Informationen über die Arbeit des Büros der Friedrich-EbertStiftung in Peking finden Sie am Schluss dieser Broschüre. © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Beijing, September 2006. All rights reserved. The material in this publication may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted without the prior permission of the copyright holder. Short extracts may be quoted, provided the source is fully acknowledged. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the ones of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung or of the organization for which the author works. 2006 9

Vorwort Den vorliegenden Vortrag hielt Hannelore Kraft am12. Juli 2006 auf einem internationalen Seminar über“Comparative Review of the Norms and Standards for Consultation at the Provincial and Local Levels”. Das Seminar wurde vom Forschungsbüro beim Ständigen Ausschuss des Nationalen Volkskongresses und des Parliamentary Centre of Canada vom 11.-13. Juli in Peking durchgeführt. Die Teilnahme von Hannelore Kraft wurde von der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung vermittelt. Hannelore Kraft ist Mitglied des Landtages von Nordrhein-Westfalen/ Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Sie ist Vorsitzende der Landtagsfraktion der SPD und ehemalige Wissenschaftsministerin des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen. Roland Feicht Landesvertreter der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in China Peking, im September 2006 2006 7 12

NORMS AND STANDARDS FOR CONSULTATION AT THE PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL LEVEL --THE NORTH RHINE-WESTFALIAN CASE MS. KRAFT, HANNELORE MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY TO NORTH RHINE-WESTFALIA North Rhine-Westfalia a former coal and steel country with 18 million inhabitants is one of the most densely populated among the German federal states. Forty four of 100 leading companies have their headquarters in North Rhine-Westfalia. The states economy contributes with 487.5 billion Euros in 2005 about 22 percent of Germanys’ gross domestic product and with the Ruhr district it contains the largest industrial concentration in Europe. Germany itself is organized as a federalist state. All the sixteen federal German states "Länder" set their own constitutions and implement laws passed by the national parliament"Bundestag". The states own legislation is limited to the fields of education, culture, media, police and local law. Justice, economy, labour market and social policy, transportation and environmental policy are fields of concurrent legislation between national and federal level. That means that the states parliaments "Landtag" may pass their own laws, but only if the national parliament does not. Additionally, the national parliament is obliged to take into account the uniformity of living conditions between all federal states in its legislation. With the effect that more and more laws are passed by the national parliament while the federal states exercise most administrative powers. Additionally the federal states can influence national legislation in the second chamber at national level- the"Bundesrat". Every federal state sends representatives of its government and has an amount of votes according to the size of its population. In this chamber the federal states can initiate bills or dismiss bills initiated by the national parliament the"Bundestag", especially if those bills concern the states interests. Therefore the main focus is to control legislation that has an impact on the federal states own financial situation. Politics in North Rhine-Westfalia itself is organized at two levels. At the level of the federal state every five years the members to the federal parliament- the"Landtag" get elected and form the state legislature. Until the state election in 2005 the state 1

1800 44 GDP 4875 22% 100 2005 GDP 16 2005 2005 5 2

was run by a coalition of Social Democratic and Green Party. After the success of the Christian Democratic Union in May 2005 North Rhine-Westfalia is ruled by a coalition of conservative Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party. At the second, the local level, there are counties"Kreise" in rural districts and cities in urban districts(normally formed by cities with more than 100.000 inhabitants). The district parliament- either the "Kreistag" for the"Kreise" or the council "Rat" for the cities- is the legislative body of the districts and responsible for its local self-administration and the implementation of national and state laws. The"Kreise" are formed by an averaged number of about 10 or more towns, which possess a great deal of competences for local issues. As the cities, which concentrate the competences on the towns and the"Kreis" in one institution, they are ruled by the democratic elected"Rat" and led by an elected mayor. According to the German political order that consists of the national level the "Bund", the federal states- the"Länder" and the local communities you can find three stages of participation going along with the administrative levels. While there is no culture of direct participation at the national level one can find a wide range of channels for citizens’ participation and consultation at the local level and the federal level of the states. Despite this, one has to keep in mind that the peoples’ political will still is mainly represented by elected deputies. At national level in 2002 a bill introduced by the Social Democratic and the Green Party to change the German constitution and allow peoples’ initiatives and referenda missed the majority. At the federal and local level each state and its communities regulate those participation rights in its constitutions or local codes. Those laws, which regulate the local participation, are set by the state. Especially in the 90ths the active role of citizens’ participation in politics entered the focus. Only one of the German states- BadenWürttemberg- knew petitions for a referendum and referenda before 1990. After that all federal states(except Berlin) established the rights for petitions for a referendum and referenda in their local codes. Since the North Rhine-Westfalian state was founded, citizens have the constitutional option to initiate referenda at federal level. The new local code of North RhineWestfalia came into effect in 1994. This new local code extended the rights for citizens’ participations and decisions. In addition to directly elected mayors other forms were established like citizens’ application, petition for a referendum and referenda as well as more rights for women and disadvantaged by widening rights for the"For3

20 90 10 90 10 1994 2002 2002 4 0.5%

eigners Advisory Councils" and"Equal Opportunity Commissioners". Participation and consultation in the German states and North Rhine-Westfalia The North Rhine-Westfalian constitution regulates three forms of direct participation. The latest and less extensive one is the right to conduct a peoples’ initiative. It is covered by the North Rhine-Westfalian constitution only since 2002. To conduct a peoples’ initiative 0, 5 percent of the electorate propose a bill or political issue to the parliament, which has to decide whether to accept or to dismiss it within 3 months. The states budget, or tax laws can not be an issue of the peoples’ initiative. If the proposed bill would lead to additional expenses there have to be specifications about the cost recovery. Only in this legislative period, means within one year, three peoples’ initiatives have be initiated: Already two peoples’ initiatives against shortages for programs supporting children youth and families and one for longer opening hours for video stores. The second and more extensive channel to influence legislation in North RhineWestfalia is to conduct a petition for a referendum or referendum. There are several obstacles to do so. First of all, as for the peoples’ initiative, the sovereign right of the parliament to decide about the budget is not to be affected by the referendums aim. There have to be specification about cost recovery as well. That means: all plebiscites that have an impact on financial issues, taxes or salaries are illegitimate. Additionally, a certain amount of signatures has to be collected to conduct a referendum. This quorum ranges up to 20 percent of the electorate in the German federal states. With the result that until today referenda hardly ever took place. In North Rhine-Westfalia the parliament actually lowered the signature quorum for petitions for a referendum in 2002 in to at least 8 percent of those entitled to vote. After that the parliament has to decide whether to agree with the petition or to conduct a referendum within two months. The petition can be dismissed by the ministry of the interior if the proposed bill does not contain specification about cost recovery or if it was an issue of another referendum within two years. If the deputies dismiss the proposal for a bill, citizens have to decide in a referendum whether to vote"Yes" or"No". The majority has to vote for one of these options and the petition has to be approved by at least 15 percent. If a referendum aims at changing the constitution two third of those entitled to vote have to accept the petition and turnout has to be at least 50 percent. Another opportunity for citizens’ to express 5

