Prepared by: Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives Studio Metropolitana Nonprofit Kft. Budapest 2010.
PROPOSAL
For the establishment of a Budapest-Ulm-Wien EGTC
Ulm (Federal Republic of Germany) Budapest (Republic of Hungary) Wien (Republic of Austria)
Preamble Joint objectives: Ulm-Vienna-Budapest and the Danube Strategy The representatives of the countries along the Danube adopted a joint declaration in March 2006 in Budapest, in which they expressed their intention for cooperation for harmonising the development plans and territorial policies of the region, as well as for remedying the problems along the Danube within the framework of an international partnership and strategy. Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy through her 2008 initiative also favoured the drawing up of this strategy as soon as possible. Partially due to this, the member states concerned - Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria – adopted a cooperation agreement on 6 May 2009 in Ulm. The purpose of the agreement was to assemble the strategy involving the countries along the Danube, the Danube Strategy, based on which, in the new budget period starting in 2014, the developing “Danube Region” can be defined as a joint European research and development region. In the spirit of this, the Council of the European Union in their June 2009 sitting asked the European Commission to prepare the strategy and by this lay the foundation for a new EU macroregional strategy.
the importance of sustainable economic developments as well as strengthening a Danube identity and cooperation. The EGTC Regulation is one of, as regards its legal framework, already existing implementing tools for this latter topic. By recognising the opportunities of this legal background, Ulm initiated the establishment of an EGTC organisation, which would realise the advantages of forming the Danube Strategy within the framework of a trans-national cooperation. The initiative is remarkable, with regards to a question of such gravity, as no attempts have yet been made for the establishment of a trans-national EGTC organisation. Assessing the geopolitical position of Hungary, its extensive centuries-old political, economic and cultural relations with numerous states in the Danube region, its unique hydrographic position (the only state along the Danube with its full territory being in the catchment basin of the Danube), and not least the elaborate national legislation for EGTC and the experience in establishing EGTC organisations, Budapest as the managing centre of this organisation could significantly promote the implementation of these now coalescing ideas.
With this, Hungary emphasising that the Hungarian EU presidency due in the second half of 2011 treats the Danube question as a priority, prepared and submitted the “non-paper”, forming the foundation for international negotiations, to the European Commission. The document raises attention to the questions of nature protection, energy supply, social-economics, food production and security of supply in the Danube region;
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1.
The EGTC as the tool for planning and implementation
The Road to the EGTC
The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation 1082/2006/EC on a European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation (EGTC) on 5 July 2006. The EGTC Regulation is a very important stage of the process. The essence of this process is the gradual institutionalisation of cross-border cooperation. The initially informal cross-border cooperations have been increasingly formalised: they started to perform tasks and functions, in respect of which, due to their peripheral location, they were in a disadvantaged position. Through the INTERREG initiative the European Union also provides the financial conditions for these functional cooperations. The preparation of the EGTC Regulation was necessary exactly for the reason of these cooperations also requiring the legislative background necessary for
stability. This was indicated by solutions such as Eurodistrict along the French borders and agreements as that of Karlsruhe or Brussels. These agreements as well as the second optional protocol to the Madrid Convention made the establishment of associations with legal personality with a cross-border nature possible. The next stage of the process was the EGTC Regulation, which ensures legal personality of the organisations managing the cross-border cooperations as binding rules, in all of the member states of the European Union.
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2.
Significant elements of the EGTC regulation
The most significant provisions of Regulation 1082/2006/EC adopted on 5 July 2006 by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are:
Master documents The EGTC shall have a Convention and Statutes (the latter also contains the full text of the Convention); the content of these documents is specified in accordance with the Regulation;
Members An EGTC can be established by minimum of two EU member states and the entities within their territories (primarily settlements as well as regional authorities and local governments – thus public entities), however the territorial entities of non-union (third party) countries can also join (but not the third countries themselves!) subject to certain conditions;
Organisation The minimum number of bodies that need to be established are the Director and the General Assembly, however the members may agree upon the establishment of further bodies and institutes Head office: in the territory of one of the member states
Applicable law, subjection, legal remedies If any of the member states becomes a home member state, they shall provide the most extensive legal capacity for the EGTC according to their national law; Applicable law: 1. EC Regulation, 2. Relevant legislation of the home member state, 3. Convention, Statutes,
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4. Legislation of a territory within a given member state with own legislation (e.g. province) (however still with consideration to the constitutional law of the given member state) In the case if the limited liability of an entity wishing to join arises for any of the member states (usually for the protection of public funds managed by them), the given EGTC organisation is registered as an organisation of limited liability (in this case the other member as well as members can be free to decide whether to limit their own liabilities); Legal remedies: 1. in disputes between members: Community legislation, or if they do not provide for the specific case, the competent courts of the home member state;
2. in disputes between members and a third party: the competent courts of the member state providing rights of appeal under their constitution for the third parties;
Establishment, termination Establishment: from the part of the member states the approval procedure is mandatory for the admission of all future members to the EGTC organisation, whilst the registering procedure only takes place before the designated body of the home member state; Termination: in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention, with the decision by a competent court and authority, as well as on the initiation of another competent body of the member state.
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3.
Actions to be taken for establishing the EGTC
3.1. Summary table for establishing the planned Budapest-Ulm-Wien EGTC
OPERATION
REGISTRATION
PREPARATION
Abschnitt
Name of activity
Content of activity
Analysis of needs and objectives
Defining motivation, identifying needs, defining mission statement and objectives, outlining tasks, competitor analysis etc.)
Territory
Defining the operational territory (and its expected expansion)
Members
Defining potential (founding and joining) members, assessment of their professional, political, administrative and financial background;
Legal and professio- Overview and comparison of the relevant legislation of member states, as well nal implications as that of territories within member states with own legislation Head office, subcentres
Designating a head office and “sub-centres� from Community policy, organisational effectiveness and legal aspects
Convention
Drawing-up of the draft Convention (synchronise content of general nature, nomenclature etc.)
Statutes
Defining the details of the operational process (bodies and competencies, decision making procedure, working language(s), work organisation, supervisory bodies etc.)
Member decision on The decision of the member candidates and their bodies authorised for this admission purpose on the admission, adoption of the draft then final version of the Statutes and the Convention Foundation
The members shall sign the Statutes and the Convention previously approved by their bodies authorised for this purpose, define their personal and professional requirements regarding the director and work organisation, decide to issue an invitation for applications for the post of director
Approval
Requesting approval from the designated bodies of the member states and of territories within member states with own legislation
Registration
Registration procedure before the authority specified by law in the home member state, with the attaching approvals of the member states
Publication, information providing
The competent member states and the Committee of the Regions shall be informed regarding the commencement of operation, as well as a publication shall be submitted to the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
Arrangement of em- Selection of the Director, admission of the members of the work organisation ployment Obtaining identification data
Requesting identification numbers (tax number, bank account number etc.) necessary for operation
Holding the first General Assembly meeting
Establishing other bodies, committees etc. of the EGTC, taking the fundamental strategic decisions as well as the operational decisions of the initial period
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Considering that the establishment of an EGTC organisation today is not yet a routine procedure, furthermore the member states concerned are not all neighbouring countries (trans-national cooperation), the contribution of professionals experienced in the establishment of EGTCs is essential for managing the founding process. One of the most important issues of the establishment process is that in regard to the objectives set and the tasks that can be undertaken, which member state is designated for the head office of the EGTC by the founding members. Although the answer in the business environment is primarily defined by the joint economic, management and legal (within this the economic and tax law) aspects, in the case of EGTCs it is determined by the following:
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embryonic EU regulation (the reviewing of the Regulation and a potential legislative amendment is only scheduled for 2011); only a few EGTCs have been established so far and as a result, there is a lack of experience (no really large projects as yet have been managed to completion by an EGTC organisation), as well as
the
lack of regulations at national and sub-national level (independent territorial) necessary for the effective application of the Regulation
The primary criteria (condition) for selecting the location of the head office has to be the existence of the relevant national regulation, as well as the availability of expertise obtained in the field of the operation of EGTC organisations.
