Strasbourg, 16 March 2012                                                                               CDLR(2012)1

Item 4 of the agenda

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

CONSIDERATION OF THE CDLR’s WORK

BY THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

For action

Secretariat Memorandum

prepared by the

Directorate of Democratic Governance, Culture and Diversity

Democracy, Institution-Building and Governance Department

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.

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Introduction

The document provides detailed information regarding the consideration of the CDLR’s work by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CM) as well as other activities of the CM which have a direct or indirect impact on the work of the CDLR.

The decisions concerning the CDLR taken by the CM since the last CDLR meeting of 19-21 September 2011 are reproduced below. Only the decisions and texts in respect of which the CDLR is required to produce an output are appended to this document. All documents referred to may also be found on the Committee of Ministers and CDLR’s websites.

The document, in its second part, lists other activities of the CM, which are of high relevance to the CDLR.

Action required

The Committee is invited to take note of the information provided hereunder and act accordingly.

DECISIONS

Other developments

The CM’s Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM) had scheduled to consider the Report by the Secretary General on the 17th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (Kyiv, 3-4 November 2011) during its meeting of 2 February 2012 with a view to transmitting it to the CM for it to take decisions as appropriate. The GR-DEM had a discussion at the end of which it was agreed to have the item on the agenda of a subsequent meeting.

The report of the Secretary General (CM (2011)178) appears in Appendix 4 of this document[1].

The Chair of the CDLR has participated in two recent GR-DEM meetings on 12 January and 2 February 2012. Further details will be convened orally by the Chair to CDLR members at the meeting.

Appendix 1

Resolution CM/Res(2011)24

on intergovernmental committees and subordinate bodies, their terms of reference and working methods

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 9 November 2011
at the 1125th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers,

Having regard to Resolution Res(2005)47 on committees and subordinate bodies, their terms of reference and working methods;

Having regard to the decision taken by the Ministers’ Deputies at their 1112th meeting (19 April 2011, item 1.6) on intergovernmental structures; 

Having regard to Resolution CM/Res(2011)7 on Council of Europe conferences of specialised ministers;

Having regard to the Statutory Resolution CM/Res(2011)2 relating to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the revised Charter appended thereto;

Having regard to Resolution Res(2003)8 on the participatory status for international non-governmental organisations with the Council of Europe;

Having regard to Statutory Resolution Res(93)26 on Observer Status;

Having regard to Resolution Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents;

Having regard to Recommendation Rec(81)6 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the participation of women and men in an equitable proportion in committees and other bodies of the Council of Europe and to the Committee of Ministers’ Declaration on Making gender equality a reality, adopted at the 119th Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (Madrid, 12 May 2009);

In pursuance of Articles 16 and 17 of the Council of Europe Statute,

Resolves as follows:

I.         Scope of this resolution

1.         This resolution shall apply to all intergovernmental committees and subordinate bodies set up by the Committee of Ministers, by virtue of Article 17 of the Council of Europe Statute.

2.         If not provided otherwise, the rules set out in this resolution shall also apply mutatis mutandis to any committee created by the Committee of Ministers outside the scope of Article 17.

3.         All references to the Secretary General in this resolution shall be subject to the relevant provisions of the Statute of the Council of Europe, the Staff Regulations and the rules on delegation of authority.

II.        Categories of committees^[2]

4.         There shall be two categories of committees set up by the Committee of Ministers:

a.         committees directly answerable to the Committee of Ministers: steering committees with planning and steering functions and ad hoc committees with a more focused task; and

b.        subordinate bodies of steering or ad hoc committees, with specific and limited tasks.

III.      Composition

A.         Members

5.         Committees answerable to the Committee of Ministers: they are composed of one representative of the highest possible rank in the relevant field designated by the government of each member state.^[3]

6.        Subordinate bodies answerable to steering or ad hoc committees: they are composed of representatives of all or of a limited number of member states of the highest possible rank in the relevant field designated by the governments of member states and/or of independent experts with established expertise in the relevant field.  Where subordinate bodies are composed of a limited number of member states, due regard shall be given to geographical representation and periodic rotation of member states.  Furthermore, they are open to the participation of representatives from other member states, at their own expense.

B.         Participants

7.         Participants shall take part in the meetings of committees with no right to vote nor defrayal of expenses unless otherwise indicated.  They are:

a.         representatives of committees or other bodies of the Council of Europe engaged in related work, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly, the European Court of Human Rights, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe;

                                                                                                          

b.         representatives designated by states which have observer status with the Council of Europe, the European Union, intergovernmental organisations and any other entity, including social partners, authorised to participate in the meetings of steering and ad hoc committees by virtue of a resolution or decision of the Committee of Ministers.

C.         Observers

8.         Observers from states or organisations other than those referred to in paragraph 7.b above.  They shall be admitted to steering committees, ad hoc committees and any subordinate body answerable to them in the following manner:

a.         as a general rule, upon their request to the Secretary General, observers are admitted, to steering and ad hoc committees or any subordinate body answerable to them, on the basis of a unanimous decision by that steering or ad hoc committee; in the event where unanimity is not reached, the matter may be referred to the Committee of Ministers at the request of two-thirds of the members of the committee concerned. The Committee of Ministers shall decide on the matter by a two-thirds majority of all the representatives entitled to sit on it;

b.         concerning special cases, such as the admission of non-member states without observer status to the Council of Europe, and any other case which may necessitate a political decision, the Secretary General shall refer the matter to the Committee of Ministers. This decision shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of all the representatives entitled to sit on it.

9.         Observers shall have no right to vote nor defrayal of expenses.

IV.       Terms of reference

10.       By “terms of reference” shall be understood all directives relating to the activities of a committee subject to the present resolution.

11.          All committees and subordinate bodies shall have terms of reference.

12.          Terms of reference of committees answerable to the Committee of Ministers shall be presented by the Secretary General and approved by the Committee of Ministers.

13.          Terms of reference of subordinate bodies shall be presented by the Secretary General upon proposal by the parent committee, and approved by the Committee of Ministers.

                                         

14.          All terms of reference shall be limited to a maximum period of two years in line with the biennial Programme and Budget of the Organisation, unless otherwise decided by the Committee of Ministers.

15.          Terms of reference shall include:

a.            name of committee;

b.            category: steering committee, ad hoc committee or subordinate body;

c.             reference to the relevant programme line/s of the Council of Europe Programme and Budget, including concrete and measurable expected results for which the committee is responsible;

d.            where appropriate, its planning and advisory function;

e.            where appropriate, terms of reference derived from a convention;

f.             tasks and completion date;

g.            specific qualifications of members;

h.            composition of the committee: members, participants and observers and information concerning repayment of members’ travelling and subsistence expenses by the Council of Europe, as set out in Appendix 2 to this resolution; and

i.              working methods, including hearings and, if necessary and justified, proposals for consultants.

16.          Terms of reference shall be accompanied by full information on their financial implications, detailing in particular, per committee, the operational budget and number of staff allocated.

V.         Planning, monitoring and evaluation function of committees

17.          Steering and ad hoc committees advise the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General on the priorities and other matters with regard to their sectors, in particular on the relevance of activities in line with the priorities and criteria adopted by the Committee of Ministers.

18.          The Secretariat shall inform members of committees and subordinate bodies of:

a.         the institutional and regulatory framework of the Organisation, as set out in the Statute of the Council of Europe and other relevant texts including the present resolution;

b.         programme line(s) under their responsibility and budgetary appropriations in the Programme and Budget of the Organisation;

c.         results of monitoring mechanisms and procedures that may have an impact on their work while respecting applicable confidentiality rules;

d.         the progress review report of the Programme and Budget so that they can examine and discuss it and report back on their respective parts;

e.         relevant co-operation activities and activities in the field; and

f.          relevant activities of other international organisations with a view to avoiding duplication and achieving synergies.

VI.       Working methods

19.          The functioning and operation of committees and subordinate bodies shall be governed by the Rules of Procedure set out in Appendix 1 to this resolution. Committees’ work shall include relevant transversal perspectives in all areas of their work.

VII.      Documents and meeting reports

20.          The Secretary General shall be responsible for preparing and distributing documents to be discussed by the committees, as well as drafting the reports of their meetings, unless otherwise expressly provided for by the Committee of Ministers.

21.          Committees shall prepare reports of their meetings.  These reports shall include an evaluation of completed activities and a presentation of ongoing and planned work, together with the identification of its source and deadlines, as well as proposals for future activities and identification of activities that might be discontinued.  These reports shall be made available, in both official languages, no later than one month after the last meeting day of the committee.  Committees shall also adopt abridged meeting reports before the end of their meetings.  Documents shall, where appropriate, contain an executive summary, action to be taken and resource implications.

VIII.    Compendium of terms of reference

22.          The Secretariat shall compile and keep up to date a “Compendium of terms of reference” containing:

a.            the present resolution and any subsequent amendments to it;

b.            Resolution Res(2004)25 on service contracts of consultants;

c.             the terms of reference of all intergovernmental committees and subordinate bodies;

d.            the terms of reference derived from conventions, or special statutes given to intergovernmental committees set up under them; and

e.            any other decision or message of the Committee of Ministers or the Secretary General relating to terms of reference;

f.          the information foreseen in paragraph 16.

IX.       Convening of meetings

23.          All meetings of committees and subordinate bodies shall be convened by the authority of the Secretary General by a single procedure in accordance with the authorisation given by the Committee of Ministers and with the general practices of good management.  The Secretary General shall ensure that meetings are planned, convened and serviced as efficiently and economically as possible.

24.          Convocations and preliminary draft agendas of meetings shall be circulated at least six weeks before the proposed date, except in cases of urgency, which shall be duly explained.  Convocations shall specify the name of the committee, the place, date, opening time of the meeting, its duration, the subjects to be dealt with and the list of participants at the previous meeting.  When appropriate, it shall contain an invitation to nominate a member, taking into account the relevant texts on participation of women and men in an equitable proportion in committees and other bodies of the Council of Europe and indicating the qualifications he or she should preferably possess.

25.          For committees answerable to the Committee of Ministers, convocations shall be sent to nominees specified by the Permanent Representations with the Permanent Representations in copy.  Nominations made by governments through Permanent Representations will remain valid until any change is notified or confirmed by them.

26.          For subordinate bodies, convocations shall be sent as appropriate to nominees specified by Permanent Representations or by the parent committee or, in the absence of such a known nominee, to the Permanent Representations or to the Chair of the committee concerned respectively.  Permanent Representations shall receive copies of convocations sent to designated members.  Nominations made by governments through Permanent Representations will remain valid until any change is notified.

27.          The Secretariat shall send the draft agenda, a provisional list of working documents and the documents themselves to the nominees, or in the absence of such a nomination, to the Permanent Representation concerned, at least 20 days before the meeting date.  This documentation shall be made available to the Permanent Representations. Use should be made of information technology whenever possible.

28.          The same arrangements shall apply mutatis mutandis to participants and observers.

X.         Co-ordination

29.          The Secretary General shall ensure that committees and subordinate bodies are informed about activities which may have implications for the execution of their respective terms of reference.

30.          In order to ensure co-ordination between the Ministers’ Deputies and committees answerable to the Committee of Ministers:

a.         the Chairs of committees may be invited, whenever necessary, to take part in meetings of the Deputies’ relevant Rapporteur Groups, Working Parties and Thematic Co-ordinators to discuss the evaluation of activities, present ongoing work and prospects for future activities, in line with the priorities of the Organisation;

b.         the Chairs of the Deputies’ relevant Rapporteur Groups, Working Parties and Thematic Co‑ordinators may attend meetings of committees when it is deemed that this is of importance to the respective sector activity.

31.          The Secretary General shall promptly inform committees of general guidelines issued by the Ministers’ Deputies as regards the content, modalities of implementation and evaluation of the intergovernmental work.

XI.       Review of the intergovernmental structure

32.          A progress review on the intergovernmental structure will be carried out on a regular basis bearing in mind the reports referred to in paragraph 20 and the progress review report on the implementation of the Programme and Budget provided for by the Financial Regulations.

XII.      Entry into force of this resolution

33.          This resolution shall enter into force on 1 January 2012 and shall repeal and replace Resolution Res(2005)47.

Appendix 1 to Resolution CM/Res(2011)24

Rules of procedure for Council of Europe intergovernmental committees

Article 1 – Agenda

a.         The Secretary General, in close consultation with the Chair, shall draw up the draft agenda which should be concrete, operational and result-oriented.

b.         The agenda shall be adopted by the committee at the beginning of its meeting.

Article 2 – Documentation

Documents requiring a decision, whether originating from the Secretariat or from a member, shall be sent, in the official languages (cf. Article 6 below), to members at least three weeks before the start of the meeting at which the decision is to be taken.  In exceptional cases, however, the committee may, if no member objects, consider a document submitted later.  Maximum use should be made of information technology, including gathering together amendments and proposals, finalising texts and publishing decisions, provided in the latter cases that all the members of the committee have been properly informed in good time.

Article 3 – Privacy of meetings

Meetings shall not be held in public.

Article 4 – Hearings

Committees and subordinate bodies may organise hearings with international organisations, NGOs, research and academic institutions, experts, specialists, specialist organisations and professional organisations, in a position to contribute to their work, within the limits of available budgetary appropriations.

Article 5 – Quorum

There shall be a quorum if two-thirds of the members of the committee are present.

Article 6 – Official languages

a.         The official languages of the committee shall be those of the Council of Europe.

b.         In exceptional circumstances, the Secretary General may decide, in particular, in the case of steering and ad hoc committees, to provide for interpretation into one additional language other than the official languages, within the limits of available budgetary appropriations.

c.         A committee member may speak in a language other than the official languages, in which case he or she must herself/himself provide for interpretation into one of the official languages.

d.         Any document drafted in a language other than the official languages shall be translated into one of the official languages, the member from whom it originates being responsible for making the necessary arrangements.

