AUTUMN SESSION

(Strasbourg, 2-3 December 2008)

STANDING COMMITEE

CG/CP(15)7

4 December 2008

Congress priorities 2009 – 2010

Document adopted by the Congress Standing Committee on 3 December 2008

I.      Foreword

1.     The 1994 decision of the Council of Europe member countries to create the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities set the seal on forty years of endeavour and commitment for the furtherance of local and regional democracy and for the recognition of the decisive role performed by local and regional government entities in European unification.

2.     This bicameral political assembly, whose elected members represent over 200 000 local and regional authorities in the 47 member states, has equipped itself with a hitherto unique instrument, the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

3.     The Congress is accordingly vested with a fundamental political role, being instructed by the Committee of Ministers to watch over the implementation of this Charter which guarantees the reality of democratic freedoms in all territorial communities of the member countries.

4.     On that score, the Congress has been given particular responsibility for local election monitoring in the countries undergoing transition, a task which complements the mission pursued by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in respect of national and presidential elections. Moreover, the Congress and the parliamentary Assembly are active members of the Council of Democratic Elections, created in the framework of the Venice Commission.

5.     As the custodian and the benchmark of grassroots democracy, the Congress holds an uncontested institutional position confirmed by the Warsaw Summit Declaration. Over and above this priority goal, however, the Congress is also destined to act as a forum for exchange and dialogue where all its members can more fittingly meet the obligations and challenges which are more and more the strict province of local and regional government.

6.     Moreover, at both European and international level, the Congress has a duty to develop relations with all organisations in order to create profitable synergies. Its natural partners in that regard are the Committee of the Regions, which shares with the Congress the distinction of being an institutional assembly of local and regional elected representatives, and the national Associations, true national parliaments of local and regional authorities.

7.     Still more naturally, the Congress also carries on close co-operation in the Council of Europe, specifically with the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers and all bodies engaging in intergovernmental debate about the place of local and regional authorities, such as the Venice Commission, the intergovernmental sector responsible for this field of action…

8.     Sustained by the recognition accruing from its work, the Congress intends to weave the main priorities of its future two-year mandate against the backdrop of this institutional and international network.

II.     Promoting and enhancing the institutional mission of the Congress

1.     The Congress will persevere with the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It will monitor the situation at the local and regional level in the member countries and will continue to meet the requests for expert appraisal of the Charter’s application in all specific cases.

2.     It will place emphasis on the response to the recommendations directed at Governments. It will give priority to such relations, exchanges of experience and co-operation schemes as enable the authorities concerned to fulfil the operative clauses of the recommendations.

3.     The Congress will pay particular attention to Conferences of European Ministers responsible for local and regional authorities, taking care to promote and to bring its political priorities to their attention.

4.     In this context, the Congress will bear in mind the agenda of the Budapest Conference and contribute to the implementation of the European Strategy for innovation and good governance at local level.

5.     As regards the monitoring of local and regional elections in the member countries, and even beyond, the Congress will pay special attention to the conditions under which local democracy is practiced. Its contribution therefore will not be confined to reporting objectively on the electoral processes, but will extend to scrutiny of each state’s particular circumstances in applying the rules of local and regional democracy.

6.     Likewise, evaluation of the electoral process, now the subject of a resolution adopted by the Congress, may contribute to the work of supervising the Charter, and possibly give rise to definite proposals for action.

7.     With regard to regional democracy, the Congress will direct special efforts at the Governments and the regional authorities themselves to publicise, promote and explain the Charter of Regional Democracy, (which it adopted at the 15^th Plenary Session in 2008).  Of course, if it is adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, this Charter will sanction the principles of regional self-government and experience the same success as the Charter on local self-government which has been efficient to promote democracy at this level. In addition, work relating to “Regions with legislative power” as well as encouragement or support to the processes of regionalisation in certain countries will be a priority for the Congress.

8.     The Congress will show particular concern for educating the citizens and raising their awareness about grassroots democracy and the role which they could or should perform by exercising their rights in that regard. Actuated by this goal, the Congress will continue exerting itself to promote Local Democracy Week, an initiative henceforth to be staged each October in order to acquaint the citizens more closely with the conduct of local democracy by their elected representatives. The Congress – in conjunction with the intergovernmental sector of the Council of Europe – will shoulder the promotion of this initiative and the Europe-wide co-ordination of the related events. To do this, the Congress will support information and promotional campaigns, information seminars and study visits that local authorities or national associations wish to hold in the framework of the European Local Democracy Week. Again in conjunction with this sector it will contribute, at its own level of relevance, to the implementation of the Strategy for Good Governance.

9.     In the same manner, and in cooperation with the associations and the members of the Congress themselves, the Congress will organise events aiming to present to elected bodies and to citizens solutions that could contribute in a concrete way to good governance for example the European Urban Charter II – Manifesto for new urbanity or the European Code of conduct for the political integrity of local and regional elected representatives

III.    Fostering external relations and pooling the skills of the Congress and its privileged interlocutors

1.     National associations representing local and regional authorities are the Congress’s natural partners. The contacts that they have with various institutions prompt them to be involved more closely in the Congress’s tasks. While continuing with active, well-focused, practical co-operation, the Congress will attempt therefore to ascertain and meet these associations’ needs more effectively. New priorities, following on from those set at the first general meeting in 2006, will be set jointly.

2.     Local and regional authorities are banded together in a large number of European and international associations with the aim of asserting their presence on the European or international scene and attending to the matters that concern them, so as to uphold and advance their role in European unification.

3.     The associations, valuable allies of institutions working in this field like the Congress and the Committee of the Regions, hold a strategic position in the European landscape of local and regional government and in the further dimension of European unification.