3.2. Proposal for the applicable law The legislation underpinning the establishment of the planned EGTC, with special consideration to the majority of those applying the legislation are entities subject to foreign national legislation, has to fundamentally ensure the following conditions: 1. 1.Rapid lawful establishment 2. Legal certainty extending to the entire duration of the organisation 3. Controls supporting the development of the operation of the organisation (e.g. to prevent the initial as well as transitional difficulties and failures of the social -economic cooperation becoming reasons for termination) 4. Exemption from the possibility of political intervention (central government) The fulfilment of these criteria can only be ensured, if in the legislative hierarchy the higher level (law) and detailed legislation are drawn up and the competent authority is preferably elected from the independent judiciary. The examined German and Austrian EGTC im-
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plementation rules are currently not amongst the most elaborated regulations, some of them not containing more than 8-10 lines.
the framing of the discretionary powers of the court (e.g. in case of applications not assessed, after 30 + 8 days the EGTC by the operation of law is formed).
The main aim of the German regulation is to ensure the designation of a competent authority by minimally complying with the specifications of the Regulation, whilst the slightly more complex regulation of Vienna for the time being only exists in a draft form.
An additional and valuable aspect of the Hungarian regulation is that it contains the greatest number of legal guarantees in order to enforce the professional aspects of the Community, eliminating as much as possible potential intervention of a political nature. Alone in Europe, it has appointed the competent authority not from the executive but from the judicial power.
However it can be said that the description of the process of formation and the determination of the powers of the competent authority is sketched out in both cases. Their regulations for management audit for the time being are not comparable with the process regulated in detail by the Republic of Hungary and based on regular inspections. The advantage of the Hungarian regulation is undoubtedly its maturity and its detailed high level (by law) development, as well as the development of the exact regulation of procedural deadlines and
With consideration to all these factors, the recommended and applicable law for the EGTC to be established under is the Hungarian national EGTC regulation, through which Budapest is an obvious choice for the head office of the EGTC. For approval of member participation in Germany there is a designated Freiburg authority, whilst in the case of Vienna, the urgent adoption of the necessary provincial legislation is necessary.
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4.
Organisational recommendations
The EGTC regulation only specifies minimal organisational conditions, allowing a wide margin for different innovative organisational solutions. Due to the characteristics of the planned EGTC we propose the establishment of a multi-level institutional background, which takes into consideration: the regional weight of the three founders and their consequent interests the requirements of new players appearing through the expected further extension operational deficit resulting from geographical distances the variety of the planned functions.
4.1 Functional separation A major advantage of the EGTC is that it can employ its own workforce and maintain separate institutions. The costs of employment and the operation of institutions can be borne jointly by the members. They can also assign the employees themselves, thus the presence of members in each institution can be ensured. The potential tasks of the planned EGTC: programme management: management of com-
prehensive development programmes created within the framework of the Danube Strategy, manage organisational tasks; project management: implementation and management of specific comprehensive projects; running of the institution: long-term operation of programmes and institutions or quasi-institutions, networks, workshops etc. established as a result of the projects (sustainability criteria); establishment and operation of professional networks and cooperations; performing daily tasks associated with the day to day operation of the EGTC. In addition to these tasks the EGTC has to be able to make decisions and the process for managing the EGTC shall also be specified. Based on this, the clearly distinctive task levels are as follows: 1. political level: decision making, management, socialisation; 2. strategic level: programme management, management of the institution, operation of professional networks and workshops; 3. administrative level: carrying out daily operational tasks, project management.
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4.2 Territorial separation
al networks and workshops through the strategic centre, as in this way direct feedback can be established between the design of the programmes and the professional implementation.
It is recommended to establish the administrative centre of the EGTC at its head office, as it is easier to maintain liaison with the competent authorities. The same can be said regarding project management, as it is more logical to coordinate the implementation of tenders to be submitted by the EGTC from the head office. The location of the administrative centre cannot be changed, as it is not possible to transfer the head office of the EGTC to another country. By transferring the head office, the given EGTC ceases to exist.
The venue for the strategic centre can be chosen as required, in any case, the EGTC cannot participate as tenderer in programmes managed by the EGTC.
The strategic level has to be developed completely separately from the administrative level. The organisational level appointed with project coordination cannot be responsible for managing the programmes and cannot act as a tenderer and a managing authority at the same time. It is also preferable to manage the operation of profession-
The socialisation of the cooperation represents another political layer. Since civilian organisations and private individuals cannot be members of an EGTC, the cooperation will be characterised by a kind of democratic deficit from the beginning, which needs to be treated within the framework of a comprehensive socialising programme.
The political level involves several tasks. It represents the operation of the decision making bodies of the EGTC. For daily operation, the director responsible for the administrative level shall be given sufficient authority, to ensure that the managing body does not have to be convened too frequently.
