regional institutions in europe / stefan elsing

7/27/2019 Regional Institutions in Europe / Stefan Elsing

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Regional Institutions in Europe

Input to the discussions in the frame of the workshops from the

members of the Regional Development Councils (RDC) in Moldova

October 2013

Stefan Elsing

Dipl.-Ing.

Spatial & Regional Planning

GIZ-expert, Modernisation of Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova



For the purpose of these workshops for the RDCs in Moldova

not only those States with well-established regional level

government and administration like Poland or Germany are of

interest!

In particular countries without regional self-governance - including,

Latvia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia

etc. - may be even more interesting to be analysed as potential

benchmarks

... hand ou ts!!!



Vertical State organisation in Europe

There are basically three types of vertical State organisation in

Europe:

1. Federations,2. Regionalised States and

3. Unitary States.

A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the

central government is supreme and any administrative divisions

(subnational units) exercise only powers that their central

government chooses to delegate.



Federation: Germany, Land Brandenburg

...



...



Joint Spatial Planning for the region

State planning – that’s the superior, supra-regional and interdisciplinary planning

for the spatial development of a federal state. In Berlin and Brandenburg, these

planning activities are performed with joint responsibility of two federal states.

Since 1996 the Joint Spatial Planning Department of Berlin and Brandenburg (GL – Gemeinsame Landesplanungsabteilung) has been responsible for regional

development and state planning in Berlin and Brandenburg.

The Joint Spatial Planning Department creates important fundamentals for

promoting growth and developing the infrastructure in the entire region.

In cooperation with the institutions of technical planning, the local authorities and

the citizens, the joint spatial planning department prepares future-oriented

framework conditions of regional planning for the development of the capital region.

...



The Joint Spatial Planning Department prepares state developmentplans and partial plans of the state development programme being the

framework for state development.

• The state development programme (LEPro 2007)

• The state development plan of Berlin-Brandenburg (LEP B-B)

• A partial state development plan (LEP FS) focussing on the new airport

BBI was prepared that entered into force on 16 June 2006.

• The plans focused on former brown-coal mining sites and on their

rehabilitation are elaborated as spatial and objective partial plans by thestate planning authority and are adopted by the Brandenburg state

government as legal provisions.

...



The Joint Spatial Planning Department ensures the adaptation of the

master development and town planning schemes in Berlin and

Brandenburg

• to the objectives of

regional development and thus

• focuses on the implementation

of the State Development Plan

at municipal level.

In order to check the spatial

compatibility of big projects of

spatial importance the Joint Spatial

Planning Department performs

regional planning procedures.



Structure of the Joint Spatial Planning Department

Head of department;

Permanent deputy of

Unit GL 1 Strategic Planning and Law

Unit GL 2 European Spatial Development

Unit GL 3 State Development Programme and Regional

Development Plans

Unit GL 4 Regional Development and Structural Policy

Unit GL 5 Implementation of the Regional Development Plans ·

Northern Region

Unit GL 6 Implementation of the Regional Development Plans •

Southern Region, Brown Coal Areas



Regional Planning inBrandenburg

Regional planning translates

the provisions derived from the

state development programmeand the state development

plans into

the regional plan.

...



Institutions

The Regional Planning Associations are the supporting organisations in

the Brandenburg State. The administrative districts and autonomous

municipality authorities within the region are members thereof.

The Regional Assembly is the decision-taking body of the Regional

Planning Association.

It consists of

• a maximum of 40 “born” regional counsellors: from the county

commissioners and the mayors of the autonomous municipality

authorities, also the mayors of municipalities with more than 10,000inhabitants;

• Representatives of chambers, associations and others associated with

the development of regional institutions - as non-voting, advisory

members of the regional assembly.



Institutions

The regional board

• … performs the duties assigned by the regional assembly.

• Members: chairman of the Regional Planning Association and the other

members of the Regional Board elected by the regional assembly.

The Regional Planning Offices

• … act as offices/ secretariats of the planning associations.

• They prepare the regional plans and present them for the purpose of

decision-taken by the bodies of the regional planning associations.



Optional :

• Regional Plans,

• Regional Development Concepts

• ...



Ensuring regional planning is realised by three tools in the planning region of Berlin

– Brandenburg that are regulated in the regional development act and in the stateplanning contract:

1. Adjustment of urban land-use planning to the objectives of regional

development by building law. In order to guarantee the municipalities contact

the Joint Spatial Planning Department at the beginning of a procedure on urban

land-use planning to get to know the objectives of regional development for therespective planning zone. If a municipality in Brandenburg does not fulfil its

obligation to adjust the state government may request the municipality, under

certain preconditions, to prepare or modify urban land-use plans.

2. The prohibition of spatially important planning processes and measures by the

Joint Spatial Planning Department toavoid that the implementation of efficienttargets of regional development or of those ones being under development are

rendered impossible or essentially aggravated.

3. As regards planning procedures and measures that might be spatially important

in the individual case and that are of supra-regional importance (e.g. trunk

roads, high-voltage overhead lines, shopping malls) the Joint Spatial Planning

Department performs regional planning procedures.



Ensuring targeted planning and spatially related actions requires detailed

knowledge of the current spatial structures and forecasts regarding

spatially efficient development processes. .

Regional Development Report

Spatial planning registers

Regional Monitoring

http://gl.berlin-brandenburg.de/imperia/md/images/bb-gl/raumbeobachtung/ew_entwickl2008_1990.jpg



Regionalised State: UK, England

Interesting due to recent developments ...

Devolution – assymetrical regionalisation ...

