Speech by Giovanni Di Stasi before the Committee of Ministers’ session

(Strasbourg, 17 November 2005)

Mr Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure and a privilege for me to speak before you today in my capacity as President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, and to share with you my thoughts about the role of the Congress in implementing the Action Plan adopted by the Warsaw Summit.

Two weeks ago, I had the honour of addressing the launching meeting of the European Forum on the Future of Democracy – the Forum which was established following the decision of the Summit. I spoke then about the timeliness and wisdom of this decision, taken at a crucial time for our democracy, at a time of the need for reflection upon the evolution of our societies. We need today a clear strategy for developing our democratic model, overcoming public disillusionment with politics and enhancing participatory democracy.

The Congress, as a unique representative body of more than 200,000 territorial communities of Europe, has specific proposals to make for elaborating such a strategy, and a key role to play in putting it into practice. Over the years, our Congress has evolved from a mere consultative body to become a true voice of local and regional authorities, a forum for pan-European cooperation at grassroots level and a tool for reinforcing local and regional democracy and territorial cooperation. This evolution went hand in hand with the power shift from the centre towards regions and municipalities, and the acceleration of decentralisation processes.

We believe that taking account of this power shift in the national/local balance must be part and parcel of the strategy for the future of democracy. Today we are observing the devolution of not only political but also economic power as economic development and competition shifts towards inter-territorial level. New types of Euro-regions are being created, uniting bordering regions from both EU and non-EU member countries, the first of which – the Adriatic Euro-region – will be launched in just a few months, to be followed by the Black Sea Euro-region in 2006 and the Baltic Sea Euro-region in 2007.

Local and regional authorities are best placed to deliver public services and good governance at the level closest to the citizen, to respond to people’s needs and expectations and involve them in the democratic process at grassroots level. Regions and municipalities are also the first line of defence of human rights – much as they are in the best position to manage social problems and public order problems. The ongoing urban violence in France highlighted the need to give more competences to local authorities in bringing in neighbourhood policies and strengthening local police. It is in cities and regions where people live, and it is at this level where integration and social cohesion policies work best. This is why the Congress has been actively supporting the initiative of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to set up an urban security observatory, which I hope will now be realised.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Reinforcing local government, clarifying its objectives and competences, and giving it the financial means to fulfil its responsibilities serves all the main goals set in the Summit Action Plan – enhancing participatory democracy, strengthening human rights protection and building a more humane, inclusive Europe. We in the Congress look forward with great interest to participating in the work of the European Forum on the Future of Democracy, a future centre of expertise on local government reform, and the High-level Task Force on Social Cohesion. We already have a concrete proposal – to create a Centre for interregional and cross-border cooperation, in order to encourage the development of local and regional self-government and give an opportunity to promote and strengthen cooperation between regions in Europe on the subject of competence of the Council of Europe and in the sphere of economy. We have been discussing the idea of establishing such a Centre – which could take the form of a Partial Agreement – with the authorities of the Russian Federation, with a view to launching the Centre during the Russian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. I strongly hope that this proposal will be actively supported by your governments.

I would like to conclude by expressing my strong belief that the future of modern democracy lies in the creation of a system of power-sharing and interaction – a network of powers, if you wish – involving all actors in society: national governments and parliaments, local and regional authorities, civil society, the private sector, even individual citizens. As we embark on this ambitious project, let us be guided by the words of Woodrow Wilson who said: "Liberty has never come from Government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it... The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it."

Thank you.