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4.3 PROPOSAL fOR ThE ORGANISATIONAL STRuCTuRE Of ThE PLANNEd EGTC Organisational structure
Political level GENERAL ASSEMBLy
BOARd
Strategic level
strateGiC Centre
NET WORK POINT
Administrative level
NET WORK POINT
NET WORK POINT
NET WORK POINT
administratiVe Centre dIRECTOR
AdMINISTRATION
PROjECT MANAGEMENT
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Explanation of the figure
a) Political level Within the meaning of the EGTC regulation it is mandatory to establish a General Assembly. The General Assembly is made up of individuals representing the members of the EGTC. The political representation of the EGTC is performed by the Board (the establishment of which is optional), who also heads the General Assembly. The Board may express the equality of the founders in several ways: it can operate as a body of equal
members, with
identical rights and duties; it can divide the representative tasks between the members of the board in a thematic way (as in a government); according to a rotational principle the members may replace each other in a yearly or two yearly cycle in the positions of chair and vice chair.
b) Strategic level It is recommended to establish a strategic centre (optional body) to promote the successful professional work of the EGTC, for coordinating the joint developments and programmes as well as carrying out planning work. It is important for the colleagues of the centre to also demonstrate in their composition the transnational nature and professional diversity of the initiative. The work of the strategic centre can be supported by the professional networks and work-
shops covering the entire Danube basin that perform consultancy tasks in some of the subregions. The newly joining towns along the Danube could also be considered as head offices of each of the network points; with this the territorial coverage of the EGTC would also become functionally more complete.
c) Administrative level The Director is the person appointed (mandatory) with the external representation of the EGTC as well as the management of the operation of the EGTC at operational level. The work of the Director is supported by an administrative organisation. This organisation can operate as a directorate (in this case the Director of the EGTC exercises the rights of an employer) or the task can be outsourced to an external work organisation, even subcontracted. Since the EGTC will also implement its own projects in the future, at the administrative head office it is recommended to establish a project management, which prepares and implements the tenders. This organisation also carries out income generating activity ensuring the sustainability of the EGTC. It is recommended to assemble a diverse team with respect to nationalities covering the Danube basin, significantly simplifying the administration of affairs and for making the appropriate connections. At the same time it expresses the most important message of the Danube concept, the destined interdependence of the nations living here.
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5.
Why EGTC? Why now?
5.1 A joint organisation is already necessary for the preparatory stage
contact points. It is obvious that the currently existing conceptual agreement during the implementation of the Danube Programme will bring competitive interests to the surface, which will need to be managed in a joint forum.
a) Bring appropriate capacities into play An essential criteria for the successful implementation of the Danube Programme is to improve the resource absorption capacity of the SoutheastEuropean region concerned. According to the principles of the European Union policy for cohesion, the emerging regions will receive a greater share from the financial framework provided by the programme, than the competitively more developed western regions. This makes it essential for the less developed regions to be able to apply for these resources with appropriately elaborated projects. Experience however shows that it is exactly these regions that are lacking the resources for developing such elaborated projects. Therefore the background capacity necessary for project development must be already ensured at the preparatory phase for ensuring successful implementation..
b) Joint coordination The Baltic examples show that even planning must be managed at a transnational level, adjusting the concepts of the regions, towns and states to one another. This way agreement regarding the joint projects can be ensured. A forum needs to be set up for this purpose, which is able to articulate the different interests, organise round-table talks, mobilise active organisations in the regions and coordinate the cooperation of towns and national
c) Appropriate information flow, ensuring equal opportunities for all of the players The Baltic example demonstrates that communication has a central role from the preparatory phase onwards. If the later implementers are not included in the preparatory works, an information vacuum occurs, endangering the success of implementation. By applying the principle of subsidiarity it is possible to manage this risk factor. This is supported by the need to develop information management during the planning period, which in turn is able to supply the appropriate information to the different level governing-managing bodies.
d) A well operating multi-level management structure from the beginning of the Danube Programme Successful implementation of the Danube Programme is unthinkable without the appropriate preparation of the implementation process. An international laboratory in addition to being able to mobilise appropriate capacities for elaborating projects, integrate different national and regional interests and ensure a smooth flow of information, also enables the development of a stable and multilevel transnational structure, which supports the seamless execution of the Danube Programme in the implementation period.
