Union of Cyprus
Municipalities
International Relations
The Union of Cyprus Municipalities is a member of
the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and is
represented in the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) and the Committee of the Regions of the
European Union (CoR). It is also a member of the Standing Committee for
the Euro Mediterranean Partnership of Local and Regional Authorities (COPPEM),
a founding member of the Network of Eastern External Border Regions (ΝEEBOR)
and it recently became a member of the Association of European Border
Regions (AEBR) and the Assembly of European Regions (AER). Finally it is
also actively involved in European programmes.
Council of
European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions
was founded in Geneva in 1951. Today, it is the largest organisation of
local and regional government in Europe; its members are national
associations of towns, municipalities and regions from over 35 countries.
Together these associations represent some 100,000 local and regional
authorities. The Union of Cyprus Municipalities became a member of the
CEMR in 1990 and is represented to its Policy Committee by two members.
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Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
(CLRAE)
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
succeeded the Conference of Local Authorities of Europe (created in 1957)
as a Council of Europe consultative body in 1994. It has 315 full members
and 315 substitute members (2 year mandate), representing over 200 000
European municipalities and regions. Cypriot Local Authorities are
represented to the Congress by 3 full and 3 substitute members.
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Committee of
the Regions (CoR)
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the political
assembly that provides local and regional authorities with a voice at the
heart of the European Union. It was established by the Maastricht Treaty
and became operative in March 1994. Cypriot Local Authorities are
represented to the CoR since May 2004 by 6 members and 6 alternate
members.
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Standing Committee for the Euro Mediterranean Partnership of Local and
Regional Authorities (COPPEM)
Upon the initiative of CEMR (Council of European
Municipalities and Regions) and ATO (Arab Towns Organization), the
Standing Committee for the Euro Mediterranean Partnership of Local and
Regional Authorities (COPPEM) was established on the occasion of the 1st
Plenary Assembly of its Members (Palermo, 27-28 November 2000). In
December 2002, on the occasion of the 3rd Plenary Assembly, the COPPEM
non-profit international association was formally adopted. The Union of
Cyprus Municipalities is a founding member of COPPEM.
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Association of European
Border Regions (AEBR)
The official foundation ceremony of the Association
of European Border Regions took place in Bonn in September 1971. AEBR is
the only European regional organisation that specifically deals with
cross-border issues. The Association represents the interests of border
and cross-border regions at European and national level and deals with
regularly recurring issues of cross-border cooperation as well as current
themes in Europe and their effects on cross-border cooperation. The Union
of Cyprus Municipalities became a member of the AEBR in 2006.
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Assembly
of European Regions (AER)
Created in 1985, the Assembly of European Regions
is the political voice of the regions and the key partner for the European
and international institutions on every issue of regional competence. The
AER promotes subsidiarity and regional democracy and enables the regions
to form the essential link between the European Union and the citizens. It
supports the diversity of the regions and translates this diversity into a
strength. The Union of Cyprus Municipalities became a member of the AER in
2006.
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Network of Eastern
External Border Regions (ΝEEBOR)
The Network of Eastern External Border Regions is
an interregional and bottom-up initiative that aims at increasing
cooperation between the regions of the eastern external borderline of the
European Union. It became operative in December 2005 and the Union of
Cyprus Municipalities is one of its founding members.
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Grants, Funds
and Programmes of the European Union
EU
Grants and Programmes has been an important point of interest for the
Union of Cyprus Municipalities during the past years, particularly after
the accession of Cyprus to the EU in 2004.
More precisely the Union of Cyprus Municipalities:
- Promotes the participation of Municipalities
in European Programmes and Initiatives through organising informative
seminars and the diffusion of information with regard to open Calls for
Proposals
- Convenes regular meetings of Municipal
Officers for EU affairs in the framework of a special Network that has
been set up by the Union of Cyprus Municipalities, aiming at the
exchange of opinions with regard to concrete needs for financing through
European programmes
- Submits proposals for the participation of
its members in Calls for Proposals of programmes such as Leonardo da
Vinci, Youth etc.
With regard to Regional Policy and the Structural
Funds, the Union of Cyprus Municipalities:
- Participates on behalf of its
Member-Municipalities in the Follow-up Committees for Objectives 2 and
3, Equal and the Cohesion Fund for the current Programming Period
2004-2006, where it follows the progress of work for projects approved
in the framework of the Structural Funds (European Regional Development
Fund and European Social Fund) for Cyprus.
- Participates and represents the
Municipalities to the Steering Committee for the Interreg IIIA/Greece -
Cyprus Initiative in which financing proposals are presented and
approved.
- Participates in the process for the
finalisation of the New Regional Policy and the Structural Funds for
period 2007-13 and it is a member of the Advisory Planning Committee
which discusses the National Strategic Documents for the new Programming
Period.
- Cooperates with the
Planning Bureau of the Republic of Cyprus, which is the responsible
Government Body of Cyprus for the Structural Funds and other Funds,
Grants and Programmes of the European Union.
Furthermore, the Union of Cyprus Municipalities
also participates in the Follow-up Committee of the Rural Development
Plan, where it monitors the work done in the framework of the Common
Agricultural Policy that relates to the development of rural areas.
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