2002 3 8% 15% 50% 20% 6

their opinions is the committee on petitions in the North Rhine-Westfalian parliament. It proofs petitions that were filed to the Landtag and recommends responsible authorities how to deal with the controversial matters. The government and public authorities are obliged to inform the committee on petitions and grant access to the files. The committee on petitions can also supply evidence by questioning witnesses and experts. Additionally public consultation is guaranteed at the different stages of legislation. According to the procedural rules of the states government associations and interest groups have to be involved at the very beginning of legislation, already in the cabinets’ discussion of a bill if public interests are concerned. Specific laws like for example the act on schools states more precisely which interest groups should be heard before changing the law or regulations for conducting examinations. It’s the teachers trade unions, the associations of parents, pupils and headmasters of schools, churches, federal chamber of industry and commerce and the communities associations that have to be involved in legislation concerning acts on schools. This early consideration of public interests assures that resistances against a bill can be taken into account already before presenting it to the parliament and to the public. After revising the bill, considering the objections raised by the associations and interest groups and coordinating it between the departments, the cabinet decision finally leads to the bills’ presentation in the parliament. At first in the beginning of the parliamentary discussions a bill is rather fundamentally discussed by the deputies. After that it will be referred to the committees of experts, which with a few exceptions meet in public. One committee acts as coordinating committee, like for instance the committee for schools if the act in schools is discussed. Additionally the same bill can be referred to other committees as well, for instance if financial or local issues are concerned to the committees for finance or local politics. The committees can decide to hold public hearings on different aspects of the discussed bill. The right for public hearings of experts, people, interest groups and associations is defined in the rules of parliamentarian procedure in North RhineWestfalia. Already 25 per cent of the committees members can propose to hold a hearing. For instance: If a bill concerns general interests of communities, the communities associations have to be heard. Every parliamentary group can name experts to make their statements about the bill and its consequences and raises questions in the run-up to the hearing that have to be answered by the experts. There is time for further questions by the deputies in the hearing. 7

25% 8 8

Especially the opposition in parliament uses this opportunity to inform the public about its positions and objections and to control the government. Just for instance: In this ongoing legislative period within one year there have been public hearings about controversial bills like the highly controversial act on schools(already eight hearings on different issues within the act on schools), the act on the budget, about plans to restrict tenants rights and about the planned privatisation of saving banks(Sparkassen). In the last legislative period a lot of public hearings were hold on school and educational, as well as on social and environmental issues. After those hearings and further(public) discussions in the committees the bill is again discussed in the parliament. At this stage deputies may suggest changes. Finally the deputies pass the law, which is afterwards announced by the government and published as printed matter of the parliament. Those public hearings and the several discussions about the bill in the parliament and the committees assure a higher degree of transparency in the process of legislation, on the one hand because of the involvement of interest groups in the process of legislation. On the other hand because of the discussion and information by the opposition and the media about the consequences of the bills at the several stages of legislation: in the first parliamentary discussion, in the public discussions in the committees, in public hearings and finally in the second parliamentary discussion. Citizens’direct participation at local level The most important forms of citizens’ direct participation in the communities of North Rhine-Westfalia are petitions for a referendum and referenda. It allows citizens to influence local matters in their communities. First step for conducting citizens’ decisions is to initiate a petition. The local code regulates acceptable aims of the referenda, such as specifications about cost recovery, time limits and signature quorum. The petition has to be signed by 10 percent of the inhabitants in the community. The most common reason for petitions to fail is if the covered matters are excluded by the local code. Therefore in North Rhine-Westfalia most of the petitions are illegitimate because they cover issues of urban management or miss proposals for cost recovery. If the local parliaments dismiss the petition a referendum can be initiated within three months. The majority of votes, at least 20 percent, have to accept the petition. In many of the North Rhine-Westfalian communities citizens make use of this right. Every year every fifteenth community decides about a petition. Since 1990 206 petitions 9

20% 15 1990 206 3% 40% 10% 10

and referenda took place in North RhineWestfalia. A relatively high number compared to other German states. But due to the big amount of relatively populous communities in North Rhine-Westfalia informal influence capabilities for citizens are restricted and result in a higher amount of petitions for referenda. Generally the number of petitions for referenda is higher in large cities. But still, just a third of the petitions for referenda in North Rhine-Westfalia actually lead to a referendum and just in three percent of North Rhine-Westfalian communities referenda were conducted per year and just by 40 percent the intended aim was implemented. Nevertheless, one has to keep in mind, that not just successful petitions or referenda find their way into local administration. Almost every fourth petition is adopted by the administration, so that there is no need to conduct a referendum. It is pretty common that discussions with citizens are hold after a petition for a referendum to adopt the controversial matter. most of the petitions cover just a few topics. For instance: public buildings or institutions like schools and public swimming pools, transportation or communal construction projects. An interesting aspect: up to 1997 the closure of swimming pools was the most common topic of petitions for referenda, later on they rather focused on privatisation of communal companies. Which demonstrates the rising financial needs of communal budgets: in the beginning 90ths obviously local authorities hoped to balance the budget by closing public swimming pools, while in the late 90ths they more and more thought of selling their shares on public companies. And interesting as well, due to the pretty stable German party system, party membership of those who initiate a petition influences the petitions concern. For instance: there was not a petition initiated by Conservatives against privatisation projects, while Social Democrats or the Green Party hardly support petitions against park space management or comprehensive schools. Considering the most common concerns of citizens’ petitions, most of them try to reverse decisions of the municipal councils and fewer offer new political solutions. For instance in 2000 and 2001 58 percent of petitions for a referendum in North RhineWestfalia turned against privatisation in the public sector. Because of the exclusion of certain, for instance budgetary, matters Additionally, there are some less extensive forms for citizens’ to exert influence on communal matters. For example so called "inhabitant requests"(Einwohneranträge). According to the local code the municipal council has to decide about those requests within four months. If citizens’ file a complaint to the municipal council, there is no obligation to come to a decision, but the 11