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5.2 The EGTC is the best tool Based on the following we consider the EGTC the most suitable institutional solution for carrying out the planned tasks. a) In contrast with other legal personalities, the EGTC was specifically created by the European Union for receiving and managing territorial co-
c) The EGTC today is one of the most innovative institutional initiatives of the European Union. The decision makers and experts of the EU like to collaborate with innovative organisations that by their existence express perfectly the EU’s mission in regards the elimination of borders. d) An EGTC is able to guarantee the smooth operation of the bottom-up (local, regional, national and European Union stakeholders), the top-down (Brussels requirements, local implementers), as well as the horizontal (integrating the preference ordering of stakeholders) communication. e) An EGTC established in the planning phase is able to ensure continuity in the implementation phase, show consensus in principle, the utilisation of energies in multiple level governing and overall the successful implementation of the Programme. f) An EGTC is the only community tool today, which makes the equal and proportionate representation of participating local governments possible, as well as the joint financing of tasks and the transfer of authorities.
operation resources. During the programme cycle starting from 2014 the EGTC will be the appropriate solution for the management of crossborder operational programmes and projects. b) An EGTC is suitable for programme and project management at the same time, thus in both the preparatory (until 2014), and the implementation (after 2014) periods it is effectively able to influence or even coordinate the execution of planning and management tasks.
g) An EGTC is suitable for operating the institutes and potential joint enterprises established during the implementation of the Danube Programme by joint financing. h) An EGTC is able to effectively represent the joint interests of the members to external players, amongst them to the institutes of the European Union. i) It is expected that the resulting EGTCs will develop independent network cooperation on the continent, which will give professional and political weight to initiations of this type.
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The past 30 years of cross-border cooperation regulation shows that an EGTC is the tool of the future.
Budapest, by recognising this, carried out preliminary consultations regarding the establishment of the Danube Magistrale EGTC. The planned EGTC can be created in two stages: as the first stage, the three initiating cities (Ulm, Vienna-Bratislava twinned cities, and Budapest) founds it as an organisation for managing coordination, as an open structure, and to which, the players along the Danube who are already participating in different networks, can join in the second stage. The draft for the establishment of the EGTC was prepared by Budapest and the Hungarian capital will substantially take over the operational costs of the new organisation in the first year. The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Municipalities have expressed their support for the initiative.
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6.
Costs
The development of an EGTC and its operation in the planning period can be solved with relatively favourable financial conditions. In the implementation period however, when the EGTC contains an entire network, it can only be operated as a significantly larger organisation, for which the resources could be provided jointly by its extending members and EU resources. The operation of the planned EGTC in the first year requires the following costs to be covered by the founding members. The
personnel costs of a Task Force office with five members (including the director of the EGTC); Rental charges for the office (in case of a Budapest head office, the premises are provided by the Municipality of Budapest free of charge in the first year of foundation); Operational costs of the Task Force.
Operational expenses (for 12 months, in EUR): Danube European Magistrale EGTC Indirect costs and expenditures
217 686
Personnel expenditures
157 554
Travel
734
Accommodation costs (staff)
4 560
Overheads
5 220
Communication costs (telephone, post) Stationary, forms
13 200 2 160
Bank expenses
480
Procedural costs
20
Accounting,, wage accounting
1 320
Website maintenance
72
Office rental charges
400
Acquisition of assets (furniture, IT, office supplies)
11 320
Total
217 686
Personnel expenditure (for 12 months, in EUR): Danube European Magistrale EGTC 2010/ 2011 Job title
Gross Salary
Contributions
Assignment fee
Months
SUM
Director
4 400
1 276
12
68 112
Director of Development
2 400
87
12
29 844
Finance Manager
1 600
464
12
24 768
Project Manager
1 600
464
12
24 768
650
189
12
10 062
10 650
2 480
-
157 554
Administrator Labour costs in total
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Appendix Description of the EGTC regulation of the member states concerned Budapest (Republic of Hungary) Budapest, the capital of the Republic of Hungary,
lies on the two banks of the River Danube. Territory: 525 km2 Population: 1,700,000 The status of Budapest is set in the Constitution; at a regional level it is equal to the counties. Only local governments operate within its territory and none at county level. Its local governmental system exists of two levels, one of which is made up of the Municipality of Budapest, which extends to the whole of the capital, and the other to the 23 local governments operating in each district.
