Strasbourg, 31 March 2009                                                                CDLR(2009) 16

                                                                                         Item 9.2 of the agenda

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

CO-OPERATION PROGRAMMES

Secretariat Memorandum

prepared by the

Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs

Directorate of Democratic Institutions

This is a public document. It will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy.

Ce document est public. Il ne sera pas distribué en réunion. Prière de vous munir de cet exemplaire.

Foreword

This document contains updated information on the activities carried out by the Secretariat and the main results achieved in the implementation of the Co-operation Programmes to support local and regional government reforms in 2008. Details on activities planned for 2009 appear in Section III.

Action required

The members of the CDLR are invited to take note of the information contained in this document.

SECTION I - MAIN WORK carried out IN 2008

Work with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

Within the framework of the Co-operation Agreement with the OSCE, a third coordination meeting held on 13 November 2008 in Warsaw brought together representatives of the Council of Europe Secretariat[1], ODIHR and the OSCE field missions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo[2] and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. The two Organisations discussed joint work since the last meeting in October 2007 and investigated further possible areas for future co-operation, both country-specific and cross-cutting issues.

Inter-municipal co-operation and/or regional development were identified as two areas with great potential for future work together in many of the countries concerned and which could be supported by a “regional” approach.  In addition, the following country-specific issues for co-operation resulted from the discussion: territorial planning in Albania; support to the Co-ordination Body for the design of a coherent strategy in the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina; law on territorial organisation in Republika Srpska; laws on territorial organisation and on local elections in Montenegro; legislation on local elections and neighbourhood democracy in Serbia.

Cross-cutting issues included discussions on creating mechanisms for:

a)    jointly monitoring and evaluating developments in the field of decentralisation (also with a view to better identifying emerging priorities and increasing responsiveness through demand-driven project design);

b)    jointly encouraging and providing support to local government reforms, namely through i) enhancing coordination with local partners and other donors, and ii) improving governments’ vision and strategy, also with a view to promoting the national work programmes (or analogous strategic documents) as tools for focusing action and channelling donor support).

Co-operation with the Open Society Institute/Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative and the UNDP

Co-operation initiated in 2007 with the Open Society Institute/Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) was further enhanced. The Council of Europe joined forces with the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, with whom a co-operation agreement has been prepared and will be signed shortly.

In 2008, inter-municipal co-operation (IMC) was the key topic of two regional workshops co-organised by the Council of Europe, the Open Society Institute/Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative and UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre. These events were designed to raise awareness on the importance of IMC as a tool to help local governments deal with their weaknesses resulting from limited size and capacity, provide better services to citizens and encourage exchange of experiences and cross-fertilisation They brought together representatives from central governments, the associations of local authorities and local officials from SEE and other countries.

The first event in the IMC series took place from 10-13 June 2008, in Peccioli, Italy, for the following countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. The second regional workshop took place from 28-30 October 2008 in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Participants came from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (both the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska), Moldova and Montenegro. Delegations from Armenia and Turkey also attended. Active interest was showed in particular by the Albanian, Moldovan and Turkish delegations, and therefore the possibility is being considered to follow up the regional events by in-country targeted projects in 2009 in co-operation with LGI and UNDP.

Building on the outcomes of the workshops, the CoE, OSI/LGI and UNDP decided to prepare a toolkit aimed at providing guidance on how to improve the legal and administrative framework, and develop targeted training programmes in support of IMC across the region. Two expert co-ordination meetingsto discuss the content of the toolkit were organised on 27 October and 26 November 2008. Three other meetings for finalising the toolkit and testing it are scheduled for 2009.

 

A European conference on “Lessons Learned from Territorial Consolidation Reforms – European Experience” was co-organised in Warsaw by the Council of Europe and the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative, together with the University of Warsaw on 14-15 November 2008. It brought together participants from central and local governments, associations and NGos from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Slovakia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine. Experts presented case studies from Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania and “the former Yugoslave Republic of Macedonia” and discussed positive and negative outcomes of the territorial reforms which have taken place in Europe during the last decade. The debates were very active and provided the base line for recommendations to policy makers. The conference papers will be published in 2009.

