Milestones & History
- Deklaration des Donaustädte, from July 4, 1998, signed by the cities of Galati, Rousse, Novi Sad, Vukovar, Linz, Ulm, Neu-Ulm, launching the Council of Danube Cities and Regions
- Joint Declaration and Agreement of cooperation between Budapest and Ulm, on July 3, 2001 and 2002
- European Conference of Danube Cities, held in Ulm, on July 12-14, 2003
- European Conferences of the Danube Cities and Regions that took place in 2005, 2007, 2009
- Final Declaration of the 4th European Conference of the Danube Cities and Regions in Budapest, on June 11, 2009
- Executive Committee Meeting of the Council of Danube Cities and Regions held in Vienna City Hall, on November 3, 2009
- Final Declaration of the 5th European Conference of the Danube Cities and Regions in Belgrade, on June 2-3, 2011
The Council of Danube Cities and Regions’ core organization consists of the:
General Assembly
The General Assembly, convened in ordinary meeting every two years by the Governing Board, is the highest decision making body of the Council. The General Assembly convenes the most senior representatives of all its members. Each City and Region is responsible for the composition of its delegation. Each member has a maximum of two seats at the General Assembly. Delegates sitting at the General Assembly must be members of a Government, an assembly, or any representative with a proper mandate.
Each full member of the Council, after paying the membership dues for the past or current calendar year, has one vote at the General Assembly.
The Presidium
The members of the Presidium shall promote the vision and the mission of the Council through advocacy, advisory and networking. Considering the nature of their job or profession, the members of the Presidium shall act on an advisory capacity within the Council. Unless they have a specific task within the activity of the Council, the members of the Presidium are considered as most honorable members of the Council and do not have to complete an executive position.
Fully aware that being addressed as one of the key players by the European Commission while adopting the Strategy, it involves an immense responsibility and with the full support of all the decisional making bodies of the Council and in coordination with the President, the 1st Vice-Presidents, the members of the Presidium shall contribute to the best of their capabilities to the process of transforming the Strategy and its general Action Plans into Flagship Initiatives and finally, into concrete projects.
The Presidium is made up of the Founding Members, as stated in the Final Declaration of the IVth European Conference of the Danube Cities and Regions in Budapest on 11th June 2009:
The Presidium has been completed with the following members by the 5th European Conference of Danube Cities and Regions held in Belgrade, on June 2-3, 2011:
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The PresidentThe President is the representative of the Council. The President chairs the meeting of the bodies of the Council and has the power to make all necessary decisions concerning the implementation of the decisions of the said bodies. In agreement with the Governing Board, the President may delegate certain powers and tasks to the Executive Bureau and the Secretary General. Ivo Gönner, Lord Mayor of Ulm Promoter and Founding Member since 1998 President since 2009, reconfirmed in 2011 |
The 1st Vice-Presidents
One of the Vice-Presidents substitutes the President in his office in the case of vacation, absence or illness.
The two 1st Vice-Presidents – one representing the Cities and one representing the Regions of the 14 riparian states of the Danube Area, are elected by the General Assembly for a mandate of 2 years.
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Ventsislav Iliev Kalchev Governor of Ruse Region Spokesperson for the Regions Representing the regions |
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Nicolae Barbu Mayor of Giurgiu Spokesperson for the Cities Representing the municipalities |
The Governing Board
The Governing Board is made up of the President, two 1st Vice-Presidents and members. The coordinators of the Policy Groups / Committees and Action Groups / Commissions, the General Coordinator of the Executive Bureau and the Secretary General are Vice-Presidents of the Council with full rights and are members of the Governing Board.
The Governing Board comprises at least one regional representative per State represented within the Council. The composition of the Governing Board must be proportionally adjusted according to the Cities and Regions. The number of seats per State represented within the Council is calculated by taking account of the number of inhabitants per State and the number of member Cities and Regions of the Council within each State compared to the number of Cities and Regions which exist.
The Governing Board meets twice a year.
The Governing Board may entrust precise mandates, with limited time scales to external sources in order to achieve objectives which the Governing Board will have specified. These sources must have proved their competences and be well known in the field of the designated objective.
The Executive Bureau
The Executive Bureau is one of the decision making bodies of the Council and it is led by the General Coordinator. It forms the executive management body of the Council, ensuring the management of the Council. It represents the interests of the members of the Council. It implements the decisions of the General Assembly and the Governing Board, making the necessary decisions between the meetings of the above and passing them over for the day to day management of the Council, to the General Secretariat. The members of the Executive Board meet every month.
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The General Coordinator is in charge of the Executive Bureau, he is a member of the Governing Board and he is responsible for implementing the decisions of the official bodies of the Council. The General Coordinator is monitoring the activity of the Danube Office Network both by monthly visits to the National/ Regional Offices and at the Network Head Office in Bucharest.Peter Langer, General Coordinator Spokesperson of CODCR |
| The Headquarters, Rathaus, 89070 – Ulm, Germany Phone: +49(0)731 161- 1003e-mail: p.langer@ulm.de ; office@codcr.com ; p.langer@codcr.com |
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Eric Bartha Secretary General of the CODCR |
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Aurel Dimitriu Mayor of Sulina Member of the Governing Board of the Romanian Association of TownsMember of the Executive Bureau of CODCR & Spokesperson for the towns |
Nomination of the Executive Bureau
The Executive Bureau represents the interests of the members of the Council and it implements the decisions of the General Assembly and the Governing Board, making the necessary decisions between the meetings of the above and passing them over for the day to day management of the Council, to the General Secretariat.
Having in mind the provisions of the Statutes, the participants have agreed on the composition of the Executive Bureau / Secretariat of the Council of Danube Cities and Regions (Operational Level) as follows:
| 1. Peter Langer | Ulm, General Coordinator |
| 2. Eric Bartha | Bucharest, Secretary-General |
3. Jürgen Raizner |
Stuttgart, President Steinbeis Donau Zentrum |
4. Omar Al-Rawi |
Vienna, Municipality of Vienna |
5. Alexandru Capatu |
Vienna, President of Pro Danube international |
6. Otto Schwets |
Vienna, President of the Pan European VII Corridor |
7. Marian Miskanin |
Bratislava, Director of the Office of the Mayor |
8.András Gyenge |
Budapest, Municipal Chief Advisor Mayor Office, Municipality of Budapest |
9. Zoran Ivoševic |
Novi Sad, Local Economic Development Office |
10. Zoran Novakovic |
Belgrade, Serbian Chamber of Commerce
work in progress! |
| 11. |
Ruse
work in progress! |
| 12. |
Chisinau
work in progress! |
| 13. |
Odessa
work in progress! |
| General Secretariat The General Secretariat is one of the decision making bodies of the Council and is led by the General Secretary which is responsible for the day to day activity of the Council. The Secretary General is in charge of the General Secretariat, he is a member of the Governing Board and Deputy Coordinator of the Executive Bureau and he is responsible for implementing the decisions of the official bodies of the Council. He manages the personnel of the General Secretariat and is in charge of operating the Danube Office Network. He organizes the meetings of the Council and ensures that the day to day work is carried out.Within this framework, he represents the Council in all external relations, within the mandate given by the General Assembly. He presents a yearly report before the Governing Board and the General Assembly and whenever the case arises.Eric Bartha Secretary General of the CODCR The General Secretariat, 1-3 Nicolae Iorga Street, District 1, 010431 – Bucharest, Romania Phone: +40(0)21.317.317.1 ; Fax: +40(0)21.317.317.4e-mail: office@codcr.com ; e.bartha@codcr.com |
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