Launch of the European Local Democracy Week

Madrid, 15 October 2008

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

Madam First Deputy Mayor of Madrid,

Mr Secretary General of the Council of Europe,

Distinguished members of the Municipal Council,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to participate today in the launching of the European Local Democracy Week in the City of Madrid, one of the four pilot cities for the 2008 edition, the second edition of this European event.

The fact that this ceremony is taking place in Madrid is very symbolic because it was here in Spain that this initiative was originally launched in October 2007 – in Valencia, during the Conference of Council of Europe Ministers responsible for local and regional government.

The European Local Democracy Week is a joint project of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy. It reflects our vision of a society governed by its citizens, and a government serving them in doing so – the vision which has always been at the heart of the concept of local democracy.

And this concept, in its turn, has always been rooted in our towns and our regions, in our communities where citizens live and where our public action takes place.

It is at the local level where people learn their first experience of democracy and its workings. It is at this level where they become either inspired or disenchanted by the democratic process. Participation at local level is crucial to the good functioning of democracy; 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.

In the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, a representative body of more than 200,000 communities of our continent, we are convinced that informed and motivated citizens, who feel empowered and involved in the decision-making on matters which concern them, are key to participatory democracy which we are seeking to build. Raising awareness of our citizens, explaining to them the workings of local governance, and receiving their feedback on our action is the way of inspiring their more active participation in the process of governing themselves.

It is in this spirit that the European Local Democracy Week was launched. The date of the launch, 15 October, was not chosen by accident. It symbolically coincides with the anniversary of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, a cornerstone treaty which underpins local democracy on our continent, and which was opened for signature on 15 October 1985.

The purpose of the Week, which includes simultaneous national and local events in Council of Europe member states, is to foster the knowledge of local democracy and promote democratic participation at the local level.

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 in the political life of municipalities is one of the Week’s main objectives.

Each municipality is free to choose the calendar period and format for the Week, but the idea is to have most events around 15 October. There are suggested activities that could be organised during this period – poster campaigns, interactive websites to answer citizens’ questions, town meetings with the mayor and municipal councillors, or Open Days in the City Hall.

We do count, of course, on the ingenuity of authorities of each participating city to come up with their own innovative ideas on how to mark this event.

Thirty-seven municipalities from twelve Council of Europe member states took part in the Week in 2007, and we hope to beat this figure this year and in the years to come. Four municipalities have volunteered to be pilot cities for the 2008 edition – Odessa in Ukraine, the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium, Varna in Bulgaria and, of course, Madrid in Spain. We are looking forward to events prepared by the City of Madrid to mark the Week which, I am confident, will become the annual occasion to celebrate local democracy on our continent.

We are certain that more and more cities will be joining in as this initiative gains momentum, and we count on support of national governments and associations of local authorities, many of which are already actively involved, in organising this event in their countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The European Local Democracy Week does not mean, of course, that our commitment to local communities is limited to one week in a year. Quite the opposite. We organise 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, and give them the feeling of being in charge of their own public affairs.

One week in a year is a symbolic gesture, but it encapsulates our will to pursue our day-to-day action of strengthening grassroots democracy for the benefit of our 800 million fellow Europeans – and to bring democratic action to the doorstep of our citizens.

Thank you.