Key assistance provided to the member states of the Council of Europe

§  Policy advice, assistance with legal reforms and other support was provided under the ordinary budget of the Council of Europe to the following seven countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska), Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The two ongoing joint programmes with the European Commission to strengthen local government in Montenegro and Serbia have been implemented successfully, and good bases were established for the expected follow-up programmes, which have been agreed with the national partners and submitted to the EC for approval.

§  Legislative assistance and technical support to the drafting of legislation in the field of local government included, in particular, the appraisal of (draft) legislation on:

-          local self-government (draft amendments to the Constitution in Republika Srpska; draft law on additional competences for the municipalities in Azerbaijan; law on local self-government in Georgia, Montenegro and Serbia);

-          territorial organisation (draft laws on territorial organisation in Montenegro and Serbia; policy paper and draft law on administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine);

-          local finance/local budgets (draft law on local public finance in Moldova; draft laws on local finance and local fees in Montenegro; policy paper and draft law in Albania);

-          property (draft Law on public property in Serbia);

-          local elections (Serbia);

-          the status/organisation of the capital city (Armenia, Serbia);

-          relationship between state and local administrations (amendments to the law on prefects in Albania; draft law on administrative inspection in Montenegro);

-          regional development (draft concept and law on regional development policy in Ukraine);

-          spatial planning (draft law on territorial planning in Albania);

-          other sectoral legislation (legislation on housing, the Housing Code, municipal services, in Ukraine).

§  In addition to the legal appraisals and assistance with law drafting, policy advice and/ or technical support was offered on issues such as:

-          the preparation of a decentralisation strategy in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Georgia (March 2009)

-          municipal property in Montenegro;

-          the assignment of functions in specific areas (education, health and social care, municipal police) in Serbia.

Further details on country co-operation projects implemented by the Department of Local and Regional Democracy and Good Governance (the Department) are provided below.

SECTION II - COUNTRY ACTIVITIES IN 2008

Albania

The main activity in 2008 was the provision of policy guidance and legal/technical support to the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications in the drafting of the new law on territorial planning. The Council of Europe expert worked in close collaboration with the World Bank (WB) team and the Ministry, offering comprehensive written contributions and participating at stakeholders’ meetings and discussions. A consolidated appraisal was delivered in August pointing to the remaining drawbacks and suggesting draft amendments. A second appraisal was submitted in early October. The CoE and WB experts have worked out a final draft, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers in December 2008.

Assistance was also provided to the Ministry of the Interior with the review of the law on prefects. The experts’ appraisal report on this draft was sent to the Ministry in August.

Discussions are underway with the WB, MoI and MoF to organise a series of meetings to discuss the draft Law on Local Finance with key beneficiaries and donors, prior to its adoption.

Armenia

As in 2007, co-operation with the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration in 2008 focused on the drafting of the Law on local self-government and territorial administration of the city of Yerevan. After the working meeting held in Yerevan in October 2007, a revised draft was submitted to the Council of Europe and a new appraisal report (the third one) was produced by the Council of Europe experts in April. This report was discussed in May, during a serious of meetings with all the main Armenian stakeholders, and a fourth report, including concrete text proposals, was sent to the partners in July. In November, the Armenian partners submitted a new draft. The final report delivered by the CoE expert was discussed at a meeting in Strasbourg with the Minister of Territorial Administration and Deputy Prime Minister in December 2008. The Law was adopted in December 2008. The final text takes into account most of the CoE recommendations.

Azerbaijan

The only activity in 2008 was the completion of the appraisal of the draft “Law on assignment of additional competences to the municipalities” (transmitted in October 2007). The final appraisal report, sent to the partners in March, also included detailed proposals on areas for possible co-operation and follow-up activities. The DDI has not received any request for assistance since then.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

In July 2007, a Conference on the implementation of the Law on the Principles of Local Self-Governance in FBiH was organised in Sarajevo and attended by all the major national and international stakeholders in local self-government reform in the Federation. One of the outcomes of the Conference was the resolution adopted by the participants, calling for the establishment of a Commission for Decentralisation, under the guidance of the Ministry of Justice.