Localism instead of regionalism;

National planning principles instead of

regional coordination




Before (until 2011):

Responsibility for achieving the government’s regional development

targets: Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)

Nine regional ministers appointed to strengthen the links between the

central government and the regions in England.




Regional Assemblies in the eight plus one regions

Role included

• checking their regional development agencies;

• integrating policy development and enhancing partnership working atthe regional level across the social, economic and environmental policy

agenda;

• carrying out a wide range of advocacy and consultancy roles with UK

government bodies and the European Union.

• Acting as a Regional Planning Body with a duty to formulate a Regional

Spatial Strategy including Regional Transport Strategy, replacing the

planning function of county councils.

But: public profile was low!




The Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) are / were councils (!)

• made up of local business representatives and members of public

commissions

• appointed by the central government.

RDAs were to set strategic priorities and allocate funding

But: had to take central government policy objectives into account andmeet performance targets set by central government.

RDAs were seen as crucial to vertical and horizontal co-ordination of

Regional policies, as well as having responsibility for managing the 2007-

2013 ERDF programmes.




Now (since 2011):

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – and Local Development

Frameworks in conformity with the NPPF

A Minister of State for Decentralisation was appointed with the mandate to

progress the coalition government's commitment to giving away power.

Responsible for decentralisation and localism: “Department for Communities and

Local Government"(DCLG)

The "Structural Reform Plan" sets out how the Department's activities over the

period to 2015 are expected to put decision making in the hands of local

authorities, and to make central and local government more transparent.




Now (since 2011):

The Localism Bill abolished the 8 RDAs outside London as well as the

London Development Agency (LDA), whose functions and assets will be

transferred to the Greater London Authority (GLA).

By March 2012, responsibility for economic development and regeneration

was passed onto successor bodies, including LEPs and central

Government departments, mainly the DCLG.

For the operation and delivery of the ERDF, the purposes and tasks of the

RDA will be taken over by the DCLG.




Now (since 2011):

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP)

• are newly created business/local authority partnerships with private

sector chairs;

• Are involved in planning and investing in projects such as enterprise

support, infrastructure and transport;

• Take over many of the RDA's activities.

Some functions will remain nationally-led, e.g. business support,

innovation, low-carbon economy, but these will take into account LEP

capabilities and priorities.




Now (since 2011):

No regional ministers - the new government plans to boost the role of

elected local authorities in supporting local economic recovery and growth

rather than through regional or national bodies.

New rights and powers to allow local communities to shape new

development by coming together to prepare neighbourhood plans.

Conditions are:

• they must have regard to national planning policy

• they must be in general conformity with strategic policies in the

development plan for the local area (i.e. such as in a core strategy)

• they must be compatible with EU obligations and human rights

requirements.



Unitary States: Latvia

... Most similar in terms of structure, financing, cooperation with national

and local levels

Division into 5 statistical regions:

• the Riga region,including the cities of Riga and Jurmala

and the district of Riga;

• regions of Vidzeme, Kurzeme,

Zemgale and Latgale)

This division aligns best with the

NUTS level 3 regional criteria.

It is closely based on the administrative territorial division of Latvia during

the first period of independence.




The National Regional Development Council shall perform the following

functions in respect of regional development, spatial planning and land

policy:

• evaluate policy planning documents and draft regulatory enactments in relation

to regional policy, spatial planning and in the field of land policy;

• evaluate regional level planning documents, and facilitate their mutualcompatibility and co-ordination with State level policy planning documents;

• examine reports regarding the course of the implementation of regional policy,

spatial planning and land policy and provide proposals for the improvement of

the referred to policies;

• evaluate proposals regarding regional development support measures and

reports regarding the effectiveness of the implementation of the relevantmeasures, ensuring the mutual co-ordination of regional development support

measures;

• evaluate criteria for the territorial division of regional development support

measure financing; and

• perform other functions prescribed by regulatory enactments.




5 planning regions were established for the development planning

purpose [Regional Development Law, latest amendment: 8 November 2007 ].

Planning regions are secondary or derived public persons which act on the

regional administrative level.

The decision making body is planning region development council.

It is elected by the general meeting of all local self-governments' chairman

in the planning region from the deputies of the respective municipalities.

The Chairman of the Planning Region Development Council is elected from

the elected members of the council.




The planning region's functions are

• to ensure development planning of the region,

• coordination, cooperation of the municipalities and other public

institutions,

• manage and control the preparation and implementation of development

programmes and spatial plans;

• evaluate correspondence of the national plan, national development

plan and sectoral development programmes with the planning region's

documents;

• evaluate project applications of the local authorities and private persons

for the regional development state support and give resolutions on them.




Planning region development council confirms planning region's

statutes and budget.

It has rights to develop, reorganize and liquidate planning region's

institutions and to delegate its functions.

The Chairman of the planning region development councils or their

representatives have rights to take part in the work of the National

Regional Development Council.

Planning region development council meetings are open and

representatives of state administration institutions, nongovernmental

organizations, entrepreneurs and other planning regions' municipalities

can participate in the meeting.




Planning Region's Cooperation Commission is developed in every

planning region to ensure coordination and cooperation with the national

level institutions and planning regions in the implementation process of the

regional development support activities.

The Commission's meetings are open and representatives of the planning

region development council and cooperation coordinators of ministries

participate in them in this way ensuring information exchange between the

planning region and the respective ministry.

Planning Regions are active Partners in many international cooperation

projects, ...




Regional Development Law:

Relevant sect ion s in the hand outs!

regional institutions in europe / stefan elsing

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