Seminar on Decentralisation and Local Governance in South East Europe and the South Caucasus

Shokdra, 2-3 November 2009

Speech by Refik Rrugeja, General Rapporteur for Local and Regional Democracy in South-East Europe - Congress of the Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to address this seminar in my capacity as Rapporteur for Local and Regional Democracy in South-East of Europe for the Congress of the Council of Europe.

My appointment this year to replace the Working Group on South-East Europe highlights both the evolution and continuity of Congress action in this region, which has been a geographical zone of priority for Congress’ activities ever since the guns of the Balkan wars went silent in the 1990s.

Back then, our primary attention was focused on the countries of the former Yugoslavia, but we have since expanded its action to include the vast area of the Black Sea basin. Drawing on this experience in South-East Europe and applying it to South Caucasus is our current endeavour.

I think that we have had a very productive seminar, evaluating the opportunities offered by decentralisation, gauging its challenges, taking stock of the current situation and assessing the role of local government as a catalyst for revival – and, most importantly, ways of strengthening it.

Our deliberations during these two days have reinforced our conviction that the immense movement of decentralisation, which is underway across Europe, is unstoppable. It is the case in South-East Europe, it is the case in South Caucasus, it is the case elsewhere on our continent.

Of course, decentralisation still has some way to go, as was clear in particular from our discussions, but even if the good health of local democracy and the quality of local governance still varies in Europe, even if there is much room for improvement, local democracy today is an accepted fact, and it is the object of strong consensus in our member states.

The serious global crisis that we are experiencing today only highlights the need to re‑localise our societies. Paradoxically, the era of globalisation is also the era of "small is beautiful", the era of the local community.  Local authorities are at the heart of the economic revival policies, and public investment in many of our countries is largely carried out by local authorities.

Sustainability, the other wing of the new policy to find a way out of this crisis, will also be largely the work of local authorities, who are the central actors for improving the quality and the sustainability of our life-styles.

Against this background, the work and processes already underway in South-East Europe and the South Caucasus need to be pursued and accelerated. It is no longer a question of “what is to be done?” or “whether it should be done” but “how it should be done”.  In this regard the Congress of the Council of Europe has a wealth of experience to share, gained in the region of South-East Europe.

Coming myself from South-East Europe, I can personally attest to the many initiatives launched by the Congress in the past years, of which the Adriatic Euroregion and the Black Sea Euroregion are just two examples.

Other important Congress’ initiatives are the Association of Local Democracy Agencies and the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe, NALAS.  It is a pleasure to see their representatives here today.

 

The Congress has been closely involved with many issues representing challenges of local democracy, which have been discussed during the seminar – be it the challenges of municipal finances, of energy and the environment, or of urban planning and development.

They may constitute greater challenges for South-East Europe and South Caucasus, regions still recovering from the Communist past and the turbulence of post-Communist conflicts, but they no less relevant for all of us, for the whole of Europe.

Our action for local democracy rests on the principles of local self-government set out in the European Charter of Local Self-Government, our "Magna Carta" of community rights.

This Charter has been an integral part of many reform processes in central and Eastern Europe, including South-East Europe and South Caucasus, and it is our strong hope that it will be so in the reform still underway in some countries of the region.

The Charter deals specifically with the issues of local finances as one of the main principles of local democracy – and makes it clear that the transfer of responsibilities to local authorities must be matched with the necessary financial resources required to fulfil these tasks.

Local finances have been the subject of the monitoring carried out by the Congress in member states, and I invite you in particular to study our monitoring reports and recommendations on South-East European countries – but also on other countries, some of which experienced particular problems with the question. Local finances have also been made the central point of an Additional Protocol to the Local Self-Government Charter, elaborated by the Congress.

Building upon the principles laid down by the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the Congress has made a large number of recommendations and proposals over the recent years on a wide range of issues related to local and regional democracy. Through our Committee on Sustainable Development in particular, we have been delving into the questions of energy sources and use at local level, management of water resources, protection of the environment and biodiversity, provision of and access to public services in urban and rural areas, urban planning and development, cohesion within and between our communities and territorial cohesion in a broad sense – the list is long.

I could refer you to some of the recent recommendations adopted by our Congress, such as recommendations on responsible and sustainable consumption, on urban biodiversity, on adaptation to climate change, on a new energy culture, on the child in the city and reintegration of street children, on participation of young people at local and regional level, to name but a few.

I could also mention our action in the social field, where we continue to address such issues as integration of migrants, urban security and neighbourhood policing, fight against human trafficking and against domestic violence, gender equality and protection of minorities, and access to social rights such as housing, health care and education, among others.

All these proposals and recommendations are based on the same philosophy, which is the basis of an integrated approach in our work – that of linking these different aspects into a single whole. We strongly believe that our goal today must be building communities centred on the citizen, cohesive communities which embrace all of their members, giving them a feeling of belonging, of being empowered to participate in the decision-making and in all aspects of community life, and providing them with a friendly environment.

Whereas the proposals which I have just described constitute a conceptual basis for our action, one of the tools for their practical application is cooperation between cities and regions, cooperation between communities, including transfrontier cooperation. South-East Europe in particular – and, I would add, the Black Sea basin where South-East Europe meets South Caucasus and the “political” East of our continent – offers an enormous potential for transfrontier cooperation which can also serve as a sound alternative to conflict between states.

With this in mind, as I have mentioned earlier, the Congress established in September 2008 the Black Sea Euroregion as a co-operation platform which allows local administrations, surrounding the Black Sea, to launch projects related to environment, tourism, as well as inter-cultural and social cohesion.

I have already mentioned a number of local and regional networks created by the Congress, which I hope will be joined by more cities in South-East Europe and South Caucasus. As I said at the outset, one of the first Congress’ initiatives in this region was also setting up a network of Local Democracy Agencies, known as LDAs, to restore trust and build confidence between war-torn communities through concrete projects on the ground, involving local authorities.

This endeavour proved so successful that the network of LDAs expanded into South Caucasus with an agency in Georgia and the last agency to open is here in Shokdra, and I would like to thank all those who contributed to making this a reality.

Another Congress’ initiative was to bring together associations of local authorities in South-East European countries into a cooperation network, NALAS. I am proud to say that the Association of the Albanian Municipalities, of which I am President, is a member of this network that has also recently expanded: associations from Turkey and Croatia were the last members to join.

To conclude, I would stress once again that now is the time to look at this panoply of existing proposals, recommendations and initiatives and link them together into one integrated and systemic approach. Moving on these different fronts – fostering a new community environment and building intermunicipal, interregional and transfrontier cooperation networks – we will move closer to our goal, towards a Europe of Sustainable Communities – in South-East Europe, in South Caucasus, and across the entire European continent.