Statutory Forum of the Congress of Local and regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Strasbourg, 17 June 2011

Communication by the Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities the Council of Europe

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the 20^th Session of the Congress in March, the Congress has been pursuing the implementation of the reform proposals adopted at the end of last year, aligning its action with the new priorities of the Council of Europe as a whole.

A number of important developments have taken place over this period. The Group of Eminent Persons, set up by Secretary General Jagland, has published its report on “Living Together in the 21^st century Europe”. It is encouraging that this report takes into account in particular the proposals made by the Congress with regard to the crucial role of local and regional authorities in boosting citizen participation, improving local integration for a better social cohesion, fostering intercultural dialogue and managing cultural diversity. These were identified as major axes of our future action. The Group also pointed out a particular need for developing inter-municipal co-operation across Europe to take up the challenges faced by our societies today.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has approved the priorities of the Organisation for 2012-2013, in a move towards a new, biennial budget and a new structure of intergovernmental activities. At the same time, Ukraine, which assumed the Chairmanship of the Committee on 11 May, has put an emphasis on strengthening the democratic process at local and regional level in Europe as one of its priorities. The Congress Bureau, meeting in Antalya (Turkey) on 13 May, welcomed this orientation of the Ukrainian Chairmanship, stressing that the Congress, as guarantor of the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, is at the forefront for assisting in the implementation of this priority.

These developments both reaffirm the need and offer opportunities for a renewed and stronger dialogue and co-operation between the Congress and national governments, first and foremost through the Committee of Ministers and through the Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional government. This dialogue is crucial for establishing a joint approach to taking up the challenges of local and regional self-government, and for a better follow-up to implementing Congress recommendations, in particular with regard to post-monitoring and post-election observation assistance.

On 11 May, I addressed the Ministerial Session of the Committee of Ministers in Istanbul, where I underlined that local and regional authorities today are much more than service providers – they have become full-fledged political players in the development of their communities. As today’s challenges for European democracy are transversal, so too must be the solutions, and the Congress represents this transversality in its thematic, institutional and geographical terms. As a distribution channel for the Council of Europe policies and strategies at local and regional level, the Congress must remain in direct dialogue and partnership with the Committee of Ministers.

I am pleased to report that this agenda in common has been included in the order of business of the next Ministerial Conference in Kyiv, in November this year, which also features the question of human rights implementation at local and regional level. The Governance Committee of the Congress will meet in Strasbourg on 26 September to finalise the proposal for our contribution to this Ministerial Conference, which the Congress will be asked to approve during its session in October.

We have also been following the Council of Europe action to elaborate its own neighbourhood policy, in particular in the light of the events in North Africa and the Arab world. The Presidents of the Congress Chambers joined me in addressing a letter to Secretary General Jagland, setting out proposals for the Congress’ contribution.

Building on the results of the Euro-Arab Cities Forum in Malaga last February, we will pursue our co-operation with the UN Alliance of Civilisations through a special partnership, to contribute to the Alliance’s Regional Strategy for the Mediterranean. We will also pursue a coordinated response of European cities to assist in the democratisation process in the Mediterranean. Finally, the Congress will contribute to the democratic transition through its work in the Council of Europe’s North-South Centre and the Council for Democratic Elections of the Venice Commission. Our immediate proposals include organising a series of workshops on local governance tools, such as the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the Code of conduct for the political integrity of local and regional elected representatives, and the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.

To sum up, the Congress stands ready to contribute in concrete terms to the implementation of the Council of Europe neighbourhood policy and to its activities in co-operation with the European Union, which has already indicated its readiness to be a partner in this respect.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have also been advancing with our core mission of ensuring the full and universal implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. In March, Andorra became the 45^th member state of the Council of Europe to ratify the Charter, and we continue working with the two remaining countries, Monaco and San Marino, on securing their ratifications. There was an encouraging development in our campaign to promote a “100% Charter continent” – a Charter without reservations – amongst member countries when Malta has lifted most of its reservations to the Charter on the occasion of our regular monitoring, and we will continue on this path. On 6 May, Britt-Marie Lövgren, Vice-president of the Governance Committee, promoted this position at the Conference on the European Charter for Local Self-Government in Vilnius, Lithuania.