Article 7 – Proposals

a.         Any proposal must be submitted in writing in one official language if a committee member so requests.  In that case, it shall not be discussed until it has been circulated.

b.         Proposals made by participants and observers may be put to the vote if sponsored by a committee member.

Article 8 – Order of voting on proposals or amendments

a.         Where a number of proposals relate to the same subject, they shall be put to the vote in the order in which they were submitted. In case of doubt, the Chair shall decide.

b.         Where a proposal is the subject of an amendment, the amendment shall be put to the vote first. Where two or more amendments to the same proposal are presented, the committee shall vote first on whichever departs furthest in substance from the original proposal.  It shall then vote on the next furthest removed from the original proposal, and so on until all the amendments have been put to the vote. However, where the acceptance of one amendment necessarily entails rejection of another, the latter shall not be put to the vote.  The final vote shall then be taken on the proposal as amended or not amended. In case of doubt as to the order of priority, the Chair shall decide.

c.         Parts of a proposal or amendment may be put to the vote separately.

d.         In the case of proposals with financial implications, the most costly shall be put to the vote first.

Article 9 – Order of procedural motions

Procedural motions shall take precedence over all other proposals or motions except points of order.  They shall be put to the vote in the following order:

a.         suspension of the sitting;

b.         adjournment of discussion on the item in hand; and

c.         postponement of a decision on the substance of a proposal until a specified date.

Article 10 – Reconsideration of a question

When a decision has been taken it is only re-examined if a member of the committee so requests, and if this request receives a two-thirds majority of the votes cast.

Article 11 – Voting

a.         Each member of the committee shall have one vote; however, where a government designates more than one member, only one of them is entitled to take part in the voting,

b.         Subject to any contrary provisions in these Rules, voting requires the quorum.  The decisions of the steering committees are taken by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast.

c.         Except on procedural matters, other committees shall not take decisions by voting.  They shall state their conclusions in the form of unanimous recommendations, or, if this proves impossible, they shall make a majority recommendation and indicate the dissenting opinions.

d.         Procedural matters shall be settled by a majority of the votes cast.

e.         Where the question arises as to whether or not a matter is procedural in nature, it may not be regarded as such unless the committee decides to that effect by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast;

f.          For the purposes of these Rules, “votes cast” shall mean the votes of members cast for or against. Members abstaining shall be regarded as not having cast a vote.

Article 12 – Chair

a.         Every committee shall elect a Chair and Vice-Chair. However, the Chair of a subordinate body may be appointed by the steering or ad hoc committee to which it is answerable.

b.         The Chair shall conduct proceedings and sum up the conclusions whenever he or she thinks necessary. He or she may call to order a speaker who departs from the subject under discussion or from the committee’s terms of reference.  The Chair shall retain the right to speak and to vote in her/his capacity as a member of the committee, except in cases where an additional expert from the same country has been appointed to sit on that committee.

c.         The Vice-Chair shall replace the Chair if the latter is absent or otherwise unable to preside the meeting. If the Vice-Chair is absent, the Chair shall be replaced by another member of the Bureau, appointed by the latter or, where there is no Bureau, by a member of the committee appointed by the committee.

d.         Election of the Chair and Vice-Chair shall require a two-thirds majority at the first ballot and a simple majority at the second ballot. In steering committees, the election shall be held by secret ballot, in other committees by a show of hands, unless a member of the committee requests a secret ballot.

e.         The term of office of the Chair and Vice-Chair shall be one year. It may be renewed once.

Article 13 – Bureau

a.         Every steering and ad hoc committee may appoint a bureau consisting of the Chair, the Vice-Chair and a limited number of other members of the committee.  The number of other members shall be specified in the committee’s terms of reference.  Any other committee may, if need be, appoint a bureau composed, normally, of not more than three members in addition to the Chair and Vice-Chair.  The functions of the Bureau are:

- to assist the Chair in conducting the committee’s business;

- to supervise the preparation of meetings at the committee’s request;

- to ensure continuity between meetings as necessary;

- to execute other additional specific tasks delegated by its Committee.

b.         No decision on substantive issues shall be taken by the Bureau on behalf of the committee.  In exceptional cases and due to time constraint, the Bureau may have recourse to the tacit approval of all the members of the committee through electronic communication, in order to expedite procedure on decisions requested by the Committee of Ministers.

c.         Other members of the Bureau shall be appointed in the same manner as the Chair and Vice-Chair. They shall be appointed immediately after the Chair and Vice-Chair in accordance with an equitable distribution of posts, taking into account in particular geographical distribution, gender balance and, where relevant, legal systems.

d.         The term of office of such members shall correspond to the duration of the mandate of the committee and may be renewed once. However, a member may, on expiry of her/his second term, be appointed Chair or Vice-Chair. In order to ensure partial replacement of the Bureau each year, the first term of at least one such member shall be limited to one year.

e.         A member elected to replace another whose term of office has not expired shall complete her/his predecessor’s term. The same shall apply to the offices of Chair and Vice-Chair.

Article 14 – Working methods

a.         Committees may appoint a rapporteur, a drafting committee or both.

b.         Where necessary, in order to expedite the progress of their work, committees may entrust a rapporteur or a limited number of committee members with a specific task to be fulfilled by their next meeting, using primarily information technologies.

c.         In exceptional cases, for specialised tasks that cannot be performed by a member of the committee or the Secretariat, committees may request the Secretary General to have recourse to consultants subject to the provisions of the relevant resolution and within the limits of budgetary appropriations.

d.         Time- and cost-efficiency shall be a guiding principle for committee work, including best possible use of interactive technologies for networks and meetings.

e.         Agenda items for information only shall be communicated to members in advance by electronic means allowing the committee to focus during its meeting on agenda items for decision.

Article 15 – Secretariat

a.         The Secretary General shall provide the committee with the necessary staff, including the committee secretary, as well as with the administrative and other services it may require.

b.         The Secretary General or her/his representative may at any time make an oral or written statement on any subject under discussion.

c.         Committees may ask the Secretary General to prepare a report on any question relevant to their work.

Article 16 – Venue of meetings

a.         Committees shall normally be convened at the premises of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

b.         Exceptionally, the Secretary General may authorise, if there is no objection from the government of the state on whose territory it is intended to hold the meeting and if suitable technical facilities are available on-the-spot, to convene a committee elsewhere, in particular, in other Council of Europe premises, in accordance with the principles of sound management and within the resources available.

Article 17 – Revision

Any committee directly answerable to the Committee of Ministers may propose to the Committee of Ministers to amend these Rules or, in exceptional circumstances, to waive them in part.

Appendix 2 to Resolution CM/Res(2011)24

Payment of travelling and subsistence expenses

The travelling and subsistence expenses of one representative per member state participating in a steering and ad hoc committees shall be borne by the Council of Europe unless otherwise indicated in the respective terms of reference,^[4] within the limits of budgetary appropriations.

The travelling and subsistence expenses of either all or only a limited number of members of subordinate bodies, as indicated in their respective terms of reference shall be borne by the Council of Europe, within the limits of budgetary appropriations.

