| 3: Island Communities |
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| 3.0 Introduction |
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The purpose of this section is
to consider the parliamentary practices of devolved Parliaments in relation
to island, and other peripheral, communities. The conclusions of the research
on this topic have to be tentative. That is for three reasons:
- firstly, it proved difficult during
the period available for the research to obtain much information on
the practice in other countries;
- secondly, and probably of much
more significance, the concerns of island communities (and peripheral
regions) appear to be addressed in other ways than by the establishment
of a special committee to protect their interests. This may be in the
form of special economic development measures, special provisions for
extra regional finance, or the centre-region negotiations on the allocation
of state revenues. One or other forms of assistance can be found in
most European countries as a way of meeting the needs of the more peripheral
areas of the state (e.g. the West of Ireland, Southern Italy, Eastern
Germany, Walloon Region of Belgium, border areas of Austria). It frequently
also takes the form of providing that island, or peripheral community,
with its own devolved assembly.
- thirdly, in many cases, the special
issues arising from concerns for islands or peripheral communities are
substantially also issues concerning linguistic or ethnic minorities,
which are frequently to be found in such areas. Once again, these concerns
will be reflected in constitutional arrangements providing for regional
autonomy for that area itself, rather than a committee in the state
or devolved parliament responsible.
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| In the course of our research,
we found no example of any Parliamentary committee specifically designed
to represent the interests of island or peripheral regions, in the sense
of a committee with some special rights or quasi-constitutional status.
A number of Parliaments have committees which are specially concerned with
matters such as rural development, or similar matters, but these do not
appear to have any special standing. It may be, of course, that such special
committees do exist, and it is simply that we have not been able to ascertain
details of their existence. We suspect, however, that the fact of the matter
is that they do not exist, because such concerns are addressed normally
by the methods described secondly or thirdly above. |
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| Given that it is not the purpose
of this research to consider mechanisms for regional economic development
or the financial arrangements for regions, in this section we outline some
special constitutional arrangements that are made for island or peripheral
communities in Europe, on a country-by-country basis. For clarity, details
of the various devolved arrangements referred to below, where available,
are given in the section 6 of this report which summarises the devolved
Parliaments in Europe. |
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| 3.1 Denmark |
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| Much of metropolitan Denmark
is itself constituted by islands, but these cannot in any sense be regarded
as being peripheral, and the arrangements for their government are simply
the normal arrangements for local government. However, there are devolved
arrangements for two island territories of Denmark : Faroe Islands, and
Greenland. |
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| In both cases, there is obviously
a geographical distance from metropolitan Denmark, combined with strong
linguistic and/or ethnic pressures which have led to self-government. |
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| Both Faroes and Greenland - each
of which with a population of approximately 50,000 - have effective legislative
and administrative autonomy over most internal matters, and some rights
in matters of international concern to the islands. Further details are
given in the section 6 of this report. |
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| 3.2 Finland |
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| Although Finland there is no
general scheme of devolution or federalisation in Finland, extensive autonomy
has been granted to the Aland Islands, a group of islands located between
Finland and Sweden. The population of approximately 25,000 is overwhelmingly
Swedish-speaking. The islands are demilitarised, and are guaranteed autonomy
both by international agreements and under Finnish law. The Autonomy Act
providing for the island's devolution has been revised on a number of occasions
since it was first enacted in 1920. The most recent Autonomy Act came into
effect in 1993. It further extended Aland's autonomy. The Act can only be
repealed or altered by the Finnish Parliament with the consent of the Aland
Parliament, in both cases voting with a qualified majority. Details of the
legislative process in the parliament are given in section 2 of this report,
and other details (including details of its powers and Aland's relationship
with the central Finnish state) are given in section 6 of this report. |
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| 3.3 Italy |
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| Special arrangements have been
made for the two large islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in both of which
there has been a limited tradition of demands for regional self-government
since the formation of the Italian state. Both were given "special"
region status under the 1948 Italian constitution. "Special" region
status has also been given to three areas in northern Italy, where peripherality
is linked with particular linguistic/ethnic concerns : Valle d'Aosta (French);
