Strasbourg, 21 January 2010                                                           CDLR-Bu(2010)3

Item 4 of the agenda

                                                                                                                      

BUREAU OF THE

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY

(CDLR)

OTHER FOLLOW-UP TO THE UTRECHT DECLARATION

Secretariat Memorandum

prepared by the

Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs

Directorate of Democratic Institutions


This document is public. It will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy.

Ce document est public. Il ne sera pas distribué en réunion. Prière de vous munir de cet exemplaire.


Introduction

The aim of this document is to help the CDLR Bureau discuss the proposals it is to put forward to the CDLR concerning the follow-up to the Utrecht Declaration, other than those concerning the Utrecht Agenda. The latter is the subject of document CDLR-BU(2020)2 and its two Addendums.

This document therefore examines the following parts of the Utrecht Declaration:

-      Declaration II on the steps and measures to strengthen our cooperation further to the report on “How to enhance the work of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy” (The Kiviniemi report);

-      Declaration IV on ensuring the continuity of our work.

Declaration II on the steps and measures to strengthen our cooperation further to the report on “How to enhance the work of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy” (The Kiviniemi report)

1.       The Minister of Public Administration and Local Government of Finland, Mrs Mari Kiviniemi, was entrusted by the Conference with developing concrete proposals for a partnership with the Committee of Ministers by the end of 2010. Other Ministers, the Declaration also reads, stand ready to provide Minister Kiviniemi with any advice and assistance she might request from them in carrying out this task.

Furthermore the Conference requested the Committee of Ministers to receive Mrs Kiviniemi at its Session in 2010 to consider with her the establishment of a partnership which would allow the ministers responsible for local and regional government collectively to lead and own the Council of Europe’s Agenda on Local and Regional Democracy.

As the 1076th meeting of the Deputies (3 February 2010), the Committee of Ministers will be invited to adopt without a debate the following decision[1]:

“The Deputies

1.       agreed to consider, when preparing the next ministerial session (May 2010), the inclusion of an item on the agenda of the session regarding possible establishment of a partnership with the Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government and to invite the Minister of Public Administration and Local Government of Finland, Ms Mari Kiviniemi, to attend the session and join in the consideration of this item.”


The Bureau will therefore wish to discuss what action may still need to be taken in order to ensure that Mrs Kiviniemi is received as the Conference wishes. Furthermore, it may wish to discuss the content of the decision the Committee of Ministers could take at its Session in May 2010 regarding this matter.

2.       The Ministers in the Utrecht Declaration agreed “to undertake, and to invite the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to join with us and our representatives in partnership, a review of:

-        the present situation of the functioning of co-operation between the Congress and the intergovernmental sector with a view to securing high quality outcomes and facilitating each other's work so that projects can be dealt with swiftly;

-        all aspects of country monitoring, including systematisation, priority setting, follow-up work on Congress recommendations from the monitoring and future compliance with them, and NGOs’ involvement.”

Furthermore they agreed

“(d)    to invite the Congress to work with us and our representatives, having regard to the outcomes of the above reviews, towards:

-        developing the Council of Europe's local and regional democracy agenda which should, as far as possible, reflect a common understanding between the Congress and ourselves;

-              establishing the modalities for conducting periodic evaluations by independent, jointly appointed experts of the functioning of the work of the Council of Europe for the promotion of local and regional democracy, from all perspectives.”

The Bureau will wish to consider the modalities for these reviews that are to be proposed to the CDLR, in its role of assisting the Ministers in carrying out these reviews.

The decision the Ministers Deputies will be invited to adopt reads as follows:

“The Deputies

3.       noted that the Ministers have extended an invitation to the Congress to jointly undertake a review of the present situation of the functioning of co-operation between the Congress and the intergovernmental sector, and of all aspects of country monitoring, in the area of local self-government, and instructed the CDLR to assist the Ministers in this regard as well as with the subsequent work under the Utrecht Declaration.


3.       The Utrecht Declaration further contains a considerable number of steps and measures that are to be taken. For the purposes of enabling the discussion in the Bureau of the action to be proposed to the CLDR for implementing these points, they have all been brought together in a table that appears in the annex. The Bureau is invited to examine this table and to make proposals for action for consideration by the CDLR and/or to give guidance to the Secretariat for the development of such proposals.

Declaration IV on ensuring the continuity of our work

The Ministers entrusted the Minister of Territorial Policy of Spain, Mr Manuel Chaves, with ensuring the continuity of the conference’s work until the next session (Kyiv, 2011).

As a consequence it is envisaged (see also above) that Mr Chaves will play an important role in the reviews to be undertaken regarding the Congress, whilst he will also liaise closely with Mrs Kiviniemi as concerns her tasks.