This “Coordinating Body for Local Self-Government Reform” has now been established and held its first meeting on 29 September 2008. It comprises representatives from the Government of FBiH, the Parliament of FBiH, the ten cantons, the Association of Cities and Municipalities, as well as representatives from the international community. The “Co-ordinating Body” is expected to play a leading role in the process of designing the strategy to pursue decentralisation and harmonising the legal framework for local self-government between federation, cantonal and local levels. The Council of Europe, together with the OSCE and Governance Accountability Project (GAP), have been invited to stand as permanent members and they intend to provide joint support to its work, including assistance in drafting a coherent “National Work Programme for Better Local Government” (or equivalent strategic document).

Republika Srpska

In 2008, the main area of activity was the preparation of a report on the provisions on local self-government in the Amendments to the Constitution, as part of the overall assessment of the Amendments by the Venice Commission. The appraisal of the draft amendments having an impact on the local government system was finalised in May and incorporated by the Venice Commission in its opinion.

Following a visit to Banja Luka in July, a request was made by the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government for an appraisal of the draft Law on Territorial Organisation. This has now been sent to the Minister.

In addition to co-operation in the area of territorial organisation, support in the drafting of new laws relating to civil service reform and administrative supervision have been requested by the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government. The draft Law on Administrative Supervision was received late October. An expert prepared comments and recommendations, although the law was adopted by the RS Parliament before submission of the appraisal report.

Georgia

In November 2007, the Georgian authorities requested the Council of Europe to make recommendations on possible amendments and addenda to the Organic Law of Georgia on Local Self-Government. Following the appraisal of the law (completed in December 2007) and its transmission to the partners, a drafting meeting with the Georgian and CoE experts was organised in Strasbourg at the beginning of 2008. However, no feedback was given on the CoE experts’ proposals.

Programme implementation was de facto suspended during the preparation and holding of the presidential and parliamentary elections. The tense political context and turmoil due to the conflict in South Ossetia and Abkhazia delayed programme implementation further. Contacts were resumed in December.

Moldova

As a follow up to the intensive work carried out in 2007 on the new Draft Law on Local Public Finance, a revised draft law was submitted by the Ministry of Finance at the beginning of 2008. The new appraisal report prepared by the Council of Europe experts was sent to the Ministry of Finance in May 2008. No feedback has been received to date.

Montenegro

Undertaken in co-operation with the Ministry of the Interior and Public Administration and the Ministry of Finance, with the participation of the Union of Municipalities, the Programme’s main activities included:

• The finalisation of an Action Plan for Local Self-Government - this document was prepared by the working group of the Joint Central Local Commission, with assistance from the Joint Programme and adopted by the Government in February 2008.

• The preparation of a Law on Territorial Organisation - the final Draft was appraised by the Council of Europe and discussed at a meeting organised on 22-23 December by the OSCE. The draft is expected to be adopted by the Parliament during the first half of 2009.

• Amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government - a first draft was reviewed in Strasbourg in July 2008. Revised versions of the draft were submitted in August, September, October and November. The expert report on the latest draft was completed and sent to the partners in December.

• Review of the Law on Communal Fees - following the adoption of the Law on Financing Local Self-Government in December 2007 (which entered into force in January 2008 and improved in particular, the equalisation system), initial assistance was provided for a review of the Law on Communal Fees. Following a fact-finding mission to several municipalities, a draft report, prepared by two Council of Europe experts was sent to the Ministry of Finance and discussed at a roundtable in November 2008.

Serbia

Support to decentralisation and local government reforms included the following main activities:

• Improvements of the four laws adopted in December 2007 - CoE experts’ appraisals and proposals on the four laws (territorial organisation, local self-government, the capital city and local elections) were discussed at a meeting in February. It appeared unrealistic to expect new amendments to the four laws to be adopted before the local elections. However, this will be a major priority in 2009.