2000 2001 4 58% 1997 1997 20 90 90 12

council or a committee is at least obliged and forced in an informal way to make a statement about that matter. in the local code oblige the councils to decide on the discussed issues nor do citizens have a voice. Another obligation for the municipal councils is regulated in the federal building code. Before starting communal construction projects those who are concerned neighbours, communities, authorities and companies- have to be informed, either in presentations or in the local media. Plans have to be announced in public, citizens may raise objections, and hearings have to be hold. Those responsible for public matters like nature conservation, energy and water supply or monument conservation have to be heard as well. Finally there is the opportunity to appeal to the administrative court. Non-institutionalised forms of participation and consultation In addition to those rights for participation defined in the constitution or the local code, there are other non-institutionalised forms, especially at local level. For instance citizens’ initiatives try to catch public attention for certain matters. On the other hand there are top down forms of citizens’ participation, if local authorities try to involve inhabitants in their decisions. For instance inhabitant meetings, question times for citizens in council meetings. But none of these rights regulated Other forms are used by the local authorities before starting communal construction projects, like the so called"planning cell" where incidentally elected citizens are invited to discuss communal construction projects and articulate recommendations to the contracting body or authority. Summary All considered citizens’ participation and consultation is not just a channel to express dissatisfaction. It forces local and federal authorities to regard public interests. It is also an important opportunity to incorporate trends within society into legislation and overcome resistances against political projects by involving those who are concerned, even though not all of the intended aims can be implemented in the legislation. The agenda-setting-effect of participation and consultation should not be underestimated. Political projects were cancelled, even though the referenda or petitions were not formally legal. Bills or requests proposed by petitions were incorporated in legislation even before the actual petition was conducted. 13

14

Ü ber die Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Die deutsche Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) ist ein Verein zur Förderung der politischen Bildung und des gesellschaftspolitischen Dialogs. Ihre Hauptsitze sind in Berlin und Bonn. Die FES wurde 1925 als politisches Vermächtnis des ersten demokratisch gewählten deutschen Reichspräsidenten und Sozialdemokraten Friedrich Ebert gegründet. Als eine gemeinnützige, private, kulturelle Institution ist sie den Ideen und Grundwerten der Sozialen Demokratie verpflichtet. An 14 Standorten in Deutschland leistet die FES ihren Beitrag für die demokratische politische Bildung und aktive Mitwirkung der Bürger in Politik und Gesellschaft. Sie ist zugleich auch Plattform und Ideengeber im offenen politischen Dialog zur Lösung gesellschaftlicher Probleme. In ihrer internationalen Arbeit für Demokratie, Entwicklung, sozialen Ausgleich und Frieden kooperiert die FES mit Partnern in mehr als einhundert Ländern. Sie ist mit eigenen Büros in 80 Staaten zu Gast. Die Stiftung misst der Vertiefung des internationalen Dialogs eine große Bedeutung bei. Die Weltgesellschaft und die Weltmärkte bedürfen der Einbettung in politische Verantwortung sowie sozialer und ökologischer Regulation. Die FES nahm bereits zu Beginn der von Deng Xiaoping eingeleiteten Reform- und Öffnungspolitik Kontakte und die Zusammenarbeit mit chinesischen Institutionen auf. Eigene Büros unterhält die Stiftung seit 1985 in Shanghai und seit 1987 in Peking. Vertragspartner sind die Chinesische Gesellschaft für Internationale Verständigung(CAFIU) in Peking und das Shanghai Institut für Internationale Studien(SIIS) in Shanghai. Darüber hinaus gibt es seit Mitte der 80er Jahre eine vertragliche Kooperation mit der Freundschaftsgesellschaft des Volkes der Provinz Sichuan, die vom Büro in Peking koordiniert wird. Die Arbeit der FES ist Bestandteil der deutschen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und Außenpolitik in China. China öffnet sich zur Welt und hat als Transformationsland wirtschaftlich und politisch die Weltbühne betreten. Der nachdrückliche graduelle und tief greifende Wandel in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft und der damit verbundene soziale Umbruch sind eine Herausforderung an die Gestaltungsfähigkeit der Politik. Die Kommunistische Partei Chinas, Ministerien, Hochschulen, Forschungseinrichtungen, Verbände, Gewerkschaften und Nichtregierungsorganisationen sind bei der Gestaltung des Reformprozesses offen für internationale Kooperation und den Erfahrungsaustausch. Ziel der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in China ist es, in vertrauensvoller Zusammenarbeit mit ihren chinesischen Partnern die verschiedenen Ebenen des Reformprozesses zu begleiten und zu unterstützen sowie die internationalen Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland/ Europa und China zum Nutzen beider Seiten und für eine friedliche und gerechte internationale Ordnung zu vertiefen.

1925 14 1985 1987 80

Das Büro der FES in Peking konzentriert sich zurzeit auf folgende Themenbereiche: ♦ Rechtsstaat, Bürgerpartizipation und soziale Dimension im marktwirtschaftlichen System - Arbeitsbeziehungen in der Wirtschaft, Arbeitsrecht, Arbeitsmarkpolitik - Soziale Sicherung - Gute Regierungsführung - Menschenrechte ♦ Nachhaltige Entwicklung in der Provinz Sichuan ♦ Gewerkschaften und Interessenvertretung von Arbeitnehmern/innen - Interessenvertretung, betriebliche Mitbestimmung - Deutsch-chinesischer Gewerkschaftsdialog zwischen dem Allchinesischen Gewerkschaftsbund und dem Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbund, der IG Metall, der IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie und der Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft ver.di ♦ Politischer Dialog China- Deutschland/Europa - Menschenrechte - Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik - Innenpolitik in China und Deutschland/ Europa Die Partnerschaft der FES und der CAFIU ist einvernehmlich eine Plattform flexibel gestalteter Formen der Zusammenarbeit. Kooperationspartner der FES in Peking sind in 2006: - Chinesische Gesellschaft für Internationale Verständigung - Internationale Abteilung beim ZK der KPC - Freundschaftsgesellschaft des Volkes von Sichuan - Parteihochschule beim ZK der KPC - Allchinesischer Gewerkschaftsbund - Chinesische Stiftung für die Entwicklung der Menschenrechte - Renmin Universität, School of Labour and Human Resources - Chinesische Akademie der Sozialwissenschaften, Institut für Soziologie Die Zusammenarbeit erfolgt hauptsächlich durch gemeinsame Tagungen und Gesprächsprogramme in China und Deutschland, die auf einen intensiven politischen und fachlichen Meinungs- und Erfahrungsaustausch orientiert sind. Dabei wird ein breites Spektrum von Regierungsstellen, Hochschulen, Forschungsinstituten, Gewerkschaften und Verbänden einbezogen.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ / -/ 2006

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung_ Beijing Office Ta Yuan Building 5-1-121, Xin Dong Lu 1/ Chao Yang Qu 100600 Beijing/ PR China Tel:(+86-10) 6532 4368 (+86-10) 6532 4813 Fax:(+86-10) 6532 4822 E-mail: fesbeijing@fesbj.com 100600 5-1-121