5th Annual Meeting of the Conference of the Regional and Local authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP)

Speaking notes for Nataliya Romanova, Vice-President of the Congress (Ukraine, GILD-ILDG)

Brussels, 23 April 2015

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Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank you for inviting the Council of Europe Congress to take the floor in its capacity as observer to the Conference of Regional and Local authorities for the Eastern Partnership and to contribute to the discussion on the development of territorial authorities and further decentralisation in the region.

The CORLEAP and the Congress share a great affinity, common aims and objectives renot only in the fact that most CORLEAP members from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are also members of the Congress -, but we believe that we have great potential for synergies in particular:

-       in asserting the role of local and regional authorities vis-à-vis national governments and European institutions,

-       in seeking greater competences, decision making and financial autonomy for the local and regional level through decentralisation,

-       in promoting the role of national local and regional associations to enhance the dialogue with central authorities and provide sustainable support to local government,

-       and overall in encouraging good local governance , based on true leadership, ethical behavior and greater participation of citizens in decision-making at local level.

The Congress supports positive change in member states of the Eastern Partnership region through the monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-government, the observation of local and regional elections, a post-monitoring dialogue and practical co-operation programmes in the field. The post monitoring dialogue  entails a roadmap for specific steps which the central authorities decide jointly with the Congress in order to meet the requirements of their commitments for enhanced local democracy.

The Congress has deepened the dialogue in particular with the governments of Georgia and Ukraine and will be soon start such a post-monitoring procedure with Armenia and Moldova. Local self-government reforms have been stated as a priority for these countries and the roadmaps for Georgia and Ukraine will be officially presented before the summer this year.

The co-operation activities represent a further step; they are demand-driven and based on bilateral agreements. Local democracy is an integral part not only of the action plans which have been agreed between the Council of Europe and five of the Eastern Partnership countries but also of the Council of Europe –EU co-operation.

This co-operation is being strengthened and has materialised with the signature, last December, of the CoE-EU Programmatic Eastern Partnership Framework for 2015-2017 to work on bilateral and regional projects between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.

It includes a thematic programme on strengthening institutional frameworks for local governance and will be implemented by two main actors in the Council of Europe concerned with local democracy issues, namely the Centre of Expertise for local government reform (at the intergovernmental level) and the Congress.

The objectives in this programme, which are specific and very ambitious, aim:

-       to improve and streamline legislative framework, by supporting on-going reforms (like it is currently being done in Ukraine);

-       to foster a more efficient and transparent governance at local level, by promoting an ethical behavior for local elected representatives; 

-       to enhance financial and human resources management, by sharing best practices and recommendations with targeted countries.

The Congress will in particular work towards:

-       developing the competencies of local elected representatives;

-       increasing the institutional capacity of local authorities and their associations;

-       fostering regular dialogue among local and regional authorities and with central authorities,

-       and nurturing the relation with citizens and their participation in local decision-making.

The activities which are being developed incorporate best practices and are based on a tailor-made approach, peer-to-peer work and benchmarking methodologies. They aim at building the political and administrative capacities by exchanging best practice which is the subject of our discussion this morning and of the conference in the afternoon on supporting municipal development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We obviously work towards the same objective of promoting local self-government  and supporting local and regional authorities in the Eastern Partnership region; we all wish to better address the needs of the citizens and the challenges faced by modern societies, and  develop public policies on the basis of shared European values and principles of ethical governance, sustainable development and greater solidarity.

I would therefore like to express the Congress support to the CORLEAP recommendations to the Eastern Partnership’s Summit in Riga in May. We look forward to further co-operation and synergies within the CORLEAP platform.

Thank you.