Speech by Giovanni Di Stasi at the Launching meeting of the European Forum on the Future of Democracy
(Warsaw, 3 November)
Mr Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour for me to address the Launching meeting of the European Forum on the Future of Democracy, and not only as the President of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. It is also an honour because I was personally involved in the project which eventually brought about this Forum – the Council of Europe integrated project on making democratic institutions work.
This was an ambitious and audacious endeavour which resulted in several important papers – the papers that, in the form of brochures, the Forum organisers distributed to us. The introduction to one of them, on the future of democracy, begins with a rather provocative quotation of Karl Popper who said: “Democracy is the word for something that does not exist”. This quote was chosen deliberately, of course, to stress the challenge facing us, and the results of the referenda on the EU Constitutional Treaty highlighted this challenge with a vengeance. This is why the decision of the Council of Europe Heads of State and Government to establish a Forum on the Future of Democracy, taken at their Summit in this very Royal Castle last May, can only be described as timely and wise.
Today we are asking ourselves if our democracy is undergoing a crisis – a crisis of confidence of our citizens in the democratic institutions, a crisis caused by their disenchantment in politicians and indifference towards democratic processes. A recent public opinion poll in France, for example, showed an approval rating of barely 20 per cent for politicians. Eighty per cent of those polled said that politicians did not know about the problems of people.
This is a stark reminder of the need to adapt constantly our democratic model to the evolving demands and expectations of our populations. It is natural because democracy is not a status quo but a process, which Alexis de Tocqueville – the author of the 19th century’s landmark book “Democracy in America” – called “the most uniform, the most ancient and the most permanent tendency that is to be found in history.” This year marks the 200th anniversary since Alexis de Tocqueville’s birth – an excellent occasion to look at democracy in Europe and reflect upon its future.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is clear that what we need today is a significant shift in the national-local balance, the shift from the central government towards regions and municipalities which are playing an increasingly important role in delivering public services and good governance at the level closest to the citizen. In the Congress, we believe that if representative democracy is to function properly at national level with broad public support, there is a need for strong and lively local democracy based on what the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Prescott, referred to during the Warsaw Summit as “sustainable communities”.
Local democracy and sustainable development go hand in hand, and local democracy is also the first democratic experience for our citizens. It comes as no surprise that local and regional elected representatives are among the most popular politicians in the eyes of the public. Territorial communities also take on a growing importance in the economic and social development, as our national borders disappear and economic competition shifts from the national to inter-territorial level, making possible, for example, the creation of Euro-regions in which our Congress has been actively involved. The rising force of the civil society and its impact on the citizens’ engagement in democratic processes is also best felt at the local and regional level.
This is why we at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, a representative body of more than 200 000 territorial communities, look forward with great interest to contributing to this Forum and advancing our work on democracy. In fact, the theme of today’s Launching meeting – civic participation – is stressed in our basic document, the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which speaks of the need to engage citizens in public and political life at the local level. The Congress has done a great deal of work on participatory democracy, ranging from the participation of foreign residents and migrants to the participation of women and young people. Some of the results of this work are made available to the participants of this meeting – such as, for example, the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life. Next week, at its autumn session, the Congress will be debating a brand new recommendation on public participation in local affairs and elections, and we are also preparing a report on ways of enhancing public participation through the use of modern communication technologies.
However, we will not break the chains of indifference and revive public democratic activism without restoring trust in public officials and elected representatives, starting at the level closest to the citizen. Our Congress is paying particular attention to the public image of local and regional authorities and has adopted the European Code of conduct for local and regional elected representatives, available here.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to conclude by stressing that, if we are to succeed in our mission, we must make sure that the acquis of the national and even supranational democratic development are combined with a vibrant and vigorous local democracy of sustainable communities where every citizen feels empowered and included. Let us make a Europe of Inclusion a reality. Let us make sure that democracy is the word for something that does exist.
Thank you.