Appendix 2

Comments by the CDLR

on Recommendations 307, 314 and 315

of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

prepared by the Bureau of the CDLR

Introduction

1          At the request of the Committee of Ministers (1126th meeting, 16 November 2011, item 12.b), the European Committee of Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) has considered Recommendations 307, 314 and 315 of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities with a view to providing comments as appropriate.

2          Following a call for comments issued by the Secretariat to all CDLR delegations (28 November 2011), the Bureau examined the replies received at its meeting on 9 December 2011. Written comments were received from the delegations of Belgium, France, Switzerland and Turkey. The Bureau noted that comments by delegations raised a number of legal and policy concerns which, according to those countries, required in-depth consideration by the Committee of Ministers itself.

3          Having regard to article 13.b of the Internal regulations for Steering Committees (Appendix 1 to CM/Res(2011)24), the Bureau decided that the approval of the whole CDLR was necessary for replying to the Committee of Ministers and that the approval should be sought by electronic means, given the tight deadline set by the Ministers’ Deputies (31 December 2011).

4          The draft for comments prepared by the Bureau, in the light of initial comments received and the discussion in the Bureau, was circulated to all CDLR members on 20 January 2012, the deadline for responses being set at 27 January 2012.

5          11 delegations responded[5] and explicitly agreed with the draft. One delegation suggested an amendment to paragraph 17 which the Bureau considered to be a drafting improvement that would not require a second round of formal approvals by delegations. The Bureau thus finalised the comments on 2 February 2012.

Recommendation 307

6          Recommendation 307 concerns citizens participation at local and regional level. The Congress recommends the Committee of Ministers (a) to invite member states to take certain measures (paragraph 11, a. to h.) and (b) to engage in or support certain other activities with the Congress itself (paragraph 12, a. to c.).

7          The Committee recalls the importance of citizen participation in the affairs of a local community as a fundamental component of an effective democracy at local level. It recalls that this issue is on the agenda of the Committee since the 15th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (Valencia, 2007) and that this work has produced a number of practical outputs, such as a toolkit on citizen participation and the CLEAR tool (see CM Recommendation(2009)2) as well as the Additional protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government opened for signature at the 16th session of the same conference (Utrecht, 2009). To date, the Additional protocol has been signed by 9 member states and ratified by 7.

8          The Committee also believes that both the European Local Democracy Week and the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level should be counted among the Council of Europe instruments aimed at promoting citizens participation.

9          The Committee is ready, should the Committee of Ministers so wish, to examine in detail the Congress’ proposals (paragraph 11 a. to h.) with a view to recommending specific implementation measures.

10        It notes that the participatory budgeting (paragraph 11 d.) is a relatively new and innovative technique that not all member states know and use, in some cases due to objective legal impediments. However, the issue has already been considered by the CDLR and a report on it has been prepared and published in October 2011 with a view to it being made available to the Kyiv ministerial conference (November 2011).

11        As regards the encouragement to member States to further sign and ratify the European convention on the participation by foreigners in public life at local level (ETS n° 144), the Committee notes that while the Congress is perfectly entitled to suggest that the CM issue such as invitation, and if such an invitation were to be issued, member states are legitimately entitled not to follow it. In particular, the freedom not to be bound by some parts of the convention is enshrined in the convention itself.

12        The Committee of Ministers or, should it so wish, the CDLR might invite member states and in particular the Parties to the ECLSG to have an exchange of information on the Convention in the course of which the reasons for choosing or not some parts of the convention could be provided. The results of the exchange of views could then help the Committee of Ministers decide whether or not it wishes to invite member states to accept additional provisions in the said convention.

13        The Committee also notes that the Congress request the Committee of Ministers to support it in its efforts aimed at taking citizens rights to participate into account in the framework of its monitoring visits (paragraph 12 b.). The Committee of Ministers is obviously free to express its support to the Congress for the latter’s activities, such as the monitoring of the Charter. In this case, however, such a support could be understood as an approval of an extension of the scope of the monitoring itself, beyond the provisions of the Charter of Local Self-government for which the Congress has a mandate. The CDLR suggests to the Committee of Ministers to consider the advisability of debating possible extensions of the monitoring in the framework of the follow up to the report submitted by Minister Manuel Chaves to the 17th session of the ministerial conference (Kyiv, 2011).

Recommendation 314

14        Recommendation 314 concerns what the Congress terms “reservations and declarations”  to the European Charter of Local Self-government.

15        The Congress recommends (paragraph 5 a. to c.) the Committee of Ministers to invite member states having made reservations to review them with a view to lifting reservations, withdrawing declarations and ultimately accepting more provisions of the Charter. It also asks the Committee of Ministers to envisage preparing regular reports (6 a.) on the non accepted provisions of the Charter and pursue its efforts aimed at limiting the recourse to reservations and declarations in Council of Europe treaties (6 b.).

16        The CDLR notes that the proposal under 6 b. should be considered by other Council of Europe bodies with specific competence on public international law. As regards the proposal under 6 a. the Committee notes that nothing is said about which body and according to which rules such reports on non accepted provisions should be prepared. The CDLR is of the opinion that the Committee of Ministers could first consider the advisability of preparing such reports whose usefulness should be carefully weighed. The CDLR is ready to comment more in detail on this proposal, should the Committee of Ministers so wish.

17        As regards paragraph 5 of the Recommendation, the CDLR notes that the Congress wishes the Committee of Ministers to invite member states to review the use they have made and are currently making of the options (this terminology should be preferred to the word “reservations” since the Charter does not allow for “reservations”) offered by the Charter itself.

The  Congress’ proposal which aims at reducing the number of reservations and achieve the best application of the Charter has to be read in compliance with article 12 of this Charter.

18        The Committee of Ministers would be legitimately entitled to extend an invitation as proposed by the Congress to member States. The latter however, would be legitimately entitled as well to refuse such an invitation. The choice of accepted (and non accepted) provisions of the Charter as well as the delimitation of the scope of the accepted provisions reflect the institutional landscape of member states and respond to political options as well. Both are perfectly legitimate.

19        For the Committee of Ministers to seek to influence the choice of member states it would be necessary, in the CDLR’s view, that a prior thorough consideration of the legal and political implications of such a move is conducted by the Committee of Ministers. The CDLR is ready to contribute to the preparation of such a debate in the Committee of Ministers, should the latter so decide.

Recommendation 315

20        Recommendation 315 addresses the situation of Roma in Europe. The Congress urges the Committee of Ministers to embark on a number of actions aimed at remedying the situation of Roma in Europe through the implementation, inter alia, of the measures identified at and recommended by the Mayors’ summit on Roma held in Strasbourg on 21 September 2011.

21        The CDLR is fully aware that if local authorities are often the first level of governance at which the issues related to Roma are to be addressed, in terms of residence, access to services and education, addressing the Roma issue in its global dimension requires the participation and involvement of a broader range of actors than local authorities, in member states, and than the CDLR in the Council of Europe.

22        This seems to be the case, as regards in particular the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma issues.

