Ian Micallef: "Human rights must be applied at local and regional level as well"

In the context of reform of the Congress and refocusing of its priorities, Ian Micallef, President a.i. of the Congress, emphasises the importance of promoting human rights policies in cities and regions.  "An examination of the human rights situation at local level could be incorporated in the Congress' regular monitoring reports", he explains.

Interview – 12 August 2010

Question: As part of the reform of the Congress, it is planned to add the honouring of fundamental rights to its monitoring programmes.  How you going to do this in practice?

Ian Micallef: The Congress considers that the honouring of fundamental rights is not just a matter for central governments, but also a duty of the local and regional tiers.  It is sometimes the case that rights guaranteed at national level are not applied at local level, in the sphere of respect for the individual, for instance.  In the course of our future monitoring activities we shall therefore make sure that these rights are genuinely enforced at local level, without any discrimination.  To this end, we need to work with all the relevant Council of Europe bodies in this sphere, particularly the Commissioner for Human Rights.

Question: How do you intend to include this human rights dimension in the monitoring process?

Ian Micallef: The Congress is responsible for assessing application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.  For the purposes of this monitoring it makes visits to Council of Europe member states and then draws up reports which are submitted to the Committee of Ministers.  An examination of the human rights situation at local level could therefore be included, if need be, in these regular reports.  It will be all the easier to follow developments in respect of fundamental rights now that we have also decided to carry out our monitoring at a rate of one report and one recommendation per country every five years.  At the same time, we want to encourage local and regional authorities to get increasingly involved in promoting human rights at their level.

Question: Now that popular enthusiasm for European construction seems to have run out of steam, how can citizens' interest in European local and regional politics be reawakened?

Ian Micallef: We should take more account of our fellow citizens' expectations.  At local level, people expect efficient government, meaning a proper housing policy, an appropriate job creation strategy, a local approach to renewable energies, and so on.  We also need to show them that subsidiarity is possible in Europe, in other words that decisions can be taken at the closest level to citizens, and we must apply these policies.  This is why I am convinced that we must make better use of the Council of Europe in the promotion and also the practical application of the major democratic and humanistic values.