Strasbourg, 26 October 2012                                                                CDLR(2012)24

                                                                                           Item D1 of the agenda

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

DRAFT

CDLR REPORT ON POSSIBLE SYNERGIES AND CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTORS

IN THE FIELD OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

AND CROSS-BORDER CO-OPERATION

For approval and specific decisions

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.

Introduction

According to its Terms of reference for the period 2012-2013 the CDLR is requested to prepare 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.

The CDLR requested the Secretariat at its meeting on 2-3 April 2012 to draft a list of proposed actors. CDLR members were invited to provide information for possible cooperation. The Secretariat did not receive any suggestions in advance of the Bureau meeting on 5 October 2012.

Following an exchange of views based on a draft memorandum prepared by the Secretariat, the Bureau instructed the Secretariat to finalise a draft report for consideration by the CDLR at its present meeting (see Appendix).

The memorandum presents a global overview of intergovernmental organisations with which the Council of Europe and the CDLR in particular have or could develop working relationships in the field of local and regional democracy. It does not feature associations (such as the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the Assembly of European Regions or the Association of European Border regions) that enjoy observer or participatory status with the CDLR and with whom the CDLR already have established working relationships.

Action required

The CDLR is invited to comment on the memorandum appearing in the Appendix, review it, paying particular attention to Section 3 ‘Operational Proposals’, and, if it deems it appropriate, approve it for transmission to the Committee of Ministers.

APPENDIX

Draft CDLR report

on possible synergies and co-operation with other international actors

in the field of local and regional democracy

and cross-border co-operation

Introduction

According to its Terms of reference, the CDLR is expected to 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.

The CDLR recalls that cooperation among member states is an essential contribution to the achievement of the principal aim of the Council of Europe, “to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progression”.[1]

It also considers that effective coordination begins at home and in this respect recalls the recommendation contained in the report prepared by Minister Mari Kiviniemi of Finland for the 16^th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government the 9th paragraph of which reads as follows:

“Learning from each other through the exchange of information builds on the common basis that the European states share in their legal traditions and institutions. More importantly still, they have a fundamental common objective: to deliver to their citizens the best possible quality of local and regional governance. In the era of globalisation and democratic demand, states are under both external and internal pressure to perform. European states must continuously develop and adapt themselves and need the opportunity to learn from each other in how to tackle these challenges.”

The report was approved by the conference in the following terms:

“Convinced by the conclusions and recommendations of our colleague Mari Kiviniemi that if they are to add value for citizens and achieve the strategic aims intended by the Warsaw Summit of Heads of State and Government, the objectives and activities of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy and good governance need:

a. strong ownership by member States,

b. efficient co-operation with other international players,

c. increased organisational flexibility and efficiency,

d. opening up”[2].

The CDLR therefore sees preparation of this report to the Committee of Ministers as an excellent opportunity to enable the implementation of the Kiviniemi report and strengthen the effectiveness of intergovernmental cooperation in difficult times which call for streamlining of procedures and increased efficiency in spending and output delivery.

From this perspective the Secretariat has mapped out a list of themes and possible actors with whom the CDLR could develop synergies and cooperation.

1          Themes

E-Democracy / E-Government

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) play an ever more important role in democratic processes and e-democracy tools offer increasing opportunities for strengthening democracy and increasing participation.  In line with its terms of reference to exchange information, views and good practices among members, and following Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec (2009)1 on electronic democracy, the CDLR is uniquely placed to help share and promote experience and best practice in this field. 

The CDLR should follow the work of other organisations in the field of local and regional democracy, paying special attention to the work done to develop e-democracy and e-government and could contribute with its experience and expertise to the development and promotion of standards in the field of e-government and e-governance respecting the principles of good democratic governance.

Cross-border Cooperation

The CDLR has already made several important contributions to the development of cross-border cooperation in Europe. Several instruments and models to facilitate cross-border cooperation have been developed. However, there are still aspects of this cooperation which could be further improved especially in the field of the cross-border aspects of E-Government. Contribution towards the harmonisation of domestic legal norms to enable or facilitate cross-border cooperation is one of those policy areas which could benefit greatly from the expertise of the CDLR.

Human Rights at Local Level

Local and regional authorities are in the frontline among authorities whose policies and actions are likely to have an impact on the enjoyment of fundamental rights by those under their jurisdiction (for instance, as regards housing, pre-school education, primary social and health care, etc.). Some international bodies already work in this field.

Public administration at local level

Work done on enhancing the capacities of local authorities and improving the quality of local government – through in particular the capacity building activities of the Centre of Expertise and the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level – show how crucial it is to connect all tiers of administration in a single holistic approach to effective administration to deliver good governance to the citizens. Issues of good governance, participation, transparency and public ethics, professionalism and neutrality of public service are common to all tiers of administration. Promoting good governance and efficiency at local level cannot be disconnected from efforts aimed at securing efficient, competent and stable administration at all tiers of government. The CDLR’s work on citizen participation and information, capacity building at local level (including training), public ethics, and sound financial management contribute to adding value to local government staff and administrative capacity.

2.         Main Actors

OSCE

OSCE is a longstanding partner of the Council of Europe in a number of fields of work. The Warsaw Declaration on Co-operation of 2005 establishes a firm basis for co-operation between the two Organisations. The Declaration states that the two Organisations should ‘make best use of their comparative advantages’ in their co-operation.  This cooperation should be dynamic and be based on the respective priorities and reflect the complementarity of the two Organisations.

In the field of local and regional democracy, OSCE operates through “missions” or “presences” in a number of its member States with a view to jointly promoting the democratisation and decentralisation agendas of the countries concerned. The Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) while not having any functional authority over OSCE field missions facilitates horizontal communication and cooperates with the Council of Europe towards the dissemination of information on respective activities. ODIHR and the Directorate of Democratic Governance, Culture and Diversity of the Council of Europe are jointly responsible for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two Organisations concluded in 2005 between the two Secretaries-General.  

Another partner at OSCE level is the Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. In 2010-2011 the Coordinator was associated with some SEE regional events managed by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform and the Centre was recently invited to contribute to the concluding event of the 20^th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum (Prague, 13-14 September 2012), the theme of which was “Promoting security and stability through good governance.”

Both Organisations have a particular focus on good governance as a crucial condition for security and cooperation. The OSCE could benefit from the experience of the CDLR and OSCE experience could feed into the CDLR’s work and outputs.

Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)

The FRA helps to ensure that fundamental rights of people living in the EU are protected. It does this by collecting evidence about the situation of fundamental rights across the European Union and providing advice, based on evidence, about how to improve the situation.

The FRA’s Joined-up Governance project seeks to enhance how fundamental rights are being applied locally by ensuring that various levels of government cooperate effectively.  In this context it is preparing a draft toolkit on joined-up governance in fundamental rights. Currently successful cooperation models are being tested in several member States and the results will be analysed by an Advisory Group of experts including from the Council of Europe.  

Elements of this toolkit are similar or complementary to the 12 principles of Good Governance at Local Level developed by the CDLR and adopted by the Committee of Ministers in the framework of the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level. The Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform has provided input to the toolkit which has been taken into account.

The FRA has also developed in recent years an indicator for human rights at national level. The FRA also recognizes that in a number of cases local and regional authorities have to deal with the practical aspects of the protection of human rights.  Therefore the FRA would like to develop an additional indicator for human rights at local level.  

The possibility of a dialogue between the FRA and the CDLR on how the technical knowledge of the CDLR could contribute to the preparation, development and use of this indicator should therefore be explored. 

The FRA would also like to explore the possibility of further cooperation with the CDLR on Roma integration at local level with the same focus of providing technical support to those authorities who have to deal with these issues. 

European Commission: EU Digital Agenda

Many of the aims of the EU’s Digital Agenda – such as tackling the digital divide and using ICTs to deliver better public services – can best be achieved through work at the local level.  Several items of the Digital agenda[3] could be of interest of the CDLR, namely:

§  Action 64 on accessibility of public sector websites

§  Action 89 on e-government and e-governance

§  Action 91 on cross-border public services

§  Action 97 on the internationalisation of internet governance.

