26th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Ceremony “20 years promoting local and regional democracy”

Speech by Herwig VAN STAA, President of the Congress

Dear colleagues, it is with great pleasure that I open this ceremony to celebrate the 20 years of our Congress.

The Congress was established in 1994 following a decision by the Heads of State and Government at the Vienna Summit in October ’93 and was really the brainchild of European leaders who were determined to strengthen local democracy on our continent. It replaced the European Conference of Local Authorities, itself born within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The first session of the Congress’ predecessor was held on 12 January 1957 under the chairmanship of Jacques Chaban Delmas, a statesman whose political roles have included amongst others, Mayor of Bordeaux, Minister of National Defence Speaker of the National Assembly and Prime Minister of France.

During that session, Mr Chaban-Delmas gave a visionary speech which clearly demonstrates his commitment - and that of his colleagues - to promoting a genuine voice for territorial democracy through an Assembly of local elected officials.

Unfortunately, there is no audio recording of this speech but only a written version. That is why we have decided to record a ten minutes extract which will now be played. During the speech you will see a slide show showing photos from that historic first session.

As I said in the introduction to this ceremony, Jacques CHABAN DELMAS was a great statesman, but he was an even greater visionary. He understood before others that Europe cannot be built without taking into account local democracy. He understood that local and regional authorities are much more than mere service providers, they are essential in shaping national and European policies and to listen closely to their citizens.

20 years is the perfect milestone to pay tribute to the pioneers of the first years as well as to the former presidents of the Congress since 1994. And I am particularly happy to have with us today:

o    Claude HAEGI               1996-1998

o    Llibert CUATRECASAS     2000-2002

o    Giovanni DI STASI         2004-2006

o    Halvdan SKARD            2006-2008

o    Ian MICALLEF               2008-2010 ad interim for Yavuz MILDON

o    Keith WHITMORE           2010-2012

and we have a thought for those past presidents who cannot be with us today, Alexander TCHERNOFF, Alain CHENARD, and especially…

… our dear friend Yavuz MILDON.

It is also the opportunity to hear from the Congress’ most important institutional partners how they see the future for co-operation and interaction at local and regional level. This is why we are happy to have their representatives with us today.

And 20 years also gives us the opportunity to evaluate the achievements of the Congress’ work. Building a genuine democracy from the bottom up in the cities and regions of Europe has been the main goal of the Congress and its predecessor, the “European Conference of Local Authorities” for more than 50 years.

Congress leaders and members have worked for decentralisation and regionalisation. They have supported interaction and dialogue between all levels of governance. They have helped to develop new ways of involving citizens in the decision-making process. And they have been promoting the emergence of multi-level governance, based on both exclusive and shared responsibilities as well as clearly defined competences at each level.

With the ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government by all 47 Council of Europe member states, we are now standing on the threshold of a unified European space of common standards for local democracy.

The Congress has achieved a lot, by reforming and refocusing its activities on the areas where its expertise is the most recognised and crucial. As the only pan-European body to monitor local and regional democracy our mission is to bring concrete responses to problems and produce tangible results.

The Congress shall pursue its efforts for a stronger democracy at the grassroots, for more relevant local and regional self-government, and for better governance of our communities – together with our partners across the continent.

As I come to the end of my speech I would just like to turn to the front row to my left and greet the distinguished colleagues who have been with us from the start, from 1994!: