“Bringing Regional and Local Authorities Together For Greater Democratic Cohesion”
International Conference
Novi Sad, Serbia, 8 October 2007
Speech by Halvdan Skard, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Council of Europe
Mr President of the Assembly,
Minister,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to start by saying how delighted I am to be here today. I am delighted at the excellent initiative of the Assembly of Vojvodina, and personally its President Bojan Kostres, to whom I wish to express our gratitude, to boost the debate on the role and place of national associations of local and regional authorities in the European political landscape today.
I am also delighted that this conference is taking place in Serbia – a country which has become a full-fledged member in the family of European democracies, and is currently chairing the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, but which was in the not-so-distant past among the few remaining authoritarian regimes. I am sure that Minister Milan Markovic, representing today the Serbian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, will agree with me that it is the will of the Serbian people, translated into democratic reforms at the national, regional and local level, that made it happen.
Finally, I am delighted that the venue of this conference is the city of Novi Sad, the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, a province with a long-standing tradition of regional self-government, which can be seen as an example of a peaceful political solution to regionalisation issues and the question of territorial organisation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The aim of this conference is to look at the role of territorial authorities today in consolidating and advancing our democratic achievements, their role in fostering democratic cohesion on our continent between different levels of government – central, regional and local – and between governance and our citizens, creating a space of empowered communities involved in the decision-making up to the national and international scale.
The task before us is to conceptualise, on the one hand, relations between central governments and territorial authorities, using associations of local and regional authorities as a vehicle. Indeed, these associations today constitute an interface between the national and grassroots level, which is to say between authorities and people. In our time of accelerated decentralisation, of the transfer of competences, means and resources to the territorial level, of growing direct cooperation between communities and of their increasing role in national and international affairs – in this time of change, associations of local and regional authorities step in with an added importance as representative bodies of territorial power in the continuous action for the benefit of our citizens.
On the other hand, we need to conceptualise the role of associations as partners of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, itself a representative body at pan-European level, the voice of more than 200,000 territorial communities of our continent. It comes as no surprise that we in the Congress attach particular importance to the involvement of national associations in our activities, to establishing a permanent dialogue with them, and offering them the expertise and acquis of the Congress.
As far as the triangle “Congress/national associations/governments” is concerned, I can certainly speak from my personal experience, being, if I may say, an embodiment of this triangle as President of the Congress, President of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, and former Secretary of State in the Norwegian Government. This is why I can attest to the need for closer cohesion within this triangle, which will lead to tangible results at the community level.
Our Congress is not new to the issue. Support for national associations of local and regional authorities and creation of their networks has been one of the main axes of Congress action for quite some time. In South-East Europe in particular, we have been promoting the setting-up and development of such associations from the very beginning of the Council of Europe’s enlargement. This work has led to the creation of the Network of Associations of Local Authorities in South-East Europe, NALAS, whose Secretary General and Executive Director will also be addressing this conference today. We are currently pursuing similar efforts in South Caucasus, where we have already supported the establishment of national associations in Georgia and Azerbaijan.
It is only logical, because we see associations and their networks as relaying the Congress’ initiatives and projects, which are international in nature, at the national, regional and local level. In fact, I can say that we in Congress developed a culture of dealing with national associations in our day-to-day activities. Our cooperation takes various forms, from consultations with associations and their participation in our meetings, to organising targeted meetings with representatives of associations and their participation in election observation missions of the Congress. We also insist that associations be involved in the process of deciding on the composition of national delegations to the Congress, through consultations or direct participation in the decision-making. Last but not least, we are currently working on arranging space for communication on the Congress’ website, which would offer associations an opportunity for exchanging views and communicating on their activities.
It is in the spirit of this culture of cooperation that the Congress organised, in February 2006, the first meeting of Presidents and Secretaries-General of national associations and their networks, and a follow-up meeting of high-level representatives in September 2006. It is also in this spirit that the Congress decided, in March 2007, to invite the associations to send elected representatives to election observation missions. And it is in this spirit that we are holding this conference today.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The tremendous changes in the political, economic and social spheres that we are witnessing today give us an opportunity to build upon our democratic achievements, to use them to the maximum in order to advance the development of European democracy at all levels. This is the task set in 2005 by the Warsaw Summit of Council of Europe Heads of State and Government before our Organisation, but this is also the task for all of us – because we are not just witnesses of today’s processes, we are part of them, part of the change.
This is why I am also delighted to be part of this conference, and I look forward to your deliberations today. This conference is an important step forward in our common mission, a mission which – I am convinced – will be a great success for all of us, all of our fellow Europeans. Together, we can make it happen.
Thank you.