UCLG World Council of Europe

Istanbul, Turkey, 28-30 November 2008

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

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour to address this World Council of UCLG which I am sure will make a significant contribution to the development of local governance worldwide and in Europe in particular.

For the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the question of good governance at local level is linked directly to the question of efficiency of local democracy, which is the overall objective of all our activities.

The Congress is the institutional voice of more than 200,000 territorial communities in 47 European countries and as such is best placed to watch over local and regional democracy in Europe, as a watchdog and guardian of its principles. The Congress also offers a pan-European platform of cooperation and networking, a forum for exchange of ideas and best practice, and a launching pad for innovative approaches.

The Congress is the unique body charged with implementing the landmark European Charter of Local Self-Government, this Magna Charta of the rights of local authorities, through its monitoring procedure. In this context, it is also cooperating with the United Nations to ensure the implementation of the UN local government guidelines, inspired by the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which makes the Congress a natural partner of UCLG.

We strongly believe that the full application of the Charter and its principles sets the stage for improving governance at local level. Over the years, the Congress has developed a number of instruments and tools to complement the Charter. One such instrument is the European Code of Conduct for local and regional elected representatives, aimed at ensuring political integrity of those holding public office. The Congress also supports and contributes to implementing the European Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at local level, elaborated by the Council of Europe.

Our most recent instrument is European Urban Charter II: Manifesto for a new urbanity, which sets out principles for creating a new urban environment and ensuring modern urban governance. The four ambitions of the Charter are those of building a city community which is citizen-oriented, sustainable, cohesive and innovative, capitalising on cities’ being centres of excellence for knowledge and culture.

“Citizen-oriented” means having the citizen and citizens’ concerns in the centre of public action, ensuring citizens’ democratic participation in all aspects of community life, including by using modern technologies (e-participation) and thus building a “citizen environment” geared towards the full realisation of citizens’ rights and potential.

“Sustainable” means ensuring urban development which takes into account both ecological concerns and the needs of different population groups (such as children, young people, women, elderly, disabled) in the public spatial planning; protecting biodiversity and preserving landscapes; fostering responsible consumption and a new energy culture, through the sustainable use of energy and water resources; reconciling heritage and modernity, work and leisure spaces, green and built environment.

“Cohesive” means ensuring integration and equal treatment of all members of the community and their equal access to public services and social rights, in particular housing, health care, education and employment; smoothing economic and social disparities within communities; fostering interculturalism and intercultural and interreligious dialogue.

“Innovative” means using the repositories of culture, science and knowledge as the launching pad for innovative approaches and experimentation, making full use of cutting-edge technologies and practices and putting modernity to the service of citizens.

We are convinced that the new Urban Charter will contribute to the ongoing process of political, economic and social empowerment of our communities, unleashed by the European Charter of Local Self-Government. Today, within the European Union alone, local and regional authorities are in control of two-thirds of all public investments. They are the largest employer and service provider in many countries, and the scope of their responsibilities continues to enlarge, due to the transfer of competences from the national level in conformity with the Charter of Local Self-Government. They bear legitimacy of popular vote and hold proximity to citizens at the same time; this makes them the first line of response to citizens’ problems and societal challenges, be it urban security, housing, health care, schooling, integration of migrants or climate change.

The “knowledge of the terrain” and the practical experience on the ground makes local authorities major political, economic and social players and stake-holders in national and even international policy-making. This new place prompted a new political orientation of our municipalities, known as City Diplomacy. The first Conference on City Diplomacy was held in The Hague in June this year; the Conference asked the Congress, which produced the first ever international report on City Diplomacy in March this year, to elaborate a Charter on City Diplomacy, which will be yet another instrument to help local authorities in managing their communities.

To sum up: it is our firm conviction that good governance at local level makes local democracy efficient, and that the quality of governance is ensured through political integrity of elected representatives (Code of Conduct) and public control which entails democratic involvement of citizens (participation). The Charter of Local Self-Government sets the framework, the basis for our action, and the new Urban Charter and City Diplomacy offer ways, avenues of pursuing the objective of improving governance and therefore the well-being of our communities. These are the tools and acquis that the Congress has put forward to share with its partners, such as UCLG.

Cities, networks of cities or institutional representatives of cities, we have a common objective of building sustainable towns and cities. We need further innovation; we need to strengthen our practices, and the Congress looks forward to our further cooperation in doing so. Indeed, we believe that networking and exchange of experience are essential to build innovative approaches and promote constructive change, for the benefit of our communities.

Thank you.