The European Commission has presented a Communication to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee of the Regions, published in the OJEU on October 9th, 2008, encouraging the participation of Local Authorities on a European and national level, to engage in development policy and implementation. The Communication highlights the significance of this emerging dimension of development, build on the recent evolution in aid architecture, and put forward the need to develop a strategic approach at the EU level.

Local Authorities (LA) in some EU Member States allocate considerable financial resources to development (representing nearly 15% of national ODA in Spain for instance), and have developed specific instruments for aid delivery (programmes, co-financing instruments, city-to-city links, direct cooperation agreements). At the same time, there has not been a thought-out, strategic approach at EU level, to facilitate and recognise the various facets of this increased involvement of LAs in EU development policy.

The increased participation, the volumes of financial resources mobilised and the growing diversity and numbers of the actors involved suggests a need to qualify and quantify this evolution and to put forward the basis of a coordinated approach for the structured involvement of LA's in development cooperation policy. A strategic approach at the EU level will facilitate a more coordinated involvement of LA's in EU development policy, while recognising the principle of subsidiarity.

The purpose of this Communication is therefore two-fold. On the one hand, it seeks to recognise the importance of this recently emerged phenomenon. On the other, it attempts to draw out the first elements of a response strategy that will allow capitalisation and maximisation of LA's experience as partners in development policy. It seeks to launch a process that will reinforce their participation in the design and implementation of development activities, in a coordinated and strategic manner.

Measures proposed to recognise the vital role of local authorities.

• A structured dialogue: To capitalise on the expertise of local authorities and ensure better cooperation between them, the Commission proposes that they should meet once a year under the aegis of the Committee of the Regions.
• An information exchange platform: "Stock Exchange" should bring local authorities together - those which seek assistance and those who can grant them. This would consist of a website where local authorities can publish their needs and others their offers.
• Local authorities should adhere to the same principles as international donor community. As the number of donors sharply increased in recent years, donors agreed to coordinate their development assistance. Local authorities should also implement the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) recently updated at Accra (2008).

The theme of local governance will also be the focus of the European Development Days to be held in Strasbourg from 15-17 November 2008.

While the involvement of local authorities in external cooperation and development policy, especially through town twinning, has a long history, the last decade has witnessed a radical change in its nature. Decentralised Cooperation has emerged as a new and important dimension of development cooperation. It has become more comprehensive and professionalised; relying on institutionalised networks with outreach into developing countries; utilising a diversity of tools in all the regions of the world and with an exponential increase in financial allocations.

Local authorities are bringing unique added value to development processes. In addition to the concrete actions in developing countries, local authorities are key to mobilising different stakeholders to work together.
 
The Commission therefore invites the Council, the Member States meeting within the Council, the Committee of the Regions, the European Social and Economic Committee and the European Parliament, to support the development of a holistic approach to local authorities as actors in development, at global, European and national level.