Trentino-Alto Adige (German) 45. Friuli-Venezia Giulia
(Friulian, Slovene). "Special" regions have a greater extent of
legislative and administrative devolution than other Italian regions, as
described more fully in section 6 of this report. |
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| 3.4 Portugal |
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| The Constitution adopted after
the Portuguese revolution in 1974 envisaged a system of devolution to all
parts of the country. However, the only parts of the country where devolved
legislative assemblies have actually been established are the island territories
of Azores and Madeira. Further details of the system of devolution are given
in Section 6 of this report. |
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| 3.5 Spain |
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| Two significant island groups
are included in the territory of the Spanish state. These are the Canaries
and the Balearics. Both have their own Autonomous Communities, the former
being one of those with a higher level of autonomy, and the latter with
a lower level. In addition, a number of the more peripheral regions of mainland
Spain have shown strong demands for autonomy. That is reflected in the fact
that these areas (namely Catalonia, Basque Country, Navarre, Galicia, Valencia,
and Andalusia) were given a higher level autonomy under the Spanish scheme
of devolution. Details of the system of autonomy in Spain are given in the
section of this report summarising devolved parliaments throughout Europe
46. |
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| Some protection for peripheral
areas within Autonomous Communities is provided for by the constitutional
provision that elections on party lists to their assemblies must represent
all parts of their territory. However, this means only that if a Community
is made up from more than one province, there is a separate electoral list
constituency for each province. |
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| 3.6 Some other constitutional
arrangements for peripheral regions |
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| In Belgium, the German-speaking
community is located in the eastern periphery of the country, and has its
own devolved institutions (see section 6 of this report for details). |
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| In Germany, the Constitution
of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein requires that the Danish and Friesian
communities, which are concentrated in the northern periphery of the Land,
are given "protection and support". |
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| In Finland, an elected assembly
has been established to promote the cultural interests of the (nomadic)
Sami people, in the areas in the north of the country. |
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| In France, there is a limited
degree of power exercised by the Corsican National Assembly. |
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| 3.7 Conclusion |
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| On the basis of the relatively
limited information available to date, it would appear that the normal response
to calls for protection of the interests of islands or other peripheral
regions is either to respond by financial or economic measures, or by giving
some form of devolution to the area concerned, rather than by making
special provision in the procedures or organisation of the parliament with
jurisdiction. |
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| Interestingly, there are two
examples in UK constitutional history - one historical, and one current
- of consideration of the establishment of a geographically based committee. |
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| Firstly, in the early
1980s, the Montgomery Committee looked into the functions and powers of
the Islands Councils of Scotland.47 That committee was of course considering the issue in the
context of legislation establishing a Scottish Parliament not being proceeded
with following the referendum in 1979, and the main thrust of its recommendations
was directed towards improving existing administrative arrangements for
the islands. The committee rejected proposals for legislative devolution
to the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Interestingly, proposals were also made
to the Committee that there should be established a "Council of the
Islands" with a right to be heard and consulted on all draft legislation
affecting Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles. This proposal was, however,
rejected, along with a proposal for the Secretary of State to have an advisory
committee on islands issues. |
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| The committee did go as far as
suggesting that a separate "islands" view might be sought when
responses are asked for by government from local government, and also concluded
that there might be circumstances in which Acts of Parliament might include
provisions allowing the Secretary of State to vary their application to
the islands. They also expressed the view that their recommendations were
only a stage in a continuing process of development of local government
of the islands, and that arguments they found unconvincing in 1983 might
become thoroughly convincing in different circumstances. |
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| Secondly, the possible
value of a regionally-based committee is currently under consideration in
Wales. The Bill to establish a National Assembly for Wales proposes a committee
for North Wales, and it is understood that the equivalent to the CSG in
Wales is now proposing that there should be four committees established
in the National Assembly, for the North and also Mid-Wales, South West Wales,
and South East Wales. |
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