PLATFORMA annual forum declaration

On 2-3 April PLATFORMA organised a forum focused on the partnership between local governments and civil society. At the occasion of this event the partners gathered within PLATFORMA adopted a political position.

This declaration highlights the position of the network regarding the Commission proposals on the European development policy for the next programming period (2014-2020). These proposals will be discussed between the European Parliament and the Council until summer 2013.

In the declaration, local and regional elected officials, representatives of local and regional authorities in Europe and from other regions of the world:

• Welcome the fact that the communication “An Agenda for Change” of October 2011 confirms the recognition of LRAs in development ;
• Call for support for decentralisation and local governance being made a cross-cutting priority in all EU development programmes ;
• Welcome the proposal to continue the Non-State Actors and Local Authorities programme ;
• Regret and express concern at the fact that the preparatory consultation for the Communication of October 2012 exclusively concerns civil society organisations ;
• Request that the partnership of PLATFORMA with the European Commission’s DG DEVCO and the European Parliament’s Development Committee in particular be consolidated ;
• Call on the EU to strengthen political dialogue with LRAs and civil society organisations, in particular by ensuring that there is a regular exchange between the EU Delegations and LRAs along with their representative associations at the level of each partner country.

Our political advocacy is comlemented with technical work on the Commission proposals for the Instrument for Develpment Cooperation (DCI), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (IEDHR).