International Conference “Efficient Local Self-Government as a Basis for Efficient Democratic State - Ten years of Ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government by the Russian Federation”

Moscow, 10 April 2008

Speech by Halvdan Skard,President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to address this International Conference today, which is an excellent occasion to mark the tenth anniversary of ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government by the Russian Federation. I wish to express my gratitude, on behalf of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to the Federation Council and in particular its Vice-President Svetlana Orlova, who is also Head of the Russian delegation to the Congress, for this excellent initiative.

Almost 17 years ago, Russia made its democratic choice, after decades of the Communist regime and centuries of the Czarist autocracy beforehand. For the first time in history, this large country, a society with little democratic tradition, decided to adopt democratic values and standards and apply them to all levels of governance – national, regional and local. Russia recognised the concept that democracy cannot be effective without efficient local democracy. Ten years ago, Russia formalized this attitude in an internationsl setting, by ratifying the European Charter of Local Self-Government – this cornerstone treaty laying down principles of local self-government in a democratic state.

The vision of a society governed by its citizens, and a government serving them in doing so, has always been at the heart of the concept of democracy and democratic governance. And this concept, in its turn, has always been rooted in the level of towns and regions, of communities where people live, and which is the target of any public action we take. This is why the principle of subsidiarity, enshrined in the Local Self-Government Charter, is growing in importance today as we are witnessing the acceleration of the process of European integration. This principle provides for the division of competences between different tiers of government and the transfer of responsibilities for public services to the level where they can be best delivered to the citizens. Today, we can say with certitude that Russia has made significant progress along this path, the path of decentralisation of powers – especially given its tradition of centralism.

The principle of subsidiarity encapsulates, at the same time, the need to put people in the centre of our action, and our worry about their apparent indifference to the workings of democracy, often reflected in low voter turnouts, especially in local and regional elections, lack of inclusion for minorities, and the absence of new participatory methods, among other things. We all know that any politics are local; but it is also true that apathy to democracy begins at the local level as well, highlighting the need for efficient governance within our communities.

Of course, attaining the goal of making our citizens experience that they are empowered to govern themselves is an ambitious undertaking. It requires concerted effort of all tiers of government, but it is most felt at the level of towns and regions, governed by democratically elected local and regional representatives of the people. We in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities strongly believe that a prerequisite for good governance is close involvement of local and regional authorities, which serve as a link between national governments and territorial communities. Their active stand underpins any action at the national level, mustering popular support for it. This is why local and regional authorities are key actors in ensuring the proper application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. They will also be key actors in implementing the recently adopted European Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level which has received the full support of the Russian government.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The need for decentralisation, the need to rely on territorial authorities in public action has been clearly recognised by national governments which alone find it difficult today to meet rising expectations of our citizens. This is why the Congress is paying particular attention to the question of regionalisation in Europe, and, in this context, has been actively involved in supporting the strengthening of federalism in the Russian Federation. This goes hand in hand with our action for strengthening local self-government and reflects our vision of a Europe of Towns and Regions, a Europe of Territorial Communities. We in the Congress strongly believe that guiding principles of regionalisation should be codified in a legal text, and we have been vigorously promoting the draft European Charter on Regional Democracy. The Congress intends to adopt a final proposal of the draft Charter at its session in May 2008 – a proposal which will be flexible to accommodate all regional realities in Council of Europe member states, including Russia. We count on the support of the Russian authorities for this new instrument, which will be similar to the European Charter of Local Self-Government and which will fill in a legal gap for the regional level.

It is clear that the action of territorial authorities may fall on deaf ears without raising awareness within local communities and receiving the feedback from them. This is the reason why we have been active partners in the initiative to launch an annual European Local Democracy Week, which will coincide with the week of 15 October, the date of opening for signature of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The European Local Democracy Week is aimed at involving local populations and explaining to them the workings of local governance. We hope that Russian local elected representatives as well as central authorities responsible for local self-government will support and respond actively to this initiative.

Inasmuch as raising awareness of local populations is important, it is also crucial to raise the professional level of elected representatives and their staff. The importance of education and training for local and regional authorities is growing today both against the background of the European integration and globalisation processes and because of the changing European political landscape. Local self-government reform in many Council of Europe member states, including Russia, have led, and are leading, to the creation of new local and regional structures. These require well-qualified staff to carry out duties bestowed on territorial authorities and aimed at meeting the evolving expectations of our citizens.

We are well aware that the recent municipal reform here in the Russian Federation has brought about 12,000 new municipalities, which entails the increased training needs for both elected representatives and their staff. In this context, we welcome Russia’s joining the European Network of Training Organisations for local and regional authorities (ENTO), which gives the possibility for this country to benefit from the quality of training provided by the ENTO Network.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Anniversaries are always a good occasion to take stock of what has been done, reflect upon where we stand, and look into the future. Over the past ten years, Russia has made tremendous progress in fostering and promoting independent and efficient local self-government, which had always been centralised before that. We in the Congress are proud to have been able to help you with your reforms, by providing advice, expertise and training. It is clear that good governance cannot be sustained without active participation of our citizens and their active involvement in democratic processes at grassroots level, and we are pleased to see that this is the case in Russia today. Let us pursue our efforts and all work together to make sure that this will increasingly be so in the future.

Thank you.