 

23        According to its current terms of reference, the CDLR is neither entitled nor expected to deal with Roma issues. If the Committee of Ministers so wishes, the CDLR, provided it is given ad hoc terms of reference, can advise the Committee of Ministers on actions that could be undertaken in the framework of its programme of activities.

Appendix 3

Terms of reference of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR)

(adopted by the Ministers’ Deputies on 23 November 2011)

Set-upby the Committee of Ministers under Article 17 of the Statute of the Council of Europe and in accordance with Resolution [CM/Res (2011) 24].

Terms of Reference valid from 1 January 2012 until 31 December 2013

Main tasks

Under the authority of the Committee of Ministers, the CDLR will oversee the Council of Europe’s intergovernmental work in the field of democratic local and regional governance and advise the Committee of Ministers on all questions within its area of competence.  Taking due account of relevant transversal perspectives, the overall aim is to provide guidance and technical expertise relating to the policies and activities of governments in member states, and to act as a technical forum to facilitate the development of such policies and activities both for individual member states and for collective action by governments within the Council of Europe. With this purpose, the CDLR is instructed to: (i) Exchange information, views and good practices among its members, observers and participants on intergovernmental issues concerning local and regional democracy and cross-border cooperation, as much as possible  via electronic means; (ii) Respond to requests from governments for information on specific issues relating to states’ current policies and activities in the field of democratic local and regional governance (“the rapid response service for governments”); (iii) Follow the work of other international actors in the field of local and regional democracy and cross-border co-operation, report to the Committee of Ministers on possible synergies and co-operation with these actors and develop such synergies on the basis of the decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers; (iv) Participate effectively, through its designated representatives, in appropriate bodies within the Council of Europe, (e.g. the Stakeholders’ Platform on the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level and the Advisory board of the Centre of Expertise on Local Government Reform) and, subject to invitation and available financial means, other relevant and appropriate fora; (v) Ensure, as appropriate, the follow-up to any decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers subsequent to the 17th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional government (Kyiv, 3-4 November 2011), including in relation to the Chaves Review, in close co-operation with other appropriate Council of Europe bodies, and non-governmental organisations.

Pillar / Sector / Programme

Pillar:              Democracy Sector:            Democratic Governance Programme:   Democratic Governance at local and regional level

Expected results

Expected results 2012-2013 (i)            A report on initiatives to strengthen good governance, capacity building and citizens democratic participation at local level is prepared; (ii)           Responses are provided to up to ten requests from governments for information through “the rapid response service for governments”; (iii)          A manual of practical solutions to overcome obstacles to cross-border co-operation is prepared and published; (iv)         Norms suitable for inclusion in the Appendix to Protocol No 3 to the Madrid Outline Convention are prepared; (v)          A report to the Committee of Ministers on possible synergies and co-operation with other international actors in the field of local and regional democracy and cross-border co-operation is prepared and synergies are developed on the basis of the decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers; (vi)         Any activities agreed by the Committee of Ministers, coming from the 17th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional government, are implemented.

Composition

Members: Governments of member states are invited to designate representatives of the highest possible rank in the relevant field, with senior responsibility at national level for the planning, development and implementation of policies in the field of local and regional democracy and governance and/or for co-ordinating at national level government policy relevant to the work of the Committee. The Council of Europe budget will bear the travelling and subsistence expenses of one representative from each member state (two in the case of the state whose representative has been elected Chair). Member states may send other representatives without defrayal of expenses. Each member of the committee shall have one vote. Where a government designates more than one member, only one of them is entitled to take part in the voting. Participants: The following may send representatives without the right to vote and at the charge of their corresponding administrative budgets: -                      Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe -                      Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe -                      European Court of Human Rights -                      Commissioner for Human Rights -                      Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe -                      Council of Europe intergovernmental committees as appropriate The following may send representatives without the right to vote and without defrayal of expenses: -                      European Union -                      Observer States to the Council of Europe: Canada, Holy See, Japan, Mexico, United States of America -                      United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) -                      Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) -                      Office for Democratic Institutions and Human rights (ODIHR-OSCE) -                      Benelux Union Observers: The following non-governmental organisations may send representatives without the right to vote and without defrayal of expenses: -                      United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) -                      Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) -                      Assembly of European Regions (ARE) -                      International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP)

Working methods

Plenary meetings: 48 members, 2 meetings in 2012, 2 days 48 members, 2 meetings in 2013, 2 days Bureau: 7 members, 2 meetings in 2012, 1 day 7 members, 2 meetings in 2013, 1 day The Committee shall appoint a Gender Equality Rapporteur from amongst its members. The rules of procedure of committees are governed by Resolution CM/Res(2011)24 on intergovernmental committees and subordinate bodies, their terms of reference and working methods.

Appendix 4

17th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government

(Kyiv, 3-4 November 2011)

Report presented by the Secretary General

Item to be considered by the GR-DEM at its meeting on 2 February 2012

 

Introduction

The 17th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 3-4 November 2011 at the invitation of Mr Andriy Klyuyev, First Vice prime Minister, Minister of economic development and trade of Ukraine.

The list of participants and the agenda are appended to this report (Appendices I and II).

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who could not attend in person, was represented by Ms Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Director-General of Democracy a.i.

The session was preceded by an informal “fire-side meeting” of Ministers on 2 November and was honoured by the presence, at the opening ceremony, of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mr Mykola Azarov, who addressed the participants. The Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe were represented by their respective Chair and Presidents.

Following one and a half days of debates, the Ministers adopted a substantive document, the Kyiv Declaration, expressing their views and proposals for action within the Council of Europe addressed to the Committee of Ministers (Appendix III). The Ministers also adopted the Kyiv Guidelines for their action at domestic level with regard to the impact of the economic crisis on local  government (Appendix IV).

The session

The session had been preceded by intense discussion on its preparation and final declaration in the GR-DEM, the Ministers’ Deputies and an informal meeting respectively.The latter adopted an instruction by the Committee of Ministers to the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) as the preparatory body of the conference.

The Ministers held four distinct discussions on the four themes of the Conference.

The outlook for the future of pan-European work on local and regional democracy

The theme was introduced by Mr Manuel Chaves, Vice President of the Government for Territorial Policy of Spain, who introduced his report on The Council of Europe: towards a multilevel governance. This report had been requested by the Ministers at the previous session of the Conference, in 2009 in Utrecht.

Minister Chaves stressed that the report had been prepared in consultation with his fellow Ministers and enjoyed the agreement of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. He highlighted the main findings of the report, in particular the suggestions concerning the topics that would be considered by both the Congress and the intergovernmental sector of the Council of Europe, under the heading of “agenda in common”. He also made a specific proposal concerning the way in which the report could be taken further in the Council of Europe. This proposal was accepted by the Ministers and included in the Kyiv Declaration.

The Ministers also heard a statement by the Finnish delegation on the proposal prepared by the Minister of Public Administration and Local Government of Finland, Mr Tapani Tölli, earlier in the year, further to a request made by the Ministers at the previous session of the Conference and sent to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Chair of the Committee of Ministers had replied a few weeks before the session.