Legislation, competent body National legislation:
Act XCIX. of 2007 on the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (date of entering into effect: 1 August 2007) Sub-national legislation (for territories within member states with own legislation): Not relevant in respect of the Republic of Hungary Designated competent authority: Metropolitan Court of Budapest Following the publication of the Regulation, published in Strasbourg on 5 July 2006 and applied from 1 August 2007 (Article 16 from 1 August 2006), the Republic of Hungary was the first state in the entire European Union to draw up the relevant national legislation, which entered into force at the same time as the Regulation. According to expert analyses the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development prepared one of the most liberal legislations.
The Law provides, amongst others, for the approval and registering body and the relevant procedures, for legal remedy, supervision and auditing, management, cases of termination concerning national law and the amendments necessary for entering into force (those affecting other legislation).
Approval Approval authority:
Metropolitan Court of Budapest Shortest approval period: within 30 days Longest approval period: approximately 80 days Resolving discrepancies: 15 (notification) +15 (deadline) +15 (deadline extension) Approval period in practice (without resolving deficiencies): 15 days (the court keeps public, but not Internet based electronic records on the approvals, through file inspection)
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Legal remedy:
Metropolitan Regional Court of Appeal in Budapest (in accordance with Act III of 1952 on the Code of Civil Procedure)
work. The Metropolitan Court of Budapest issued approval orders for the establishment of five EGTCs from the date of the legislation entering into force up to the current time; one of these was also registered. Currently the approval proceedings of two EGTCs are in progress at the court.
Registration Registering authority:
Metropolitan Court of Budapest Shortest registration period: within 30 days Longest registration period: approximately 100 days Resolving deficiencies: 15 (notification) +30 (deadline) +15 (deadline extension) Registration period in practice (without resolving deficiencies): 15 days + 8 days (the prosecution)
Ulm (The State of Baden-Württemberg, Federal Republic of Germany) The Federal Republic of Germany consists of 16 federal states (Länder). Baden-Württemberg is in respect of both territory and the population the third largest state. It lies along the Upper Rhine, neighbouring the federal states of Rajna– Pfalz, Hessen and Bavaria, as well as being bordered by Switzerland from the south, and Alsace from the west.
Activity Commencement of activity:
Following the order on registration entering into force Management audit: State Audit Office of Hungary (through regular reviews) In the territory of the Republic of Hungary, the research into the professional background of the EGTC organisations and the practical implementation of their establishment already commenced in the year of the publication of the Regulation. A Hungarian-Slovakian EGTC organisation (publication date: 29 November 2008) the second within the EU started its operation, as a result of this
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The
city of Ulm is the third largest town of the Baden-Württemberg federal state on the border of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, on the banks of the River Danube. Territory: 118 km2 Population: 174,000 (Ulm and Neu-Ulm together)
Legislation, competent body National legislation: None Sub-national, provincial legislation (for terri-
tories within member states with own legislation): Gemeinsame Verwaltungsvorschrift des Wirtschaftsministeriums, des Staatsministeriums, des Innenministerius, des Ministeriums für Kultus, Jugend und Sport, des Justizministeriums, des Finanzministeriums, des Ministeriums für Ernährung und Ländlichen Raum, des Ministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales, des Umweltministeriums und des Ministeriums für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst zur Ausführung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1082/2006 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 5. Juli 2006 über den Europäischen Verbund für territoriale Zusammenarbeit (EVTZ), (vom 18. Juni 2007, AZ:14346 6-5/8) Designated competent authority/body: Regierungspräsidium, Freiburg n the Federal Republic of Germany within the meaning of the law (Grundgesetz) town and country planning and regional policies, in respect of federal and provincial levels, have competing competence (Article 74 (1) 31 of Grundgesetz – konkurrierende Gesetzgebungskompetenz). This means, that the states (for example in respect of the topic of EGTCs) can make legislation before the federal
level (currently this is the situation, thus in the topic of the implementation of the Regulation only provincial EGTC legislation is known). If an EGTC regulation appeared at federal level, in an uncertain case it would overwrite the provincial rules (the case of “impairment” – Article 31 of Grundgesetz). Although by the approval of the federal level, the states can transfer competence to cross-border cooperations, there are no explicit rules for the establishment of EGTCs or in regard to the approval authorities. EGTC legislation so far has only been adopted at provincial level, however these are only at low level (in the majority, regulations) and with the exception of a few they only name the approval authorities, with these authorities being the mid-level bodies of the executive power. EGTC legislation so far has only existed at provincial level, however these are weak: the legislation is only at a low level ( in the majority, regulations), and with the exception of a few they only name the approval authorities, with these authorities being the mid-level bodies of the executive power. The EGTC regulation of the state of Baden-Württemberg was born under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy with the contribution of further seven ministries and only specifies the authority competent in EGTC matters (Regierungspräsidium) with a head office in Freiburg. The competent authority makes their decisions jointly with the ministry professionally concerned.
