Northern IrelandLocal Government Association (NILGA) Annual Conference

“Delivering Change – Local Government for Tomorrow”

Newcastle, United Kingdom, 18-19 February 2010

Speech by Keith Whitmore (UK, ILDG), President of the Institutional Committee -

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, I wish to express my gratitude to the organisers for giving me the opportunity to present the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

It is a great pleasure for me because NILGA represents the “Voice of Local Government in Northern Ireland”, whereas the Congress is the pan-European voice of more than 200,000 local and regional communities across the continent. It brings together local and regional elected representatives from 47 European countries, all members of the Council of Europe. Your voice contributes to our message on behalf and in defence of European municipalities and regions.

In fact, NILGA, along with other associations of local authorities from the UK – the UK Local Government Association, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the National Association of Local Councils, and the Welsh Local Government Association – participates in forming the UK delegation to the Congress. This is just one important role played by associations such as NILGA in the work of the Congress. Later, I will speak about other ways in which you can have impact on our work.

But first, let me say a few words about the Congress, its history and objectives.

The Congress is a political assembly of local and regional elected representatives within the Council of Europe, a pan-European organisation of 47 member states. Formally, the Congress was created in 1994, the same year as the Committee of the Regions, our counterpart and partner within the European Union. Since our objectives coincide, the Congress and the Committee cooperate closely; in 2005, we signed a cooperation agreement, which was revised further in November last year.

However, our story really began in 1957, with the creation of the European Conference of Local Authorities, which became in 1975 the Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, before being transformed into the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in 1994.

The Congress’ mission is to build democracy from the bottom up, from the grassroots level of local and regional communities. Thus, the Congress contributes to advancing at local and regional level the main objectives of the Council of Europe which are democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

We make sure that local democracy is being built according to the principles laid down for the first time in 1985 in the European Charter of Local Self-Government. In the Charter, Council of Europe member states recognised that local democracy is the foundation of every democratic system, and that our citizens have the right to self-government, which means managing their own public affairs at community level. The Congress is the main defender of the rights of communities, watching over the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in European countries. The UK ratified the Charter in 1998 but, as I'm sure you know, declared at the time that it would only apply it in England, Scotland and Wales, which remains the case.

The Congress is the driving force in Europe behind the decentralisation of power and the transfer of competences and financial means to local and regional level. We strongly believe that decentralisation leads to a Europe without dividing lines, in which local and regional communities can cooperate freely across national borders. Our goal is to build a Europe of Municipalities and Regions, a Europe of Sustainable Communities and not only of nation-states.

We are also convinced that today, the role of local communities is growing fast because, in a globalising world, the power is becoming increasingly decentralised and transferred from the national to regional and local level. Paradoxically, the era of globalisation is also the era of "small is beautiful" - the era of the local community. We need to relocalise our societies, and the Congress makes sure that this process goes on in conformity with democratic principles.

The Congress is the only body in Europe charged with monitoring the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. This is our main task. We observe local and regional elections, carry out monitoring visits and send fact-finding missions to look into specific situations of alleged violations. We make sure that local and regional authorities have the responsibility for public services that they can deliver better than national governments, because they are the closest to the citizen.

Congress recommendations to governments, parliaments and local and regional authorities carry legal weight; governments are obliged to act on our recommendations and report back on how they are implemented. Our recommendations have prompted many national reforms of local and regional self-government, and we also provide assistance and expert advice in carrying out these reforms.

Because of its pan-European dimension, the Congress can pool and share the experience across the entire continent and build cooperation networks with a substantial outreach. This experience-sharing makes it easier to help local and regional authorities to improve governance of their communities in the many areas where they have competences: sustainable territorial development, urban planning, public services such as housing and health care, culture and education, local economic development, social cohesion and integration within communities, etc.

Last but not least, the Congress encourages the sharing of experiences and best practices between communities across national borders and promotes transfrontier cooperation at local and regional level. This cooperation helps to reduce economic and social disparities and achieve a better territorial cohesion across Europe.

One of the most recent practical examples of Congress action on the European and international scene was the mobilisation of local and regional authorities to have our voice heard in Copenhagen during the UN Conference on climate change. The Congress was putting pressure on governments to include local and regional authorities in national delegations negotiating the climate agreement, and, most importantly, to recognise their role in combating climate change and to support local and regional action in this regard. At the same time, our message is that local and regional authorities must not wait for governmental agreements to act – they must proceed with mitigation and adaptation measures in their communities despite the Copenhagen dud.

