17th Plenary Session of the Congress

Strasbourg, 13 October 2009

Speech by Anders Knape (Sweden, PPE/DC), Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

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I address you on behalf of our colleague Keith Whitmore, who is the political coordinator on the European Local Democracy Week and who, due important commitments back home, had to be absent today from our session. Mr Whitmore’s personal commitment and dedication to the European Local Democracy Week have been crucial for the success of this initiative and while addressing the Congress on his behalf, I would like to say that we all appreciate his immense contribution to this event.

The European Local Democracy week, an initiative of the Council of Europe primarily aimed at promoting citizens’ participating in local life, was launched in 2007.  Our goal was to make it become one day a consistent event on the European landscape.  We all realized this could not be achieved in a year, or two. These kinds of initiatives, if they are to succeed, require constant involvement over considerably long periods. 

Now, as the third edition of the Week is taking place, we can certainly say that it is clearly ‘taking shape’ and has gathered the necessary momentum.  Our common objective for the coming years should be - not losing this momentum and adding additional impetus to the initiative year after year.

In 2008 we witnessed the significant advancement of this new event on the European scene.  Over a thousand activities were organised in numerous municipalities of some 33 Council of Europe member states.  The website of the Week has been steadily livened up by the Secretariat and this has had its considerable impact on increasing the number of participating municipalities. Numerous reports from different countries about the organization of the Week can be consulted there.

Today, as we mark the beginning of the 2009 edition of the Week, I am particularly pleased to note this year it promises to take place on an even larger scale.  Ten municipalities act as pilot cities taking on special commitments.  The global crisis was selected as a transversal theme of this year’s edition.

The Congress is also organising a series of events to promote this years’ European Local Democracy Week.  Yesterday Keith Whitmore officially launched the 2009 Edition and inaugurated the Congress information stand in the Lobby of this Hemicycle. This stand offers a considerable variety of information sources for municipalities who are interested in joining the project.

Today’s debate dedicated to the European Local Democracy Week puts a special accent on the role of young people in local democracy. I was particularly pleased to see in our agenda the involvement of the representatives of the Schiltigheim Children’s Council and the Strasbourg Youth Council. At the Congress we have always been keen on promoting citizens’ participation but we have attributed special importance and demonstrated particular enthusiasm for promoting younger generation’s participation in local life.

Whenever possible, the Congress tries to be present at activities organised within the framework of the week. Tomorrow, our colleague Mehbooh Khan will represent our Congress in a round table discussion dedicated to foreign residents’ participation organised by the City of Strasbourg. Strasbourg has also organised a large poster campaign on this occasion and I would like to congratulate the city for their outstanding efforts.

These are only some of this initiatives by which the Congress continues its full-pledged support to the European Local Democracy Week. Many members of our Congress have taken the lead in subscribing their local authorities back home to the Week.  But we make use of every opportunity for asking those who have not yet done so, to become the ambassadors of the Week in their towns and municipalities. We aim at ensuring that the European Local Democracy Week continues to evolve by a steady path.