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Vienna (Republic of Austria, Vienna independent province) Vienna is one of the nine federal provinces (Bun-
desland), the largest administrative unit and also the capital of the country. Territory: 414 km2 Population: 1,600,000 Vienna fulfils a double role in the Austrian constitutional and administrative order: it is a city with a separate constitution and a federal province. In accordance, there is both an urban representative body and a provincial assembly, into which the Viennese representatives are always elected with dual functions, thus they are members in both parliaments. The head of the city government is the Mayor of Vienna, who, as the highest ranking representative of the federal province is also the provincial prime minister. According to this latter office, the Mayor of Vienna is the head of the provincial government and indirect representative of federal administration. The public administration body of the capital is the Magistrate, which is also the office of the provincial government at the same time.
Legislation, competent body National legislation:
Bundesgesetz über Europäische Verbünde für territoriale Zusammenarbeit – EVTZ-BG (published on 11 May 2009) Sub-national legislation (provincial): None in effect, only draft law (“Law on the application framework of Regulation 1082/2006/
EC on a European grouping of territorial cooperation by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (W-EVTZG), version: 19.03.2008). Designated competent authority: None (according to the draft it is the Office of the Vienna Provincial Government) The experts of the Austrian federal provinces and the federal chancellery developed an example for all of the federal provinces at the expert conference on 4 October 2007 for the implementation of the Regulation at provincial level. For settling the implementation issues of the Regulation, in respect of Vienna, no legislation at provincial level has yet been adopted, although certain provinces e.g. Carinthia and Vorarlberg already have EGTC regulations in force (Landesgesetz). Amongst them the Carinthia legislation is the most remarkable and shows similarities with the draft law of Vienna (e.g. in respect of the limited liability of members).
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The provincial law provides for the sharing of competence between the federal and provincial levels (the member state and the bodies governed by public law involved in public procurement that do not fall under other separate legislation (e.g. provincial) are subject to federal level). The law furthermore provides for the notification and registering of groupings with Austrian head offices, for the prohibition of activities, appeals, financial liabilities as well as financial and accounting auditing. At federal level, the draft law details the approval of participation and registration in respect of groupings and members falling within its domain; the supervisory measures and the monitoring of the management of public funds. According to the draft, the approval authority can limit the liability of a member involved in the approval despite their voluntary decision, if they consider it necessary in order to ensure equality of treatment or to prevent disproportionate loading of a member.
Approval Approval authority:
Federal minister (Bundesminister, federal level) Provincial prime minister (Landeshauptmann, in agreement with provincial legislation made so far the Vienna draft also reinterprets this and makes the Office of the Provincial Government as the recipient of competence (Wiener Landesregierung, provincial level) Documents to be submitted: Statutes, approval of superior body (the Convention not!)
Approval period:
No details available Legal remedy: Public Administrative Court, Verwaltungsgerichtshof (VwGH) (federal level – the law does not specify the penalty.) Independent Administrative Senate in Vienna (provincial level)
Registration Registering authority:
Federal minister (federal level) Provincial prime minister (in agreement with provincial legislation made so far the Vienna draft also reinterprets this and makes the Office of the Provincial Government as the recipient of competence (Wiener Landesregierung, provincial level) Conditions for registration: Licenses in accordance with the Regulation, Convention, Statutes, and in case of the participation of an entity resident in a third country, presentation of the interstate agreement involved or internal legislation allowing participation; The provincial prime minister shall publish the registration on the Internet as well inform the federal minister.
Activity Management audit:
Through investigation based on suspicion or reporting as well as in the form of spot checks
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