The CDLR could examine the Digital Agenda and identify specific actions where it could increase cooperation with the EU on this topic.  It could focus on the development of (additional) fundamental standards to guarantee good democratic governance in the field of e-government. This would not only be of benefit to CDLR members who are also members of the EU, but also for the other members by promoting the development of equal standards throughout Europe.

UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM)

The Division assists the United Nations intergovernmental policies by providing information on and policy-oriented analysis of the role of public administration, public finance and public economics in the development process via the United Nations Committee of Experts in Public Administration. It contributes to the identification of options, mechanisms and practices instrumental in strengthening key governance institutions, in promoting the rule of law, in increasing the participation of citizens in the decision-making process and in creating an enabling environment for public sector effectiveness.

The Division also has a strong focus on e-government including carrying out regular e-government surveys, maintenance of an e-government development database, a knowledge base for e-government practices, and several e-government projects. 

The CDLR could further examine the work of the DPADM to explore possible synergies and cooperation activities. The CDLR could establish more sustainable contacts within DPADM to benefit from analysis, recommendations and publications.

European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and European Public Administration Network (EUPAN)

EIPA is the leading centre of European learning and development for the public sector.  It provides training, consultancy and research to public administrations across Europe.  The European Centre for the Regions, the EIPA Antenna in Barcelona, offers more specific training, consultancy and research on regional affairs, supporting regional and local authorities in dealing with the integration process.  The Antenna has particular expertise in multi-level governance, public administration and regional development in the EU and has developed tools such as the Scoreboard on Multilevel Governance.

The CDLR could establish stronger contacts with EIPA, in particular the Barcelona Antenna, with a view to exchanging information and developing synergies.

EUPAN is an informal network of senior civil servants from EU member states, the Commission and observer countries with a mission to improve performance, competitiveness and quality of European public administrations by building new tools and methods based on exchange of views, experience and good practice. 

The CDLR should follow the work of EUPAN and explore ways of developing synergies, sharing information and facilitating the promotion of common standards and tools.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is tasked with promoting policies to improve economic and social well-being based on data collection and analysis in member countries and beyond.  Longstanding cooperation already exists between the CoE and the OECD.

Topics covered by the OECD that could be of interest to the CDLR include Regional, Rural and Urban Development, Public Governance, Public Sector Innovation and e-government.  The CDLR could seek to establish stronger contacts with the OECD with a view to sharing and cross-referencing mutually beneficial information, tools and best practice.

 

UNDP

UNDP is the United Nations global development network working at country and regional level to promote democratic governance and capacity development.  These goals are promoted in Europe through the Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS and its operational branch, the Regional Centre for Europe and CIS. Better governance at local level, transparency and citizen participation including a strong accent on gender mainstreaming and women participation are among UNDP’s priorities.

Past experience at both country (Albania, Moldova, Ukraine) and regional level (South-eastern European region) show that the standards and tools developed by the CDLR (and the Centre of Expertise) have proved useful and through adaptation have been adopted by both Organisations ("Towards a Modern Local Government Association”, with VNG International in 2006 and “Inter-municipal Co-operation”, with LGI in 2010).

Given their shared objectives in terms of good governance and democracy at local level, the Council of Europe and the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS have identified areas of mutual interest and have formalised an agreement to enhance dialogue and cooperation through the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the UNDP-RBEC Director in 2009.

UN-HABITAT

UN-HABITAT’s country activities are focused on supporting governments in the formulation of policies and strategies to create and strengthen urban planning and management capacity at national and local level.  Capacity-building programmes involve central government institutions and local authorities, and UN-HABITAT also provides technical and management expertise in the assessment of human settlements development problems and opportunities. In Europe, UN-HABITAT programmes[4] have focussed on SEE countries such as Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo[5].

UN-Habitat attended the 15^th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (Valencia, October 2007).

CDLR work could contribute to UN-Habitat’s reflections on urban planning and local governance and UN-Habitat experience could feed into CDLR’s work with a view to developing tools or policy solutions.