To give a positive example of the participation of the UK delegation to the Congress, the European Local Democracy Week, initially a UK initiative, is now a pan-European event celebrated annually across the continent since 2007.  Many members of the UK delegation act as "rapporteurs", taking responsibility for reports on the situation of local or regional democracy in specific countries and on major topical issues. They also take an active part as observers of local or regional elections in specific countries.

Let me return to the role of associations such as NILGA in the work of the Congress. We attach particular importance to the involvement of national associations in our activities, to establishing a permanent dialogue with them, and offering them the expertise and acquis of the Congress. We see associations and their networks as relaying the Congress’ initiatives and projects, which are international in nature, at the national, regional and local level. In fact, I can say that we in Congress have developed a culture of dealing with national associations in our day-to-day activities.

Our cooperation with associations takes various forms, from consultations with them and their participation in our meetings, their contribution to Congress reports and recommendations and biannual priorities of the Congress, to organising targeted meetings with representatives of associations and their participation in our election observation missions. As I have already mentioned, we also insist that associations be involved in the process of deciding on the composition of national delegations to the Congress, through consultations or direct participation in the decision-making.

However, for me, as President of the Institutional Committee of the Congress, this conference is an occasion to discuss the role played by associations of local and regional authorities in the monitoring activities of the Congress, their role as an “early warning system”. We are convinced that this role can and should be developed further, through greater involvement of associations in alerting the Congress to specific situations where principles of local democracy might be violated.

We would like to see associations such as NILGA more involved in all stages of the monitoring process – initiation of our action, carrying it through and a follow-up to it. In fact, the very first monitoring report of the Congress, on local democracy in Romania, was drafted in 1994 at the request of the Romanian Association of Local Authorities.

This was the first example of the “early warning system” to which I am referring. This role of associations was officially recognised by the Congress in 1996, in a resolution on guiding principles for the preparation of monitoring reports – stating that, in preparing such reports, the Congress will act on the request of national and international associations of local and regional authorities.

Thus, our cooperation in this matter is not new. However, our activities have evolved since then to include today, in addition to regular monitoring visits and preparation of country-by-country reports, such tools as election observations exercises and fact-finding missions. Needless to say, associations have a role to play in each of these aspects.

If we take regular monitoring, the role of associations is important not only for the opening of the monitoring procedure, but also during its implementation, as national associations are solicited for information and opinion, and consulted in the preparation of our reports. Here, I must say, we would like to see more reactivity from associations – I would even say, a more proactive stand – during the consultation process. We in the Congress would like to see more active and more detailed responses to our questionnaires in the preparation of our resolutions and recommendations, and not only concerning monitoring. Without your input, it can sometimes be more difficult for us to grasp the complexity of some situations or make an informed decision, especially on delicate matters.

The same goes for the follow-up to our texts, whose implementation sometimes requires raising awareness of or putting pressure on the authorities concerned. The role in this matter, played by associations in the field, is invaluable as their efforts can bring about much more tangible results than any rhetoric from Strasbourg. As we in the Congress continue to adjust the procedure of compliance by member states with our recommendations, including through exchanges of views with invited government officials, we count on associations to provide us with reliable information about the situation on the ground, and back our efforts in keeping up pressure to see our proposals implemented.

Another monitoring tool of the Congress is the observation of local and regional elections. In 2006, the Congress decided to invite national associations to participate in our observation missions. Since then, this participation has become a reality, even though at a low rate for the time being. Such participation offers associations an opportunity to become directly involved in the monitoring process, so to speak, “on the ground”, and to gain first-hand experience of the situation in other countries, and to formulate their proposals for improving it. Not to mention that it is also a learning experience which can be used to influence the situation in associations’ own countries.

This is why we believe that participation in election observation missions is of direct interest to associations, much as it is of direct interest to the Congress because associations’ representatives will apply their knowledge in their own localities. With this in mind, the Congress organised on 26 September 2008 in Manchester, United Kingdom, a training course on the observation of elections for local elected representatives. We hope that this area of cooperation will continue to expand, and that participation in election observation will continue to increase.

Associations of local and regional authorities are also instrumental as “whistle-blowers” in situations which might involve, or lead to, violations of the European Charter of Local Self-Government – prompting our reaction in the form of fact-finding missions, the newest among Congress’ monitoring tools. Since August 2007, the Congress has sent four such missions to Turkey, Latvia, Belgium and Portugal, which produced reports to the Bureau and were discussed at Congress sessions. Here, too, we count on activism of associations both in raising alarm and following up our action.

Our message will only be heard if we speak in one voice. I hope that your association, NILGA, will join its voice with those of other associations on the cooperation platform which is the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

Thank you.