The further impact of the economic crisis on local government and the policy responses to it

The topic was discussed on the basis of a report prepared by the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) in co-operation with the Open Society Institute/Local Government and Public Sector Reform initiative and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). It was presented to Ministers by Professor Ken Davey, chair of the editorial group. The Ministers provided details of the policy responses adopted at national level to alleviate the impact of the crisis and agreed the more developed set of Guidelines for their action at domestic level. Two delegations (France and Malta) reserved the right not to take account of the guidelines in paragraphs 7-20. France made the same reservation in respect of paragraphs 32 and 33.

In the Kyiv Declaration the Ministers invite the Committee of Ministers to include specific further work on this topic in the Council of Europe programme on local and regional democracy and governance.

Human rights at local level

State Secretary Erik Thedéen, replacing at the last moment Minister Peter Norman of Sweden, introduced this topic. A presentation of the work by the Congress was made by Mr Lars Molin, Chair of the Congress Monitoring Committee and Rapporteur on Human Rights. Ministers presented national human rights initiatives and policies aimed at enhancing and fostering human rights at local level. Council of Europe’s work on intercultural cities was also presented to the Conference.

In the Kyiv Declaration the Ministers invite the Committee of Ministers to include specific further work on this topic in the Council of Europe programme on local and regional democracy and governance.

The Kyiv Declaration also invites the Committee of Ministers to examine how the principles of good democratic governance can be best promoted and embedded in the practices of local and regional authorities and be supported by the adoption of the draft Recommendation on the principles of good democratic governance at local level.

The role of government in overcoming obstacles to transfrontier co-operation

Following an introductory statement by Mr Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Minister-President of the German Speaking Community of Belgium and Chair of the Congress’ Committee on Governance, the Ministers described the measures taken at national and regional level in order to facilitate crossborder co-operation, involving central, regional and local authorities as well as other stakeholders in border areas.

They came to the conclusion that Council of Europe conventions pertaining to crossborder cooperation can prove useful to this end and should be signed and ratified, and that crossborder co-operation should continue to be supported.

In the Kyiv Declaration the Ministers invite the Committee of Ministers to include specific further work on this topic in the Council of Europe programme on local and regional democracy and governance.

The Kyiv Declaration

The draft Kyiv Declaration was revised with a view to limiting it to decisions only, including those with invitations to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concerning activities that could be undertaken in the framework of the Council’s programme on local and regional democracy and governance. The Declaration invites the successive chairs of the Committee of Ministers, namely Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Albania, to bring it to the attention of the Committee of Ministers at their earliest convenience.

The Declaration was adopted unanimously.

The Ministers also agreed to ensure the continuity of their work and liaise with their colleagues of Foreign Affairs to ensure optimal exchange of information and synergies with the Committee of Ministers.

Other information

The Ministers also adopted a Resolution of thanks to the Ukrainian authorities for the excellent organisation of the event and the hospitality that had been extended to them, and thanked Vice President Chaves and Minister Tölli for the work they had performed at the conference’s request since the Utrecht session.

In line with the new approach of the Committee of Ministers to Ministerial Conferences laid down in CM Resolution(2011)7, no invitation was issued for the holding of the next session of the Conference.

KYIV DECLARATION

ADOPTED BY THE EUROPEAN MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR

LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT AT THE 17th SESSION OF

THEIR COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONFERENCE

We, the European Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government,

Having come together at the 17th session of our Conference on 3 and 4 November 2011 in Kyiv in order to take forward our longstanding cooperation,

Having reviewed progress with taking forward the Utrecht Declaration and the Utrecht Agenda,

Have decided

As concerns the outlook for the future of pan-European work on local and regional democracy

1          to commit ourselves to taking continued and new initiatives in the future in our member states to strengthen good governance, capacity building and citizens democratic participation at local and regional level, following up the progress review reports on the Outlook to the future presented in Kyiv, and to report to the Committee of Ministers on the result;

2          to affirm our support for the report prepared by our colleague Manuel Chaves, noting with satisfaction the support it has received from the Congress and the recognition it gives to each of the institutional actors within the Council of Europe;

                                                                                                                           

3          to invite the Committee of Ministers to put in place arrangements for implementing the proposals of the report and suggest, with the concurrence of the President and other representatives of Congress present with us at Kyiv, that:

-          these arrangements might include a “political high level follow up group”, convened by the Chairman for the time being of the Committee of Ministers, to assist in the development of such proposals as the “agenda in common”, and

-          such a “political high level follow up group” might involve Ministers or State Secretaries having responsibilities for local and regional government and members of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress;

As concerns the further impact of the economic crisis on local government and the policy responses to it

4          to agree, including drawing also on our discussions in Kyiv highlighting the common problems and challenges we face, on a more developed set of guidelines for our actions at domestic level that will henceforth be known as the “Kyiv guidelines”;

5          to commit ourselves to draw inspiration from the “Kyiv guidelines”, to use them and to contribute actively to the work to be undertaken under 7 below by engaging our senior officials competent in these matters;

6          to actively disseminate and draw the attention of all relevant stakeholders in our respective countries to the Report “Local government in critical times: Policies for crisis, recovery and sustainable future” and the “Kyiv guidelines”;

7          to invite the Committee of Ministers that it, in order to assist member States and their local and regional authorities to weather the economic downturn and address long-term challenges, include in the Council of Europe programme on local and regional democracy and governance the work of:

-          analysing the impact of changing economic fortunes on local budgets, and of

-          monitoring and developing policy responses on the basis of the “Kyiv guidelines”

and in full compliance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the Committee of Ministers’ acquis and, as applicable, the Reference Framework for Regional Democracy;

As concerns human rights at local level

8          to invite the Committee of Ministers that it, as part of the Council of Europe programme on local and regional democracy and governance, in dialogue with the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress and the Conference of INGOs, elaborate proposals for strengthening awareness raising of the human rights dimension of local and regional governance;

9          to invite the Committee of Ministers to examine how the Principles of good democratic governance at local and regional level can best be promoted and embedded in the practices of local and regional authorities and be supported by the adoption of the draft Recommendation on the principles of good democratic governance at local level;

As concerns the role of government in overcoming obstacles to transfrontier cooperation

10        to encourage member States, as far as they have not yet done so, to sign and ratify the Madrid Outline Convention on Transfrontier cooperation and its three additional Protocols;

11        to continue, despite current budgetary constraints, our support for crossborder co-operation with the aim of putting into practice public policies across wider areas or which  encompass larger populations, enriching and rationalising the supply of public services, facilitating territorial integration and promoting more effectively economic and social development;

12        to step up efforts to remove or reduce, as far as possible, obstacles to transfrontier co-operation for those territories which have often been handicapped by their position at their country's borders;

13        to  envisage, according to need, a central or regional government "special task mediator/mediation office" for cross-border co-operation, tasked with making the action of the different ministries and players concerned more dynamic, or a border zone "contact person or body" whom territorial authorities and communities could contact when promoting and setting up cross-border co-operation;

14        to  invite the Committee of Ministers to include in the Council of Europe programme on local and regional democracy and governance the work of sharing the results of the experience of certain member states which have designated a cross-border "special task mediator/mediation office";

As concerns the Declaration as a whole

15        to commit ourselves to ensure the continuity of our work and to liaise with our colleagues of Foreign Affairs to ensure optimal exchange of information and synergies with the Committee of Ministers;

16        to invite the successive Chairs of the Committee of Ministers, namely Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Albania, to bring this Declaration to the attention of the Committee of Ministers at their earliest convenience.