BENELUX Union

BENELUX Union is a framework for enhanced cooperation between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on several topics including trans-frontier cooperation. Contacts are frequent and BENELUX Union regularly attends CDLR meetings. This presence is particularly helpful when it comes to discussing trans-frontier where the two bodies can develop complementary legal instruments.

The CDLR and the BENELUX Union could explore together whether and how CDLR members might benefit from combined activities to overcome the obstacles of harmonising legal frameworks in cross border areas.

3.         Operational proposals

Some of the actors listed above are intergovernmental organisations whose modus operandi is similar to that of the Council of Europe (CDLR) while others are operational agencies whose work consists of technical assistance and direct in-field presence and cooperation.

Cooperation between the CDLR and those two types of organisations could therefore be different but complementary.

CDLR and OECD, UN-Habitat, Benelux union and the European Commission could cooperate through: sharing of meeting agendas and working papers (on selected topics), reciprocal representation at expert meetings, reciprocal appointment of “rapporteurs” (to be chosen from among member states’ representatives in expert committees) to present other organisation’s work at meetings.

Work would consist of contributions to each other’s reflexion and drafting of standards and guidelines with a view to secure consistency of approach and pursuance of the same objectives. Good examples so far include the consultation of OECD (as well as that of IMF and World Bank) prior to the finalisation of two CM recommendations on local finance and local budgets with a view to making proposals in line with both Organisations’ principles and standards (this include the European Charter of Local Self-Government), the taking into account of EU work on cross-border cooperation in the preparation of protocol No 3 to the Madrid convention (exchanges between the CoE Secretariat and the competent DG in the European Commission) and reciprocally the consideration given to Protocol No 3 in the proposals for revising Regulation No 1082/2006 on the European Group of Territorial Cooperation.

CDLR and the EU Commission could cooperate in promoting and coordinating implementation of aspects of the Commission’s Digital Agenda as follows:

·         Action 64 on accessibility of public sector websites

o    CDLR could contribute to goal of trans-national coordinated cooperation supporting harmonised methods for increased accessibility on regional and local levels.  CDLR represents an appropriate forum for exchange of best practice

·         Action 89 on e-government and e-governance

o    CDLR to act as a forum to exchange information and best practice and help promote interoperable e-Government services within and beyond the EU 27.

·         Action 91 on cross-border public services

o    CDLR to contribute technical advice in helping define targets at local and regional level to help promote interoperable cross-border public services within and beyond EU 27.

·         Action 97 on the internationalisation of internet governance

o    CDLR to feed into CoE contribution to discussions in the Internet of Things expert group

CDLR and UNDP/RBEC, ODIHR, UNPADM could cooperate mainly through their respective secretariats and operational branches such as, for the Council of Europe, the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform and for UNDP, the Regional Centre for Europe and CIS (based in Bratislava) or, for OSCE, ODIHR and field offices or presences. This is already the case (as for instance the annual activity reports of the Centre regularly show) and should continue. Through the regular reporting by the Secretariat to the CDLR (and the Committee of Ministers) the use made of CDLR/Council of Europe tools and standards is described and opportunities for additional or enhanced cooperation are mentioned and discussed.

CDLR and EIPA/EUPAN should further explore the possibility of reciprocal cross-fertilisation based on respective agendas and priorities.

Member states’ representatives in the CDLR should take a dynamic role within their respective administrations with a view to contacting their own state’s representatives in other European and International fora with a view to briefing them adequately about the Council of Europe’s and CDLR’s work and being reciprocally briefed about other bodies’ work as well as national positions in different fora.

CDLR could appoint thematic rapporteurs, chosen having regard to their possible role (participation) in the work of other European and International bodies, to report in the external bodies about CDLR’s work and reciprocally.

CDLR could extend ad hoc invitations to representatives of other bodies to attend meetings or take part in the discussion of items on its agenda to which they could contribute.

CDLR’s meeting reports to the Committee of Ministers would report about these exchanges and make any suggestion to the Committee of Ministers for further enhancing this cooperation or giving it a follow up.