MCL-16(2009)4f

                  Council of Europe Conference

of Ministers responsible

for Local and Regional Government

                “Good local and regional governance in

              turbulent times: the challenge of change”

                16th Session, Utrecht, 16 - 17 November 2009

Report on the co-operation programmes

Introduction

Local and, where established, regional democracy is one of the building blocks of democracy in Council of Europe’s member States. It is built on the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, citizen participation in public life at local level (whose main tenets are now embedded in the additional protocol to the ECLSG) and good democratic governance at local and regional level.

Proclaiming these principles however is not enough. The establishment and functioning of effective local and regional self-government is more a continuous process than a state of affairs. In all member States, local and, where it exists, regional self-government is constantly evolving to meet the new challenges that public authorities are confronted with, be they social, economic, demographic or cultural.

In addition to constantly improving its acquis in the field of local and regional democracy in order to meet the challenges its member States face, therefore, the Council of Europe provides assistance in the design and proper implementation of legislation and policy for local and regional government reforms. These “field activities” originated at the time when new member states had to reform their system of local/regional government in order to make it democratic and respectful of the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. Nowadays, these activities aim to respond to needs in all member states, not just in the most recent ones.

I.         Focus of the field activities

Given the accumulated experience and know-how of the Council of Europe, the focus of the activities in the field of local and regional government is on:

-        the institutional and legal frameworks: local/regional government structures and        their powers;

-        local finance and resources: fiscal decentralisation and municipal property.

Strategic policy-making, intergovernmental relationships and institutional dialogue are cross-cutting issues.

These activities mainly serve two purposes. On the one hand, they may develop in the framework of broader Council of Europe’s programmes aimed at strengthening the capacity of member states to match the requirements of membership in a number of areas, including local/regional democracy. These programmes are approved by the Committee of Ministers. Their implementation is ensured by the Secretariat and the necessary resources may come from the ordinary budget, voluntary contributions from member states and the European Union (through Joint Programmes between the European Commission and the Council of Europe or from specific EU programmes).

On the other hand, assistance activities may be launched at the request of individual member states seeking advice on the design of policies, the content of specific legislation or the implementation of territorial reforms. The Secretariat responds to these requests in the light of the resources available, the funds at its disposal (both from the Council of Europe’s budget and voluntary contributions) and its prioritisation of activities aimed at avoiding dispersion of resources.

So far, the geographical focus of the activities, in line with the guidelines adopted by the Committee of Ministers, is on South-Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus. In the case of the former, the Council of Europe provides effective support to the implementation of the so-called “Zagreb-Skopje process”, i.e. the promotion of sound and democratic decentralisation in the states of the region, initiated originally in the framework of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. Two regional ministerial conferences (Zagreb, 2004 and Skopje, 2006)^[1] validated the process. A partnership with Open Society Institute/Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (OSI/LGI) has enabled the effective implementation of the follow-up initiatives, to be continued in 2010.

The Committee of Ministers attaches great importance to the establishment of effective synergetic partnerships with other international Organisations that are active in member states and pursue objectives similar to those of the Council of Europe. In the field of local/ regional democracy, the major partners are the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS of the United Nations Development Programme. With both, the Council of Europe has concluded co-operation agreements whose terms are fully respected in the planning of activities for implementation in countries where both partners are present.

II.       Main work carried out in 2008 and ongoing work in 2009

In response to member states’ requests, policy advice, assistance with legal reforms and other support was provided in 2008 to Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska), Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In 2009, legislative co-operation continues with Albania, Armenia and Georgia.

In the framework of the action plans approved by the Committee of Ministers, further assistance will be provided to Serbia^[2] (drawing up of policy guidelines and legislation on local government functions and sectoral responsibilities, fiscal decentralisation and decentralisation strategy), Montenegro^[3] (public ethics, basic local government legislation and local elections) and Ukraine^[4] (review of territorial organisation, basic legislation on local and regional self-government).

In 2008, major work was done on inter-municipal co-operation (IMC) which was identified as a major political (and legislative) objective in a number of SEE and other states. The Open Society Institute/Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (OSI/LGI) and UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre were the major partners in this work that will lead to the finalisation, in 2009, of practical tools to assist member states in designing the territorial reforms they envisage.

III.      Assessment and prospects for the future

The field activities have responded so far to the logic highlighted above, i.e., they carried out  either in member states aspiring to the standards of the Council of Europe, or in states so requesting. They enable the Council of Europe to promote and facilitate the implementation of its acquis in (selected) member states and meet effectively and quickly the needs of those states – at least as regards the policy design and legislative reforms. Reform implementation requires that other types of “assistance” are mobilised, such as the capacity-building programmes of the Centre of Expertise and/or the overarching Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level.

However, as the relevant legislation is gradually introduced in member states, the need for this kind of ground-setting policy and legal assistance inevitably dries up. The focus then shifts to effective implementation, best practices and sharing experience with a view to introducing possible further improvements in the light of the experience.

For countries that have for many decades, if not longer, a comprehensive set of laws and regulations in place, this is even more evident. They did not have recourse to acquis and expertise available through of the Council of Europe when they set up their system of local and regional government. And, although in more recent years they had the acquis at their disposal when undertaking reforms and the conformity of existing systems with the principles of the Council of Europe was periodically assessed in the framework of the monitoring of local and regional democracy by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, these member States have only benefited to a small extent from the expertise that can be made available through the Council of Europe.

It seems therefore appropriate to move beyond the current “assistance and co-operation activities” and think about the way in which access to the expertise in the field of local and regional democracy and good governance can be given to all member states throughout the Council of Europe. A number of options present themselves, notably promoting horizontal and co-operative exchanges of experience and expertise between member states. Peer reviews could be developed as a means for member states to benefit from the advice of other states that have accumulated experience in a given policy area (e.g. territorial reform, fiscal decentralisation, privatisation of municipal property, private-public partnerships, etc.). Within the agreed framework, for which the budgetary implications should be established, the Secretariat would be the focal point for receiving requests and managing activities.

The ministers at the Conference could express their interest in developing such a new approach.