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MCL-17(2011)14

Council of Europe Conference

of Ministers responsible

for Local and Regional Government

17th Session, Kyiv, 3 - 4 November 2011

Kyiv Declaration


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 toensure 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.