• Preparation of model statutes of Town and Municipalities - The CoE experts assisted the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) in drawing up the Models of the Statutes; these were adopted by the SCTM in June. Special attention was given to the consultation process of towns and municipalities, the dissemination of the models and the SCTM’s advice on the updating of the statutes, based on the models. The models develop and supplement the provisions of the Law on Local Self-Government in specific areas, such as municipal management, ethnic issues, local economic development, citizen participation, etc.

• Devolution of functions to local self-government and related funding issues - Task forces/working groups were established in the fields of education, health care and social welfare, the latter being the area where work progressed the most. The CoE experts assisted the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy in the drafting of a concept paper on “Models of Decentralisation for services in the Social Welfare Sector”. A Round table was organised in March by the CoE to discuss the document with all relevant stakeholders. Data are being collected to analyse financial flows, with a view to modelling the financing of social welfare services which should be decentralised. Minimal standards for equipment and classification in primary health care centres in Serbia are being prepared.

• Drafting of the law on Public Property - The CoE experts prepared “Guidelines for the Devolution of Property Rights to Local Self-Government in Serbia” and provided assistance to the Ministry of Finance in the drafting of the Law on Public Property. Regional public hearings were organised by the SCTM and the appraisal of the CoE experts was presented at the concluding conference in Belgrade (27 October). The draft Law is currently under discussion at the Ministry of Finance, before submission to Parliament.

• Status of Local Self-Government Staff - An analysis of the status of local self-government staff was prepared and presented to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Presidency of the SCTM and all relevant institutions. A Task Force was established to draft new legislation in this field. Support will be provided to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government in the framework of the new Programme “Strengthening of Local Self-Government – Phase II” which is currently being finalised with the European Commission.

• Statute and work of the Intergovernmental Commission on Finance - Analyses and recommendations were prepared and presented to all stakeholders in November 2008. The next session of the Commission is planned for the beginning of April 2009.

“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”

The field visits organised in September and October 2007 had revealed new assistance needs and possibilities for co-operation, namely in the field of fiscal decentralisation. However, no requests for co-operation were received in 2008.

On 8-9 December 2008, the Secretariat organised a visit to Strasbourg of a delegation from the Ministry of Local Self-Government, headed by Minister Musa Xhaferri (who was appointed in August 2008). This provided an opportunity to hold preliminary discussions on the government’s priorities in the field of decentralisation.

Ukraine

In 2008, very fruitful co-operation was established with the new Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, as well as with the Parliamentary Committee on Construction, Urban Development, Housing and Communal Services and Regional Policy. As a consequence, the scope of co-operation with the Ukrainian authorities widened significantly; thus the co-operation absorbed more resources than initially allocated. The support to decentralisation and local government reforms included the following main activities.

Strategic approach to regional policy and drafting of the law on State Regional Policy - two roundtables were organised at the Ministry in June and September and two appraisals delivered by the CoE experts on the Concept Paper and Draft “Law on State Regional Policy” (May and September);

Drafting of a legislation package on housing and municipal services - as a direct follow-up to the activities in 2007, assistance was provided in the drafting of new legislation on Housing and Municipal Services. The two appraisal reports prepared at the end of 2007 on “the National Programme of Reform and Development of the Housing and Municipal Economy” and on the draft “law on lend-lease and concession of water supply, heating supply and waste water management enterprises which are communally owned” were discussed at a roundtable at the Verkhovna Rada in June.

Following this roundtable, three new draft laws were submitted for appraisal: the draft “Housing Code”, the draft law on “state regulation in the field of housing and municipal services” and the draft law on “corporatisation of municipal enterprises working in the sector of housing and municipal economy”. In September, a new roundtable was organised to discuss the Council of Europe expert’s reports on the legislation package. Work is ongoing.

Administrative / territorial reform – a roundtable was organised in November at the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, to discuss the draft concept and draft law on administrative-territorial reform. The roundtable brought together key international stakeholders, including GTZ, Danish LGDK and SIDA. After the meeting, the CoE experts completed their reports on the draft law and the consolidated appraisal was recently delivered.

SECTION III - COUNTRY PROJECTS FOR 2009

As far as country specific plans are concerned, the table below gives a brief overview of policy making and legislative assistance projects for 2009.