The decision proposed for adoption by the Deputies reads as follows:

“The Deputies:

2.       took note with satisfaction that the Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government also entrusted the Minister of Territorial Policy of Spain, Mr Manuel Chaves, with ensuring continuity of their work until the next session of the conference and instructed the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) to assist him in performing this task.”

The Bureau will wish to consider the modalities for the interaction between Mr Chaves and the CDLR and to develop proposals to this effect for consideration by the CDLR at its meeting in March 2010.

Action required

The Bureau is invited to discuss the proposals for the implementation of the Utrecht Declaration other than those relating to the Utrecht Agenda on the basis of the introduction set out above.

In particular it is invited to put forward proposals to this effect for consideration by the CDLR at its meeting in March 2010, or to give guidance to the Secretariat for developing such proposals.


APPENDIX

Measures set out in the Utrecht Declaration

Propoals for action by the CDLR

In order to improve the effectiveness of our international co-operation, to review working methods and enhance communication channels at domestic level, so that:

(a)     relevant “line” ministries are informed about and if appropriate contribute to our work on local and regional democracy and colleagues responsible for foreign affairs are fully briefed about the local and regional democracy issues on the Committee of Ministers’ agenda in order that appropriate instructions can be given;

(b)     in our ministries, appropriate synergies are developed and parallelisms are avoided when we shall discuss issues related to local and regional democracy as members of international organisations and structures;

(c)      decisions by international organisations and structures contrary to the acquis of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy are avoided; 

(d)     in the various international organisations and structures of which our countries are members, a coherent approach is adopted and information between member States about possible implications before decisions are taken in these other fora is exchanged, as appropriate, in consultation with local and regional authorities;

In the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union

To invite the European Commission to share information with the Council of Europe on respective approaches to good governance and to make use of the Council of Europe’s know-how in the design of programmes and initiatives pertaining to local and regional democracy and good governance;


In order to enhance the visibility and transparency of our work

To encourage the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy to develop, in partnership with our respective ministries a comprehensive communication strategy at national and European level that enhances visibility and transparency, seizing the opportunities that modern information technologies provide;

In order to improve the capacity of the Council of Europe as a whole, we invite the Committee of Ministers

To speed up the modernisation of the budgetary process aiming at simplification, multi-annuality and devolution, and

To streamline the approach to co-operation with non-member states keeping in mind the core functions of the Council of Europe;

In order to give full effect to the Kiviniemi report

As concerns strong ownership by member States

To make greater use of the Council of Europe’s acquis, tools and services in the field of local and regional democracy and good governance;

To take the necessary steps to ensure that the priorities of the communication strategy are followed up at domestic level;

To designate from our respective ministries representatives of sufficient seniority and capacity – both in substance and working languages – to sit in the intergovernmental co-operation bodies, share information, enter into negotiations and make commitments, as the case may be;

To let our representatives to take on the function of rapporteur (adviser) in multi-lateral activities where their know-how of, and experience in national policies and intergovernmental co-operation alike can be put to fruition;


To consider favourably providing the additional resources necessary for hosting meetings of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy, its sub-committees and other events in our respective countries;

To step up the dialogue with our respective national delegations to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to ensure mutual awareness about issues and our positions;

To ensure that in our dialogue with national associations of local and regional authorities, the Council of Europe and its acquis and work are taken fully into account;

To give positive consideration to requests for the secondment of competent officials to the Council of Europe Secretariat and to facilitate the organisation by the Council of Europe of dedicated summer/winter schools for officials and representatives from local and regional government;

As concerns the efficient cooperation with other international players:

To ensure that the Council of Europe and its member States are kept informed of the work relevant to local and regional democracy, we undertake individually and with others in other international organisations and structures;

To promote, as members of other international organisations and structures to which we respectively belong, partnerships and co-operation between the Council of Europe and the OECD as concerns local and regional finance, the European Union as concerns Eurostat, its regional policy and its partnerships and initiatives, the OSCE and UNDP;


To make use of - and strongly encourage other actors in our respective member States, including our colleagues of foreign affairs, to make use of the Council of Europe’s experience and know-how – which includes the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform - when considering and designing assistance programmes in the field of local and regional democracy and good governance;

As concerns organisational flexibility and efficiency:

To enter into discussions with our respective colleagues of foreign affairs and the Committee of Ministers about introducing in the Council of Europe true multi-annual budgets and decentralisation of responsibilities in order that the best possible use be made of available resources for chosen priorities;

As concerns opening up:

To promote the involvement of civil society in the work of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy and good governance, particularly as it leads to concrete action at local level and to invite the Conference of INGOs to promote awareness about the procedures and structures for the involvement of NGOs;

To aim towards making the Council of Europe’ expertise available for use outside of its borders, once its performance in serving the needs of member States enables and allows it to do so.



[1] This also applies to the other decisions referred to below.