 

KYIV GUIDELINES AGREED BY THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT AT ITS 17th SESSION (KYIV, 3-4 NOVEMBER 2011)

1.         The survey of members carried out in preparation of the 16th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional government in Utrecht (The Netherlands) in November 2009 identified main possible policy responses for which more detailed guidelines were adopted in the so-called Utrecht guidelines. In the light of experience gained since 2009, the guidelines have been further developed into those set out below. It is to be stressed that the feasibility and desirability of individual guidelines may vary from country to country and thus are to be seen as range of policy options and not a prescriptive set of measures.

2.         The economic crisis has generated a widespread recognition of the need for radical improvements in governance and in the management of public expenditure. Even when the worst of the crisis is over and whilst the means to be deployed will differ over time and vary from place to place, there will be a constant need for increasing efficiency across the whole of the public sector, and hence for greater collaboration between all the stakeholders, central government, local and regional authorities as well as their associations. The aim should be to remove duplication and to drive down costs arising from a lack of co-ordination, integration and flexibility in the delivery of public services, not only to meet the demands of the current fiscal situation, but also to be better placed to address longer term social, economic, demographic and environmental changes the challenges of which will no doubt outlast the crisis. These challenges also place emphasis on the value of partnership with private and social enterprise and the voluntary sector.

3.         Above all, the Council of Europe is concerned to protect and enforce the values of local democracy enshrined in the Charter of Local Self-Government and also of social responsibility, embodied in the European Social Charter. Exchanging and sharing information and experience at local, regional, national and international level, as well as the identification of good practices this enables, will be key to achieving success at the earliest possible time.

I.         Council of Europe standards

4.         Any policy response by central government to the impact of economic downturn on local government must be fully compatible with its obligations under the European Charter of Local Self-Government (CETS 122), which recognises that questions as to the financial resources for local authorities are to be determined within a Party’s national economic policy.

5.         The two recommendations of the Committee of Ministers in the field of local finance: Rec(2004)1 on financial and budgetary management at local and regional levels and Rec(2005)1 on the financial resources of local and regional authorities, offer a powerful and coherent set of guidelines aimed at ensuring a sound local finance system, many of which are ever the more useful in the context of the economic downturn.

II.        Possible policy responses identified so far

6.         The main options identified so far are:

1.         Stabilising local revenue bases;

2.         Improving accountability and efficiency;

3.         Combating social deprivation;

4.         Partnership in delivering public services;

5.         Enhancing local flexibility and discretion;

6.         Promoting Economic Recovery.

1.         Stabilising Local Revenue Bases^[6]

Tax assignments

7.         Local budgets are heavily encumbered by regular operating costs. This is particularly the case where they include teachers’ salaries, social assistance or medical services, but most pay for basic essential services like road maintenance, waste management, care for the elderly, and water supply. They need relatively stable revenues to sustain these responsibilities.

8.         Governments and local authority associations might wish to consider changes in those local revenue bases which depend excessively on shares of highly volatile taxes such as those on corporate profits and property transactions. Overall, the ratio of own revenue to transfers does not seem to make much difference to the stability of the local budgets in crisis. What is important is to ensure a broad and diverse basis of own revenues, avoiding over-reliance on a single volatile tax.

9.         Alternatively, consideration should be given to transfer mechanisms with automatic stabilizers incorporated, such as those used in Northern Europe to finance the social services. Where volatile taxes are already assigned to local governments and legal changes are difficult to make, local governments might consider to introduce “buffer” mechanisms, which would neutralise revenue fluctuations.

10.       Personal income is the only tax base which is both technically susceptible to variation by local decision and capable of funding a large proportion of the costs of major services, such as education and social and health care. Revenue from local budget shares of personal income taxation has inevitably suffered from reductions in employment, hours, salaries etc, but less dramatically than that of corporate income. It remains the most effective alternative to over-dependence on transfers and should be protected or may be introduced where it does not exist.

11.       Taxation of property ownership or occupation has proved remarkably resilient. This is because in most European states liabilities do not vary according to annual changes in property values; municipalities also have used freedom to increase rates or intensify administration to compensate for decline of other sources. Conferring such opportunity on local governments who do not have it would contribute to financial resilience.

12.       The property tax based on effective market values has no tradition in Europe (with exceptions, such as Denmark and Sweden), and where it is applied, e.g. in the United States, its drawbacks have come to the fore during the recent crisis. Stability is enhanced where property taxes are based on statutory values and are revised from time to time, but not annually. In the interest of stability, such revisions should reflect long term market developments, rather than short term fluctuations.

13.       Regular changes to property tax liabilities will be needed between periodic revaluations to reflect increases in the municipal costs which they fund, but they should not be subject to the severe fluctuations which sometimes influence property market values because of the potential damage to either municipal budgets when these are depressed or to taxpayers’ pockets when they surge. Indexing the base to an appropriate price index is one possible solution. Regular increases in tax rates set by local councils is another; as practised by British and Polish local councils, for example, annual increases just above the rate of inflation have secured substantial revenue increases over time without serious political opposition.

Discretion to set local tax rates and charges

14.       On balance policy responses to the crisis have reduced the freedom of local governments to determine their local tax levels though there are exceptions. This appears to weaken compliance with the European Charter of Local Self Government.

15.       It must be recognised, however, that local councils’ sense of accountability to their business taxpayers may be weaker than to their residents. Restrictions on rate setting powers to prevent discrimination against non-voters may well be justified. Curbs on excessive local PIT rates may also be justified where they have a proven impact on labour supply and fiscal sustainability.

16.       Some countries employ caps on local tax rates or surcharges such as on the personal income tax. This is counterproductive especially if all, or almost all, municipalities have reached the rate ceiling. In this case the local taxpayer knows that he/she is protected against higher taxes and loses interest in controlling a possibly spendthrift local budget policy. Caps on local tax rates simply endanger accountability and leave scope for pressure on national governments to come to the rescue of unbalanced local budgets.

Intergovernmental transfers

17.       Local budgets cannot be indefinitely shielded from national revenue losses and budget deficit. However, immediate and arbitrary cuts are damaging to local public services if conducted during the fiscal year. Such harm can be minimised where local governments are given notice in advance of finalising their budgets Cuts, where unavoidable, should be distributed by objective formulae to ensure their equity and political neutrality.

Debt

18.       Reviving capital investment will be important to recovery, which means restoring operational surplus sufficient to fund it directly or redeem debt. But growing indebtedness calls for improvements in the regulatory regime for both borrowing and insolvency. This applies also to the often murky financial relationships between municipal budgets and those of their utility companies. 