In pursuing its monitoring of the Charter’s implementation, the Congress has carried out four new monitoring missions since its 20^th Session in March: to France from 29 March to 1 April; to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 11 to 14 April; to Lithuania from 6 to 8 June; and to the Czech Republic from 13 to 15 June, with a mission to Germany planned for the end of June. Our Monitoring Committee will meet on 4 July in Izmir, in Turkey, to examine a number of new monitoring reports.

Over the same period, we continued our election observation activities and observed local elections in Albania on 8 May and in Moldova on 5 June. In line with the rules of procedure for local and regional election observation, adopted last June, the election observation missions were preceded by pre-electoral visits on 12 and 13 April to Albania and on 18 and 19 May to Moldova.

Our activities to respond to the challenges faced by local and regional authorities are currently focusing on the issues of Roma inclusion, integration of migrants and action to prevent violence against children, which is also in line with the activities of the Council of Europe.

With regard to Roma inclusion, the Congress has launched the preparation of a Summit of Mayors on Roma, to take place in Strasbourg on 22 September. The Current Affairs Committee of the Congress, at its meeting on 29 June in Yerevan, Armenia, will be examining a report on the situation of Roma: a challenge for local and regional authorities, prepared by Mr John Warmisham, our Thematic Rapporteur on Roma/Travellers. Mr Warmisham also took part in the General Assembly of the European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) in Strasbourg from 30 March to 1 April, and in a seminar on “Cities and regions - joining forces for inclusion of Roma populations,” organised by the Committee of the Regions on 31 May in Brussels. Finally, we are moving forward with the 3^rd edition of the Dosta!-Congress Prize for Municipalities, to be awarded during the 21^st Session in October. All these activities are aimed at building mutual trust between local communities and Roma populations and ensuring coordination of local and regional action on Roma across Europe.

With regard to migration and integration of migrants, which was identified as a particular priority by both the Group of Eminent Persons and in the Council of Europe programme for 2012-2013, Emer Costello, member of the Current Affairs Committee, took part in the Annual Conference of the Cities for Local Integration Policy (CLIP) Network, in Frankfurt on 23-24 May. I also had the pleasure of addressing this Conference, which focused on the issue of migrant entrepreneurship. Promoting the migrants’ self-employment and their own economic contribution is one important integration aspect that is often overlooked, and could be taken up by the Congress. In a related action, the Current Affairs Committee is organising a colloquy on challenges of migration for local and regional authorities, in Yerevan on 30 June.

Last but not least, the Bureau of the Congress is considering our possible participation in the Council of Europe “One in Five” campaign to stop sexual violence against children. On 6 June, I addressed the Annual Conference of the Cities for Children Network in Stuttgart, where I called on participating cities to join in this campaign. The City of Stuttgart is a driving force behind this Network, and its Mayor and Congress member Wolfgang Schuster will take part in our debate on this subject during the October session, presenting good practices of the Cities for Children in this regard.

I would also like to inform this Forum that I spoke in support of the initiative by the City of Barcelona to organise a European Day of Sport, which was presented in Brussels on 27 May. Sport is a powerful tool for combating exclusion, promoting intercultural dialogue and achieving a greater integration in society, and I am convinced that this is an initiative worth implementing.

In addition, on 10 June in Strasbourg, I took part in the Conference on the parliamentary process in the preparation to the 6th World Water Forum, which will take place in Marseille in March 2012.

Finally, I would like to thank Congress members for representing the Congress in a number of events and activities:

- Emin Yeritsyan, Chair of the Current Affairs Committee, at the 2nd Black Sea Regional Policy Conference, organised by the Assembly of European Regions in Batumi, Georgia, on 5 and 6 April;

- Vice-President Nataliya Romanova, at the 4th Nevsky Environmental Congress in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, on 17 May;

 - Vice-President Jana Fischerová, at the 16th Europa-Forum Wachau, on 21 and 22 May in Wachau, Austria, together with Congress Secretary General Andreas Kiefer;

- Vice-President Dubravka Suica at the ''Days of Regional Development'' in Sibenik, Croatia, from 23 to 25 May;

- and Vice-President Gaye Doganoglu, at the Congress of Resilient Cities in Bonn, Germany, from 3 to 5 June.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This Statutory Forum was an opportunity to take stock of Congress achievements and to exchange know-how between members, and it prepared the ground for continued reform, in particular for more co-ordinated action between different Council of Europe actors in the field of local and regional democracy.

Thank you.