European Office of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB)

Eurocommunalle

...The President of the Federal Republic of Germany (et al.)...

...resolved to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity...

...have decided to establish a European Union.¹

1 Preamble of the Treaty on the European Union (2nd text of the Treaty)

Local government policy and European policy are directly interwoven. A great number of laws and regulations having an effect on local self-government are caused by the EU.

The project Europe will only succeed with strong towns and municipalities - otherwise it will fail. Nobody is as close to the people, their problems and demands as we are. Towns and municipalities offer citizens a home and reliability - all over Europe. We offer the EU our partnership. And we expect that Europe accepts local rights and demands comprehensively. For far too long, politics in Brussels and Strasbourg has been made without or even against us.

Dr Gerd Landsberg, Secretary General of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB)