Strasbourg, 8 February 2010 CDLR(2010)9
Item 10.3 of the agenda
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY
(CDLR)
OTHER ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY
Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform
Secretariat Memorandum
prepared by the Directorate General of
Democracy and Political Affairs
Directorate of Democratic Institutions
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Introduction
Created at the beginning of 2006 following the decision of the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government and confirmed in May 2008 by decision of the Committee of Ministers, the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform aims at building capacity in local authorities throughout Europe by the use of impact-oriented programmes.
This document contains a brief overview of the activities conducted in 2009 and planned for 2010. It also contains a preliminary list of suggestions for reforming the Centre’s structures, working methods and prioritising of its interventions.
It is recalled that the Centre’s priorities and programmes are discussed in its Advisory Board, a member of which is appointed by the CDLR (currently Mrs Greta Billing, Norway). Having regard to the “support and encouragement” that the European ministers responsible for local and regional government request the CDLR to give to the Centre (see the Utrecht Declaration, III. C), the Committee could consider this suggestion at its meeting in March, thus enbling its representative to put them forward at the next meeting of the Advisory Board.
Action required
The CDLR is invited to examine and to instruct its representative to the Advisory Board as appropriate in respect of:
- the activity of the Centre in 2009 and its prospects for 2010;
- the best ways to create synergies between the Centre and the CDLR, but also between the Centre and other institutional partners;
- the criteria that the Centre should use in order to select its future activities.
Appendix
The Centre of Expertise
After its confirmation by the Committee of Ministers in 2008, in 2009 the Centre continued to work along the same lines as identified by its Advisory Board at its first meeting. It continued therefore to try to maximise the level of its activity within the limits of budgetary constraints, to develop new tools and partnerships and to further develop its offer of programmes towards Western European and Nordic countries.
1. Activity in 2009
General assessment
2009 was a challenging year. The Centre's notoriety has increased and this means that more and more demands are received. However, several activities funded by Joint Programmes with the European Commission or by voluntary contributions came to an end and the funding was not renewed. On the one hand, the rules applicable to applying for EC funding have evolved and more often than not the Centre of Expertise is no longer eligible as beneficiary of direct funding or even as applicant in the procurement processes. On the other, the current financial crisis entailed a reduction of resources the Centre could tap from voluntary contributions by member states.
Moreover, several programmes already planned had to be cancelled because partners could not find the matching funds. The budget was quickly redeployed in order to increase the impact of existing programmes but the available funding was not sufficient to launch new ones.
The position of Head of the Centre, created in 2009, also had to be cancelled for budgetary reasons.
The Centre was therefore faced with the dilemma of answering to an increased number of requests with a diminishing budget and with fewer staff than planned.
Activities implemented
A new Toolkit, based entirely on the work of the CDLR (in particular its Handbook on public ethics at local level and the Committee of Ministers Recommendations Rec(2004)1 and Rec(2005)1), was published. This Toolkit includes a tool on Benchmarking Public Ethics at local level (based on an original programme tested in Spain and implemented in Ukraine, Moldova and Romania) and another one on Benchmarking Local Finance (based on an original tool developed and road-tested in Bulgaria in co-operation with the Open Society Institute).
Moreover, a series of tools for the Leadership Academy Programme were developed and should be published in one of the next Toolkits. The new tools on Performance Management and Municipal Planning are being finalised and should be published in 2010.
The Centre also contributed to the preparation of the new Toolkit on Inter-municipal Co-operation, developed in a broad partnership including the Division of Programmes for Democratic Stability, OSI-LGI and UNDP-Bratislava Regional Centre.
In 2009, the Centre of Expertise implemented 15 capacity-building programmes in 11 countries. Planning activities for the introduction of specific programmes were held in three other countries, Croatia, Turkey and Ukraine, but the full implementation of these programmes should be performed in 2010.
All programmes were implemented in close co-operation with local partners, in particular Ministries, local government associations and training institutions. National Steering Groups were set up for all programmes except the Leadership Academy Programme. Several programmes were implemented in co-operation with international partners in Albania (OSCE), Georgia (KS and MFA of Norway), Serbia (JP with European Commission and Embassy of France in Belgrade) and Montenegro (OSCE). The Centre currently has statements of co-operation with INET (France) and the Academy of St-Petersburg (Russia) and co-operation arrangements with the University of Pau (France) and KS (Norway). Negotiations are in progress with the Union of Municipalities of Marmara Region (Turkey).
The Centre also assisted in the implementation of the Strategy, in particular as regards supporting the countries which have joined it, promoting the Strategy among European countries and local authorities, ensuring the secretariat of the Stakeholders’ Platform and defining the main criteria for granting the Good Governance Label.
The following tables present overviews of the activity in 2009.
I. General overview of activities implemented in 2009
Development of tools
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Publication of Toolkit III including the following tools (based entirely on the work of the CDLR): - Public Ethics Benchmarking - Financial Management Benchmarking, developed jointly with OSI Finalisation of the Performance Management tool and of the Municipal planning tool. The two should be published in a new toolkit in 2010. Participation in the development of the Inter-municipal co-operation programme, developed in a partnership including the Division of Programmes for democratic stability, UNDP and OSI-LGI. Finalisation of a new Leadership Academy tool. |
Country-specific programmes
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Albania - Performance management and financial planning Armenia - Updating the Training Needs Assesment France - Participation/co-organisation of various activities in cooperation with INET, University of Pau, City of Strasbourg, the Region Ile de France, contribution to OPPALE activities Georgia - Municipal Councillors Training Programme - Strategic Municipal Planning Hungary - Leadership Benchmarking Programme - Best Practice Programme Malta - Performance management programme Montenegro - Public Ethics at Local Level |
Russian Federation - Leadership Academy Programme in NW Russia (Chechnya) - Five preparatory activities: workshop to democracy and best practice, seminar on municipal elections, study visit in a European country, workshop on the legal framework, workshop on strategic development Serbia - Performance management programme “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” - Leadership Benchmarking Programme - Public Ethics Programme “Transparent Municipality” - Best Practice Programme |
2. Prospects for 2010
General considerations
Because of its success, there is a clear need for the Centre to consider its future development. This reflection takes place in a context of the more general transformation announced by the Secretary General, of which the contours will become more clear over time. There is no reason to expect that the Centre or its mission will be called into question. However, it is also likely that the Centre will, as all other parts of the Organisation, have to bear its share. This development could only be offset by cuts elsewhere. Meanwhile demand for co-operation programmes is still on a rising curve.
One recent development and one reflection need to be taken into account at this stage.
The first one reflects in increased synergies with other services of the Council of Europe, in particular the other sectors of the DLRDGG and with the Congress. The Centre is highlighted in the Utrecht Agenda as one of the main strands of the overall work, which the representatives of ministers, members of the CDLR, are instructed to support and encourage. This could entail more consultations with the CDLR on the Centre’s plans and prospects and inviting more systematically input from the CDLR and its subordinate committees in the development of new tools.
Following the cancellation of the position of Head of the Centre it is envisaged that the post of Head of the Assistance Programmes, which has became vacant, be re-defined as one that heads up the Centre and the (legislative and policymaking) co-operation programmes. This should also allow for more horizontal co-operation between the two operational sectors and possibly some form of integration of work. While assistance programmes are mainly aimed at central authorities and not at local authorities themselves, capacity building for local authorities and legislative/policy assistance on institutional reforms have common points and re-enforce each other. There is value also in trying to integrate, to a degree to be examined more closely, the two teams: economies of scale, especially in staff travel time and costs, would be obtained if both types of activities were be managed, in a given country, by the same staff member.
The Centre’s support to the implementation of the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level will continue by addressing the specific needs of countries engaged in the Strategy.
The reflection addresses the need for the Centre to prioritise better its activities. The Centre does not work on the basis of strategic and long-term programmes, but rather on current demand, where three conditions are met: a clear need, strong commitment to improvement from the local authorities and associations concerned and enough funds. This is not about to change. However, the Centre needs to have more transparent criteria for deciding its activities in order to avoid frustration generated when demands cannot be responded to.
The following two criteria have been used for selecting programmes to be implemented in 2010:
- first, programmes where the impact is highest through budgetary leverage offered by local or other partners or the guarantees as to the sustainability of the programme; typically, the Centre will fund the general management and expertise (one fourth to one third of the total costs) of the programme, while the local partner will need to finance all operational costs;
- second, programmes which are a follow-up of the implementation of the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level.
The question is whether these criteria are appropriate in the current situation or they should be changed, and how.
The CDLR could have a discussion and express views on the above for the guidance of its representative in the Advisory Board.
Activities foreseen
The following tables present an overview of the activity envisaged for 2010.
Development of tools
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- Publication of the new toolkit on performance management and municipal planning - Publication (possibly in the same toolkit) of the tool developed for the Leadership Academy Programme; - Preparation of the first version of a new tool/toolkit on human resources management |
Country-specific programmes
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Albania - Human resources management Armenia - Up-date of the National Training Strategy - Support with municipal planning to the City of Yerevan Belgium - Performance management Bulgaria - Public Ethics Croatia - Inter-municipal co-operation France - Several activities in co-operation with INET (citizen participation and strategic management), Lille (Digital City) and OPPALE (piloting a working group) and Bordeaux (conference on the Strategy and performance management) Georgia - Strategic Municipal planning Programme Hungary - Best Practice programme Malta - Performance Management - Inter-municipal co-operation |
Russian Federation - Leadership Academy Programme - Public Ethics - Inter-municipal Co-operation Programme Chechnya - Five preparatory activities (leadership, performance, planning, assistance to drafting city statutes and financial management) Serbia - Performance Management - Human Resources Management Spain - Citizen participation Switzerland - Best Practice Programme in the Ticino canton “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” - Performance Management Programme Turkey - Leadership Academy Programme Ukraine - Follow-up to the Public Ethics Benchmarking Programme - Best Practice Programme - Performance Management Programme |
Action required
The CDLR is invited to have an exchange of views on the information and suggestions made in this document and give guidance to its representative in the Advisory Board of the Centre.