19.       In some member countries, unsustainable local government debt has emerged as a problem. In these instances actions must be taken to correct any fundamental imbalance between responsibilities and resources. Municipal budget autonomy needs to be exercised within clear policies over prudential and macroeconomic limits to borrowing and processes of public scrutiny. Clear rules and procedures are also needed to govern cases of municipal insolvency.

20.       The Maastricht criteria induced a number of countries to introduce an intergovernmental mechanism for restricting public sector borrowing under headings such as “internal stability pact” or “debt brake”. The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers issued Recommendations in 2004 and 2005, whilst the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS) has just published a very comprehensive analysis on borrowing procedures in South East Europe. These deserve constant bearing in mind.

2.         Improving accountability and efficiency

21.       Making the most of more limited resources will remain a priority for the foreseeable future. Much of the reduction in revenue has been absorbed simply by deferring capital investment. Reports, however, reveal many attempts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local budgets. These deserve dissemination and replication.

Of particular significance are:

•           increasing co-operation between municipalities, particularly in operating major infrastructure or shared administrative processes like development control, tax collection, procurement and IT, and between municipalities and other public agencies;

•           reductions in payroll costs which have minimised staff layoffs through pay cuts or freezes, reductions in hours and overtime, freezing vacancies etc;

•          engaging staff in identifying efficiency savings;

•           transparency over procurement and budget expenditure, including use of electronic auctions and online publication of expenditure;

•           enhanced use of benchmarking, comparing systems and their attendant costs (a process actively promoted by the Council of Europe – Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform);

•          use of computerisation to enhance the speed, neutrality and transparency of administrative procedures.

22.       In a number of countries wholesale territorial reorganisations have been carried out or are in progress to achieve scale economies or more uniform service quality. These may well be beneficial but have initial political and financial costs which limit their immediate gains. Increasing inter-municipal co-operation offers quicker returns. Territorial re-organisation will nonetheless be something that many States will wish to consider as a medium to long-term reform.    

23.       Obstacles to efficiency remain, which governments, associations and individual local authorities are urged to address. These include:

•           the reduction in some countries of the contribution of the private sector and market mechanisms to efficient delivery of public utility services in a few countries, with potential danger to the results of successful partnerships over the past three decades; 

•           the continuing weakness of performance audit, particularly in countries with large numbers of small municipalities without qualified personnel;

•           continuation of administrative and financial arrangements in some countries which encourage services like health and social care to be provided in an unnecessarily expensive way.

3.         Combating social deprivation

24.       The recession has inevitably increased social distress reflected in rising unemployment, lower household incomes, increased costs such as heating, utility charges, food and evictions. Budget cuts, national and local, threaten benefits and some programmes such as early childhood development important to the human rights of poor and minority households. In some cases support to programmes most significant for such vulnerable groups is being cut disproportionately because the services concerned are not mandatory and are provided by non-governmental organisations whose employee severance costs do not fall on local budgets.

25.       Local governments’ social expenditures have risen substantially and are destined for sustained growth because of long term increases in the population of elderly people requiring medical and social care.

26.       Measures are recommended to mitigate these burdens. These include:

•          means testing subsidies for services like heating, housing or public transport;

•           shifting the bias of care for the elderly to community rather than institutional provision and increasing support for family and voluntary carers;

•           giving priority to expenditure on support to vulnerable groups whether provided by public or private agencies.

27.       National and local governments should also review their benefit procedures to ensure that the poor are not hindered from access by legal and bureaucratic obstacles.

4.         Partnership in delivering public services

28.       Local government faces long-term challenges, which will outlast the crisis. The autonomy promoted by the European Charter should give the freedom to innovate in meeting these and some security over resources. But these challenges require a style and habit of partnership with other key actors such as other levels of government, the private sector, universities and other members of the research and training communities, social enterprises and other non-governmental organisations

29.       The crisis has slowed down the spread of partnerships involving the private sector in carrying out the initial investment in a public service facility. These remain widespread in cases such as waste disposal where construction and operation can be combined in a single management and where costs can be recouped directly from beneficiaries. Efficiency can suffer, by contrast, where responsibility for operation becomes fragmented between commercial investors and public service professionals; costs can also escalate substantially when loaded with the higher interest rates attached to private sector borrowing. 

30.       By contrast, the crisis has increased interest in partnership with the voluntary sector and social enterprise in running community level services. Care of the elderly is an increasingly important field for such partnership. Giving social enterprises freedom to provide both residential and domiciliary care services and providing beneficiaries with cash benefits rather than services in-kind, provides an arena for choice and competition which can enhance quality of life. Family and voluntary carers, in practice mostly women, can also be supported and encouraged by measures like compensation for pension losses, arrangements for career breaks, re-entry on the labour market, respite care and even petrol allowances. Involvement of the private or voluntary sector in provision of public services must be in line with public policy and have regard to the requirements of efficiency and value for money and, above all, the needs of those which services are intended to address.

31.       Partnership will also be vital in keeping local economies ahead of the game. Partnership with other local actors will be crucial in identifying contemporary opportunities, promoting technological research and innovation, providing education to improve the local skill base and providing the planning and infrastructural framework (including information and communication technology).

5.         Enhancing local flexibility and discretion^[7]

32.       The impact of the crisis on compliance with the Charter of Local Self Government has been mixed. The Report “Local government in critical times: Policies for crisis, recovery and sustainable future” gives examples of both increases and losses of local tax autonomy.  Examples have been given of national governments intervening in detailed local budget decisions, while there are fears that EU attempts to impose common economic government within the Eurozone will curtail the ability of local government to determine their spending levels. On the other hand some conditionality and control have been relaxed by national governments to avoid responsibility for detailed cuts in services.

33.       The need to preserve and possibly enhance local discretion over local taxes and charges has already been highlighted. It will also be important to

•          avoid an intuitive recentralisation of authority;

•           abolish unsustainable expenditure norms which prevent efficient management of local public services; these tend to regulate inputs rather than outcomes;

•          reform funding mechanisms which encourage costlier types of service provision.

6.         Promoting Economic Recovery

34.       With GDP almost static and unemployment still rising in much of Europe, helping to engineer recovery must be a priority for local government.

35.       Its first contribution should be to revive its former levels of infrastructural investment which have been the biggest casualty of budget squeeze. This primarily means restoring the operational surplus which funded investment directly, serviced loans, repaid bonds and provided pre-finance and counterpart support for EU structural funds.

36.       Its second major role is to work with banks, private enterprise and the local research and training community to identify and exploit opportunities for economic growth in the 21st century. Vocational training and broadband networks are key components. So are planning framework and development control procedures which create a favourable business environment and increase the competitiveness of local economies.

37.       Finally local governments are key actors in responding to climate change and rising energy prices. Making municipal assets more energy efficient, increasing the use of renewable energy, reforming transportation, increasing the capacity of stormwater drainage are all key tasks for local government, requiring partnerships with utility and transport companies, “green” technology companies  and any other suitable actors with capabilities and commitment.