15th Plenary Session of the Congress, 27-29 May 2008

Wednesday 28th May

Speech of Mr Mats Odell, Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets of Sweden, on behalf of the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers

Mr President, members of the Congress, ladies and gentlemen,

It is indeed a great honour for me to address the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities on behalf of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.

Congratulations Mr President on your election by the members of Congress.  Your strong interest in dialogue and co-operation between the Congress and the Committee of Ministers is important and promising.  I can assure you that the Swedish Chairmanship is looking forward to working closely with you and the Congress. Let me at this occasion also pay tribute to the work of your well appreciated predecessor Mr Halvdan Skard.

The media most often describe what is happening to the stem and the crown but the importance of democracy is best known at its roots - at the local and regional levels. Mr and Mrs Smith, the man in the street – call them what you want – they all know what needs should be taken care of in their villages, towns, or regions. They can see what action is taken, and appreciate it according to results.  The locally and regionally elected decision-makers feel the expectations and the appreciation or lack of same from their constituencies.  When politicians are tackling problems, trying to make the best possible use of resources to achieve results and fulfil campaign promises, they know that they are close to those who will be affected.   This creates a unique environment for dialogue and interaction between individuals and decision-makers. Tip O´Neill, for many years the Speaker of the House in the US Congress, used to say that all politics is local. I think that is somewhat exaggerated – typical for the great democrat of our times – but nevertheless it has a true ring to it.

In Sweden we come fairly close to that ideal. We take the principle of local self-government seriously. Local Self-Government is protected by the Swedish Constitution.  It is a cornerstone in Swedish society. Local self-government has a long historical tradition in Sweden, dating back as far as the creation of the municipalities and county councils in the year 1862. As early as 1989, Sweden signed and ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government. In my opinion the Charter represents an important landmark. It helps to instil a proper respect for local self government.

It is clear that you, members of the Congress, in your capacity as elected representatives of local and regional councils, have an important and challenging role to play. I am glad that the Council of Europe, through the Congress, has an organ which is entirely devoted to these issues.  I am also pleased that the newly appointed Congress fulfils the new rule of 30 per cent participation of the underrepresented gender in each delegation. This is an important step towards gender equality.

Democracy, human rights and the rule of law are at the core of the Council of Europe, and of the Swedish Chairmanship.  Our priorities for the work in the Committee of Ministers from May to November are clearly based on the decisions by the Heads of State or Government at the Warsaw Summit. There they agreed that the Council of Europe’s future is to pursue its core objective which as you know is to protect and promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law.  All activities of the Council of Europe should contribute to this fundamental objective.  The Summit identified three aspects – gender equality, children’s´ rights and a youth perspective – to be mainstreamed into all activities of the Council of Europe. The importance of the local and regional level was underlined at the Summit.

The main objective of the Swedish Chairmanship is to promote the realisation of the core objective.  At the Summit in 2005, the member states resolved to ensure full compliance with their commitments as members of the Council of Europe.  Further progress is needed. This organisation can definitely play a role in achieving this – to make rights real.  By focusing on the implementation of standards, and striving for the widest possible co-operation between the Council of Europe, member states and other actors, Sweden hopes to facilitate further progress.

So, how will we do this?  We are taking a number of initiatives.  Let me mention some of them:

Within the field of human rights, Sweden will organise four conferences.  Three of them will be focusing on the implementation of specific adopted standards: the first on the European Convention on Human Rights, the second on instruments on the rights and situation of children and the third on the rights of disabled persons.  In this context I will stress the importance that my country attaches to the ratification of Protocol No. 14 by all member states. This, I pray, should be done as soon as possible.

The fourth conference will concentrate on systematic work for implementation of human rights standards, including national human rights action plans.  The purpose of the conference is to exchange experiences concerning systematic work for human rights at the national level as well as to give concrete examples and methods on how to implement human rights.  But if we look closer, it becomes obvious that local and regional authorities often need to be at the forefront when it comes to making human rights work in practice. Human rights should be remembered and implemented long after speeches like this one have been forgotten. It can be and it should be implemented when it comes to areas such as housing, health and education just to mention a few areas with which I am familiar. But local authorities also have a role in safeguarding fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of assembly.

I am pleased that the Congress, together with the Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Thomas Hammarberg, and the Swedish Association for Local Authorities and Regions, are co-operating on a seminar regarding respect for human rights at the local and regional level. I hope they will come up with some good ideas for international conference, which Sweden will host in November.

With regard to democracy, Sweden recalls that the Warsaw Summit called on all member states to intensify their work within the Council of Europe in order to promote democracy at all levels.  One indispensable element of democracy is free and fair elections. Other essential elements are a culture of democracy where individuals are able to take part in public affairs, and a broad and free civil society.  Sweden aims at encouraging a coherent use of the excellent tool box that the Council of Europe offers – expertise from the Venice Commission, legal instruments, support to civil society, the possibilities for dialogue, just to mention a few of the tools I am referring to.

