Strasbourg, 17 September 2010                                                           CDLR (2010)23

Item 4.1 of the agenda

                                                                                                                         

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

AND THE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE

For guidance

Secretariat Memorandum

prepared by the

Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs

Directorate of Democratic Institutions

This document is public. 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.

Introduction

The Utrecht declaration adopted by the European ministers responsible for local and regional government (Utrecht, 16 November 2009)  stipulates – inter alia – that “if they are to add value for citizens and achieve the strategic aims intended by the Warsaw summit, the objectives and activities of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional government need (a) strong ownership by member states…”. Accordingly, the ministers declared that “such strong ownership necessitates that member states are committed to their objectives and activities and that the Ministers responsible for local and regional government in each member states collectively lead and own the Council of Europe’s agenda in this field with regard to intergovernmental activities. This requires effective communication channels at European level, enabling an intensified dialogue between ministers responsible for local and regional government and the committee of ministers of the Council of Europe”. They agreed “to entrust the minister of public administration and local government of Finland, Mrs Mari Kiviniemi, with developing concrete proposals for a partnership with the committee of Ministers by the end of 2010” and “to stand ready to provide Minister Kiviniemi with any advice and assistance she might request from (them) in carrying out this task”.

At its 120th session (11 May 2010) the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe “having regard to the declaration made by the 16th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (Utrecht, 16-17 November 2009) and the wish expressed therein to develop proposals for a partnership between the conference and the Committee of Ministers, instructed the Deputies, with the input of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR), to initiate a dialogue with the conference in order to formulate proposals and to report back at the 121st Ministerial Session”.[1]

On 27 May 2010, Minister Kiviniemi sent a letter to her colleagues informing them of the abovementioned decision and of her intention to “hear (their) views about the partnership and the overall improvement of the decision making structure in the field of local and regional democracy in the Council of Europe”.

On 26 May 2010, at the 1085th meeting of the Deputies, the Ministers Deputies “invited (the) Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM), with the input of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR), to develop proposals for a partnership between the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government and the Committee of Ministers, and to report back to (it) in due course before the 121st Ministerial Session”.

As members of the CDLR are no doubt aware, Mrs Kiviniemi has become Prime Minister of Finland. Thus, a new Minister of public administration and local government, Mr Tapani Tölli, has been appointed who will ensure full continuity to the process entrusted to and initiated by Mrs Kiviniemi.

Indeed, on 30 August Minister Tölli sent the following letter to his colleagues in the Ministerial Conference.

Dear Colleague,

Following the recent changes in the political arena in Finland whereby my predecessor in local government matters, Ms Mari Kiviniemi, was appointed Prime Minister, I have the pleasure of contacting you to introduce myself. I am very much looking forward to working together with you in general and, in particular, in the context the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy.

Prime Minister Kiviniemi has handed over to me the task she was given at the Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional government in Utrecht on 17 November 2009 of creating a partnership between our Conference and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. As she recently informed you, this objective has received the support of the Secretary General of Council of Europe, Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, and is being pursued through the Committee of Ministers, as decided at its 120th session on May 2010.

The purpose of this partnership is to create a well-functioning institutional arrangement that both better integrates our work into the goals of the Council of Europe and gives us, the ministers responsible for local democracy, a responsible and more active role. In addition, we also need to analyse the institutional set-up with the Congress and the Parliamentary Assembly in this context.

I would greatly appreciate it if you, esteemed colleague, would be willing to share your views on the shaping of this partnership. In my opinion the key question is: to what extent the Committee of Ministers – the foreign ministers and their representatives – involves us in the work of the Council of Europe. To my mind, under the current arrangement, our role is too remote.

If, as seems to be the case, the Committee of Ministers wishes the Council of Europe to work on issues of local and regional democracy, I believe that, given our respective domestic competence and responsibilities in this field, we have much to offer, both in terms of identifying the challenges and responding to them. The Committee of Ministers could indeed engage with us, the ministers for local and regional government, more actively and directly for e.g. advice, reactions to Congress recommendations and issues of substance.

My aim is to put forward a proposal from our side, which will help the Committee of Ministers appreciate the mutual benefit the recognition of the role of the competent ministers to the work of the Council of Europe in this field could give”.

As Ministers are invited to reply to this letter by the end of September 2010, the Finnish delegation to the CDLR, with the support of the CDLR Bureau, suggests the CDLR hold an exchange of views on the responses from ministers. The results of this exchange of views could be brought to the attention of Minister Tölli for his consideration in preparing proposals for the partnership.

Members may also wish to note that the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs has written to the Chair of the Committee of Ministers suggesting that the Ministers’ Deputies take up consideration of the ways and means of implementing the Committee of Ministers decsions of 11 May 2010 (see above) once Minister Tölli has concluded his consultations and developed proposals.

Action required

Members are invited to prepare for an exchange of views on the basis of the response by their respective minister to the letter of Minister Tölli.

The CDLR is invited to hold an exchange of views and to send to Minister Tölli, through the Finnish delegation to the CDLR, any observations, conclusions and recommendations it deems appropriate.