Launching of the European Local Democracy Week on the occasion of the Day of Odessa

Odessa, Ukraine, 1-3 September 2008

Speech by Yavuz Mildon, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Distinguished Mayor Gurvits,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to tell you how delighted I am to be here, in this beautiful city of Odessa, on such a joyful double occasion – the Day of the City and the launch of the European Local Democracy Week in your municipality.

The European Local Democracy Week is a new annual event, launched for the first time last year. It is a joint initiative of our Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, of which I am President, and the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy, an intergovernmental body of the Council of Europe.

We in the Congress are very pleased that Odessa has volunteered to be a pilot city for this year’s edition of the Week, along with other three – Madrid, Varna, and the Brussels-Capital Region. To us, this commitment shows the will of city authorities to reinforce their links with their communities and involve them more in the decision-making, to make them feel part of the democratic machinery. This is what the European Democracy Week is all about.

It was conceived in the spirit that it is at the local level where people learn their first experience of democracy and its workings, and where they become either inspired or, sometimes unfortunately disenchanted by the democratic process. Indeed, it is in the Agora Square in ancient Athens that democracy began, reminding all of us that any democracy, like any politics, is local. As we all know, ancient Greeks explored quite a great deal of this part of the Black Sea coast, and although Odessa was founded much much later, democracy may have just as well begun here, on the Primorsky Boulevard – it is, in any case, in the whole spirit and history of this legendary city.

This is why it is only logical that, to stir up people’s enthusiasm for democracy and have them regain the taste for democratic management of affairs, we begin at the level closest to them – in our cities. Citizens’ participation is the backbone of democracy, and its starts from grassroots – and it starts with being aware that you may and you can. Raising awareness in our communities, involving them – personally, if you wish – to the political life of municipalities is one of the main objectives of the European Local Democracy Week.

Thirty-seven municipalities from twelve Council of Europe member states took part in the European Local Democracy Week in 2007, and we hope to beat this figure this year and in the years to come. We are certain that in Ukraine, Odessa will lead with its example other municipalities in joining in organising this event. Every city is of course free to choose the calendar period and format for the Week, but the idea is to have most events around 15 October, the date when the European Charter of Local Self-Government was opened for signature in 1985. I can see that Odessa started early this year, which is only laudable.

There are suggested activities that could be organized during the European Local Democracy Week – poster campaigns, interactive websites to answer citizens’ questions, public meetings with the mayor and municipal councilors, Open Days in the City Hall – but these are just an example. Authorities of each city will, of course, come up with their own innovative ideas on how to mark this event, and I look forward to the ingenuity and inventiveness of the Mayor and City Council of Odessa – the city whose dwellers, Odessites, are renowned for not lacking either.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The European Local Democracy Week does not mean, of course, that our commitment to our communities is limited to one week in a year. Quite the opposite. We organize this event to mark the continuity of our action for the benefit of citizens, as a sort of annual report on activities throughout the year – past, current and planned.

We hope that the Week will “recharge” local communities with enthusiasm for democratic participation, give them the feeling of being in charge of their own public affairs. This is in fact the definition of “local self-government” laid down in the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which entered into force on 1 September twenty years ago – the right of local communities to manage their own affairs.

I wish the Municipality of Odessa, the port city, to sail through the European Local Democracy Week with flying colours. Godspeed!

Thank you.