28, it also calls on the European institutions and states to allow the regions to be fully involved in managing European funds and to lend support to their administrative and legislative capacities. The AER points to the "the grave implications" of constantly dwindling financial resources available to local and regional authorities, and the potential...