The Forum for the Future of Democracy has become a permanent feature of the Council of Europe work. Here I would especially like to stress the excellent contribution that the Congress brought to the session in Sweden last year and is continuously bringing to this process.

It is important that we all underline the need to live up to the commitments and obligations which come with membership in the Council of Europe.  To monitor developments is necessary for promoting further progress.  I commend the Congress activities in this field, including the monitoring of elections.

Concerning the rule of law, the Chairmanship aims at ensuring that full use can be made of the potential that the Council of Europe has Respect for the principle of the rule of law is indispensable for human rights and democracy.  During our chairmanship a conference will be arranged on judicial reforms in the South Caucasus.

Strengthening relations with the European Union and other international organisations, in particular the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, is essential.  The co-operation should be result-oriented and based on complementarity.  The Chairmanship is looking forward to further enhancing these relations.

The document on the priorities for the Chairmanship also underlines activities in other areas which contribute to the core mission. Let me also recall the need for continued reforms for a transparent and efficient Council of Europe.

Sweden intends to pursue an active Chairmanship, on the basis of shared values and common interest, to the benefit of the core objective of this organisation. We look forward to a constructive dialogue with the Congress in this respect.

The Ministerial Session on 7 May, chaired by the Foreign Minister of Slovakia and Sweden respectively, represented a positive development through the increased participation at ministerial level.

In the session, the Ministers dealt with the consolidation of the Council of Europe system for human rights protection, the relation with the European Union, and follow-up of other priorities resulting from the Warsaw Summit. On 21 May, the Ministers’ Deputies decided on a concrete follow-up of the decisions and orientations given by the Ministerial Session.  Sweden is looking forward to this work.

Mr President,

Having highlighted the priorities of the Swedish Chairmanship for the coming 6 months and the outcome of the Ministerial session, I would now take the opportunity to refer more specifically to recent actions of the Committee of Ministers which I believe are of particular interest to the Congress.

I shall mention a few of the recent initiatives with a view to strengthening local and regional development.  In particular, I would draw attention to the political impetus given in this field by the 15th Conference of European Ministers responsible for local and regional government which took place in Valencia on 15 and 16 October last year.

At the Valencia meeting the Ministers responsible for local government agreed to start work on an additional protocol to the European Charter on Local Self-Government on Democratic Participation at local level.  This underlines the fact that democratic participation is an essential part of local-self government.  This is an initiative which is particularly welcomed by the Swedish Chairmanship.

I am aware that the Congress has also proposed an additional protocol to the Charter, in order to strengthen local self-government. The Committee of Ministers has asked the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy, CDLR, for an opinion on this matter.  Sweden considers that more in-depth analysis is required on the need for such a protocol and on the issues that it should cover.

Similarly, with regard to opening the European Charter of Local Self-Government to the accession of the European Community and of non-member states of the Council of Europe, the Committee of Ministers has asked the CDLR to carry out a study on the desirability and feasibility of preparing an amending protocol to this end. This should be done before the end of the year.

I would also draw your attention to the Valencia initiative to entrust my Finnish colleague, Ms Mari Kiviniemi, with the task of preparing, in her personal capacity, a report on the ways and means by which the work of the Council of Europe on local and regional democracy can be enhanced., The report will include the Council’s relations with other international structures and organisations, in particular the European Union.  I am pleased to note that Ms Kiviniemi will discuss these matters with you tomorrow.

The Committee of Ministers has adopted the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level. It has set up the Stakeholders’ Platform with the task of following and giving guidance to the implementation of the Strategy. I welcome that Bulgaria, Norway, Spain and the Walloon region of Belgium have already started the implementation. The Congress has also been invited to appoint two representatives to the Platform. All member states have been invited to seek to achieve the good governance outcomes of the Strategy.

Finally, let me draw the Congress’s attention to the second annual report of the Activities of the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform which was submitted to the Committee of Ministers earlier this month. The Committee of Ministers agreed that the Centre has fulfilled the expectations that justified its creation in 2005, and stressed the importance of continued co-operation with all partners concerned, in particular the Congress and the CDLR.

The Committee of Ministers values its partnership with the Congress.  Whilst it has already proven to be a strong one, we must however be vigilant in nurturing that partnership and persist in efforts to enhance the dynamics between the two bodies.  I am sure that progress on a number of priority issues of the Council of Europe can be made in member states. And I think more speedily so through enhanced interaction between the Committee of Ministers and the Congress, constructive dialogue and common efforts.

I wish you all the best in your future work in your respective constituencies as well as in this international arena.

Thank you for your attention.