4      The Congress has always wished for constructive relations with these agencies, is convinced of their indispensable role, and will keep up a special effort to develop the already very positive relations which it maintains with the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR).

5.     In the spirit of enhanced relations with the national associations, the Congress will endeavour, particularly in conjunction with the CEMR as their European emanation, to pursue practical synergies and actions as regards local democracy and institutional questions. It will associate the CEMR with its initiatives on “city democracy” and on co-operation of local authorities in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

6.     Co-operation with the CEMR aimed at synergy without rivalry can only further the harmonious and profitable development desired by the Congress together with the associations, to the satisfaction of the Congress and the CEMR alike.

7.     Also, with more specific reference to the regional level, the Congress realises that the AER is one of the natural allies for the defence of regionalisation and the principles of regional self-government.

8.     It will therefore undertake intensified co-operation with the AER and the other associations handling these issues in order to associate them more pointedly in promoting the principles of regional self-government embodied in the Charter of Regional Democracy adopted at the 2008 plenary session, so that the Charter may be adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe member countries.

9.     The development of transfrontier co-operation is intrinsically linked to the strengthening of the decentralisation process and is a good example of the principle of subsidiarity at work.  As the association at European level which represents the interests of European border and cross-border regions, the AEBR constitutes a most important partner for the Congress in the promotion of transfrontier co-operation.  The Congress will step up co-operation with the AEBR in particular in the framework of its Working Group on Inter-regional Co-operation.

10     To this end, the Congress aims particularly to favour staff exchanges, study visits as well as internships for representatives of the national associations.

11.    The Committee of the Regions will also be given a prominent place in the inter-instituional Congress's relations .

12.    Being invested with the same task of preserving the role and the position of local and regional authorities in the building of a democratic Europe, the Congress and the Committee of the Regions will pool their efforts in a spirit of goal-specific practical co-operation, paying due regard to each other’s special features.

13.    The Congress will continue, in particular, to involve the Committee of the Regions in its local and regional election observation missions.

14.    Together these two institutions will continue to work towards the respect of the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality.

15.    This co-operation will also extend to the contribution that both bodies are required to make at their respective levels to the implementation of the co-operation agreement between the European Union and the Council of Europe.

16.    Congress observerswill be paid increased attention. A meeting of all the organisations and bodies to which the Congress has granted observer status will be held shortly to work out arrangements for increased co-operation and dialogue.

17.    New approaches will be made to Euro-Mediterranean and international partners with which the Congress already has substantial links.

18.    As well as reinforcing its international contacts  the Congress will grasp the opportunities offered by the new Euro-Mediterranean policy to give extra impetus to its fruitful relationships with the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the Arab countries, Israel and Palestine.

19.    This will be an opportunity for the Congress to provide the benefit of its expertise in the areas of local democracy, good governance and city diplomacy, taking advantage in particular of co-operation with the Council of Europe's North-South Centre with which the Congress has just conclude a co-operation agreement.  

20.    The Congress will continue the cooperation with UN-HABITAT on decentralisation and the strengthening of local authorities and will develop its proposed Charter on diplomacy in cities.

IV.    Consolidating and extending partnerships and co-operation networks

1.     The Congress has been the instigator of numerous networks, including the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA), the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South East Europe (NALAS) and the European Network of Training Organisations for Local and Regional Authorities (ENTO). It will continue to foster relations with these by promoting increased interaction with Congress activities.

2.     It will honour its commitment to the CLIP network[1] promoted by Eurofound, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions

3.     As regards the establishment of Euroregions of a new type covering Europe’s semi-landlocked seas, the Congress will monitor and take part in the development of the Adriatic Euroregion, beyond the launching of the Black Sea Euroregion, it will contribute ensuring in particular that co-operation is established with the European Union Black Sea Synergy project, and will identify areas in which co-operation of the same type might be established around the Baltic Sea.

V.     Meeting the challenges facing local and regional elected representatives

1.     Through its theme-based statutory committees[2] and its working groups,[3] the Congress aims to deal with the subjects which interest its members the most.

2.     It will therefore focus on the challenges faced by local authorities due to climate change, it will emphasise the need to develop intercultural and interreligious dialogue and will deal with openly the phenomenon of migration and the policies of integration. As it did in 2007-2008 on the occasion of the Council of Europe campaigns on these subjects, the Congress will continue to be involved in the fight against trafficking in human beings and against domestic violence.

3.     Priority-setting and consultation with associations should enable the Congress to target its projects more accurately while retaining the ability to react to priorities dictated by current events.

4.     The same concern will guide the work of the Chambers, which will be required to address priorities specific to their level of competence.

VI.    Making the Congress more efficient and giving it a higher profile

1.     The Congress has an indisputable political role and it must reassert its status as a political assembly of the local and regional elected representatives of the Council of Europe member states.

2.     It has begun this process through a major administrative reorganisation designed to modernise and streamline its working methods. This will result, from 2009 onwards, in the holding of a second annual plenary session. The Congress has also adopted a new information policy intended to raise the profile of its members, activities and work. One of the main goals is to ensure the total success of the two annual sessions and to arrange for the texts it adopts to be disseminated more broadly and followed up more intensively.

3.     The Congress would like its members and their substitutes to be involved in these new processes. In particular, it will hold more goal-specific events and promote non-statutory activities such as election observation and participation in representation missions. Increased co-operation with national associations should contribute to the achievement of these goals.

4.     Finally, the Congress will play an active role in the different communication campaigns of the Council of Europe. It will be obvious vector for the authorities it represents. The 60^th birthday celebrations of the creation of the Council of Europe will be for the Congress the occasion to remind everyone of its ever-increasing contribution to the European challenges of today and in the future.