General Assembly of ENTO

Strasbourg, 9 November 2009

Speech by Wojciech SAWICKI, Acting Secretary General of the Congress

Dear members of ENTO,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to speak to you today as the new Acting Secretary General of the Congress. I was appointed to this office one week ago by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and I will serve in this position until a new Secretary General is elected by the Congress members.

I am convinced that democratic and efficient governance decisively depends on the staff working in the institutions. Only qualified, well-trained elected representatives and civil servants can ensure good governance at local and regional level. This is why your network as an association of organisations and institutes devoted to the training of local and regional representatives performs a very important task.

ENTO’s concept of networking between diverse organisations from various countries offers a great opportunity to co-operate on a European level. Co-operation facilitates the dissemination of information, the exchange of experiences and the spreading of best practices.

Since ENTO’s foundation in 1995, the Congress has supported the network financially and administratively, as we are highly interested in the objectives it pursues. I know, however, that the Bureau of the Congress recently reduced the financial support to ENTO due to new priorities and budgetary constraints. I hope that ENTO will nevertheless work successfully in the future. I would also like to emphasise that the Congress continues to be interested in the network and will keep supporting ENTO.

Before concluding I would like to congratulate the new President of ENTO, Mr/Mrs (…) to his/her election. I wish you all the best and a lot of success in your work! I take this opportunity to thank your predecessor, Mrs Chris CARDY. Mrs CARDY, I heard everybody was highly satisfied with your work and very much regrets your leaving of the network.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish you all the best for your General Assembly and continued success in your valuable work!