Strasbourg, 30 September 2010 CDLR(2010)34
Item 4.5 of the agenda
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY
(CDLR)
COMMUNICATION RELATING TO THE CDLR
AND LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY
Secretariat Memorandum
prepared by the
Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs
Directorate of Democratic Institutions
 |
Introduction
Communication has become an important part of the work of the CDLR. The impetus for its importance derives from Minister Kiviniemi’s report on “How to enhance the work of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy?” and the declaration by European Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government, meeting in Utrecht on 16 and 17 November 2009 for the 16th Session of their Conference, that “the work of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy deserves to be better known and an active communication policy should be developed in order to maximize its impact on member States and civil society” (Utrecht Declaration, II.A, 5.).
Owing to lack of time (the CDLR having compressed its meeting to 1,5 days from the customary 3 days), the CDLR, at its 45th meeting, was unable to examine all the issues related to communication set out in document CDLR(2010)6.
The CDLR agreed, therefore, that ample time should be devoted to the important issue of communication at its next meeting.
Meanwhile the CDLR agreed:
- to appoint Mrs Greta Billing as the CDLR Rapporteur on Communication and Mr Paul Rowsell as co-rapporteur on behalf of the Bureau;
- to adopt the checklist for Communication and to send it to the CDLR sub-committees for use when preparing their activities and to invite them to make any proposals for change they might deem desirable;
- to take note and make use of the list of target groups and other aspects established by the informal brainstorming on 26 January 2010 and to instruct the CDLR sub-committees also to do so;
- to instruct the Bureau to develop concrete proposals for the establishment of a communication network for consideration and adoption by the CDLR at its meeting in October 2010.
Using the “To do list” as a reference (Appendix I to document CDLR(2010)6), please see below (items 2. – 8.) for the “to do list” items which have been implemented to date or are currently being implemented.
In the present document, the Secretariat reports on recent initiatives in the field of communication (see item 2.) and recalls topics on which the CDLR has still to take a decision (see items 3. to 8. and Action required) having regard to the above-mentioned “To do list”.
Please use the latter document as a reference since its appendices are not reproduced here.
2. Highlights of communication activities 2010
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 6; DEADLINE : Ongoing]
In follow-up to the Kiviniemi report, several activities were identified as good for communication exercises in 2010.
Spring session of the Congress, 17-19 March
The Secretariat organised their first stand for a session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Demand for CDLR reports was strong, particularly for the recently published SWOT reports on Central Europe and Northern Europe and the report on the Impact of the Economic Downturn at Local Level.
Parliamentary Assembly session, 26-30 April
Following the success of the report on the Impact of the Economic Downturn at Local Level at the Congress spring session, a request was made to the Parliamentary Assembly for authorisation to distribute the report at their session in April, to coincide with the Assembly’s debates on the economic downturn. Demand for the report was again strong.
“Ethics, transparency and good governance in the Balkans": regional conference, Budva, Montenegro, 3-4 June
The conference was organised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration of Montenegro, the Council of Europe and the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in co-operation with the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro.
In view of the short notice given of the Conference, there was only time to prepare a media advisory. This was sent to various media offices in the region prior to the event. The Directorate of Communication added a headline on the conference at the bottom of the Council of Europe home page.
Bordeaux Colloquy,"The citizen at the heart of local innovation", 24-25 June
This colloquy was organised jointly with the Ville de Bordeaux and the University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour. In view of the high profile of some of the participants, preparations with the Directorate of Communication to maximise communication opportunities began in January. It was agreed that the high profile participants should be interviewed, where possible, and a cameraman to film the interviews was hired and paid for by the Directorate of Communication. The interview questions focused on the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance and its European Label Of Governance Excellence (ELOGE), and the Council of Europe’s role in facilitating international exchanges on local and regional democracy.
The main interview (with Alain Juppé, former French Prime Minister and currently Mayor of Bordeaux) was available for download on the website by the second day of the colloquy. A follow-up news recounting Mr Juppé’s positive comments on the Council of Europe and the opportunities it provided was published immediately after the colloquy.
All interviews gathered during the colloquy have, with the help of a professional editor, been turned into a video that can be seen for the first time at the Conference on 11-12 October (see below).
Conference on Intermunicipal Co-operation, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 23-24 September
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 6; DEADLINE : activity completed]
A media advisory was prepared for this Conference and was sent to the appropriate press contacts. The media advisory drew on the importance of intermunicipal co-operation as a policy response to the recession.
Promotional video for events
It was decided the best way to present the information from the interviews carried out at the Bordeaux Colloquy would be as a video promoting the Council of Europe’s activities on local and regional democracy. The video will be used at events such as ministerial conferences, seminars, etc. The audience for the video has been identified as Ministers and high ranking civil servants. The video will be launched at the Conference on Local Government Responses to Recession across Europe (11-12 October, Strasbourg).
3. Future communication projects
Human Rights
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 6; DEADLINE : 12-14 October 2010]
An important element in the CDLR communication strategy is raising awareness of the CDLR activities and associated activities (Centre of Expertise, Co-operation Activities) internally. The Committee is already working on establishing channels of communication between Ministers responsible for local and regional democracy and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, so that the latter have a clearer idea of the importance of our activities, and look more favourably on those activities when allocating funding within the organisation when their deputies meet as the Committee of Ministers.
Another possible approach to raising awareness of our activities internally has increasingly come to light in the course of the Secretariat’s more concrete work to pursue a communication strategy in 2010. In the current economic-crisis-conscious environment at the Council of Europe, some areas of activities are naturally being accorded greater importance than others, and in particular human rights. It is, after all, the Organisation’s specialist subject area and the area for which it is not only well-known, but also well-respected world-wide. Activities with a human rights dimension, therefore, have an easier time of catching attention, being visible and being accorded priority within the Organisation consequently.
Although the human rights dimension is not drawn out explicitly in the the Utrecht Agenda, there is a clear connection between (some of) the activities and human rights. So far, this connection has been made for purposes of communication.
For instance, some success was already achieved using this approach with the Conference on Local Government Responses to Recession across Europe (11-12 October 2010). The interest of the Directorate of Communication focused on the human dimension, namely the problem of the ageing population, what the implications are for the years to come (the eventual dwarfing of the current economic crisis by this situation), and how the Council of Europe through the work of the CDLR may help in dealing with this. Pursuing this connection with human rights/the human dimension was effective and generated interest inside the Organisation in terms of intended participation at the Conference, notably from the Human Rights Commissioner, as well as coverage by the Directorate of Communication.
On a substantive note, attention is drawn to the proposals for a further development of the human rights angle in the work of the CDLR, contained in the draft reply to the Committee of Ministers concerning Congress Recommendation 280 on the implementation of human rights by local and regional authorities (see item 3.2 of the Agenda and CDLR(2010)19 Addendum).
Report on the impact of the economic downturn at local level
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 6; DEADLINE : 31 December 2010]
Following its success at both the Congress and Parliamentary Assembly sessions (see above), it was envisaged to send the report to key financial actors in member States. An email was sent to CDLR members requesting contact details for the Minister responsible for local and regional finance and the governor of the central bank. However, the report has now be updated in view of the forthcoming review conference (see below). It might therefore be more appropriate that the latest version, based on end-2009 data, be made available to this very specific and influential audience, in early 2011.
In the meantime, the Directorate of Communication would diffuse the information in the updated report to national newspapers.
CDLR/LGI Conference on Local Government responses to recession across Europe, Strasbourg, France, 11-12 October
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 6; DEADLINE : 11-12 October 2010]
A press release and media advisory will be sent to press representatives who specialise in stories on local and regional democracy. Possibilities for diffusing the information via Twitter and social networking sites will also be explored.
4. Website
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 11; DEADLINE : ongoing]
The Local and Regional Democracy website remains the main communication tool for the CDLR. This was updated in August following advice from the Finnish representative, Mr. Kimmo Collander who since June 2009 has been working closely with the Secretariat on the Communication Strategy (see document CDLR(2009)49 Addendum).
5. Publications of the CDLR
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 7; DEADLINE : ongoing]
Two Structure and Operation Reports (Czech Republic and Ukraine) have undergone revision in 2010. They will be published in PDF format and placed on the website in October, in time for the 46th CDLR meeting.
6. TIMS (Trafficking Information Management System)
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 17; DEADLINE : IT part of the project suspended until further notice; report format review 31 December 2010]
With regard to preparation and publication of the country reports, the Secretariat continued examining the possibility of setting up an electronic collaborative work system, which could enable (almost) real-time updating and horizontal comparison of structure and operation reports.
Two solutions were identified as possible:
i) cloning the database at an approximate cost of 2000 – 3000 euros.
Drawback: annual maintenance of 40 000 euros. The high maintenance costs are owing to the number of servers required to operate the database and are completely out of reach from the point of view of the budget for CDLR.
ii) taking part in a Council of Europe project to set up a similar database, which could be shared by several departments to bring the cost down (both production and annual maintenance costs).
Drawback: the project only exists on paper at the moment. The CDLR Secretariat is the only unit which has expressed an interest to date. If the department were to pay for the entire project, this would entail costs of 80 000 euros upwards. The project, if it goes forward, is unlikely to be operational for the next 2-3 years.
The Secretariat therefore has to conclude that there is no realistic prospect for moving to an e-enabled format of S&O in the next two years. It will, of course, keep the CDLR informed of developments in the CoE.
In the meantime, simplification of the Structure and Operation reports format (see point 5 above) will be pursued as the current route for lessening the workload, and a proposal on this will be developed. The Secretariat will also ensure that the proposal ties in with the work in progress on the reference framework on systems of local and regional government (activity to be conducted by the LR-IC and LR-FS Committees – rapporteurs Messrs Krysztofiak and Van der Goot).
7. Communication Network
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 5; DEADLINE : 12-14 October 2010]
Following the first rounds of consultations to discuss the Communication Strategy in 2009 and at the beginning of 2010, it was suggested that a Communication Network be set up (see document CDLR(2009)49 Addendum, To do List item 21). At the March CDLR meeting, it was further suggested that the Network could be a sub-committee or that more time could be spent at CDLR meetings on communication issues (CDLR(2010)6, Appendix IV).
However, since the original discussions, budgetary constraints have made the feasibility of this network (even) less certain. The Secretariat therefore is not in a position to propose any approach that would entail annual meetings of a network.
The Secretariat therefore proposes that each member State appoint a communication representative in the Ministry with whom the CDLR Secretariat member responsible for communication can liaise. This person would have the profile described in the Appendix to this document. The person would assist with information requests – such as the recent request for email addresses for key financial actors. This person would advise the Secretariat on how to approach communication in their country. Contact with the Secretariat would be by telephone, email or, possibly, web/video conference.
8. Core message
[TO DO LIST ITEM: 2; DEADLINE : 12-14 October 2010]
At the informal meeting on communication (26 January 2010), it was agreed that the CDLR should adopt a core message for its work. This message should provide a focal point for all its work. Current suggestions are
1. Better local governance and greater participation of people across Europe.
2. European local democracy for and with all.
3. Across Europe: Local Democracy. Good governance. Empowerment.
Other examples are welcome.
Action required
CDLR members are invited
1. to take note
of the information provided in the section on “highlights” above
(item 2. above);
2. to discuss the possibility of including a human rights / human dimension focus in its work for the purposes of communication (item 3. above);
3. to discuss
and decide on the best approach for a a Communication Network
(item 7. above and the Appendix);
4. to make proposals for, discuss and adopt a core message (item 8. above);
5. to take note of information provided on other activities (items 4., 5. and 6. above) and make comments and give guidance as necessary;
6. to continue actively contributing to the new communication policy in order to enhance the visibility of the Council of Europe’s work on local and regional democracy at national level by:
i) identifying appropriate communication activities for appropriate committees;
ii) identifying appropriate follow-up in member states;
iii) drawing up communication plans by reference to the Communication checklist
iv) flagging up important activities to make visible in 2010/2011.