Meeting of the Committee of Ministers

(7 November 2011)

Statement by Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Ministers,

Ministers’ Deputies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, on behalf of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, I would like to congratulate the government of Ukraine for successfully completing its Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. I would like to stress in particular our appreciation for the emphasis on strengthening local and regional democracy in Europe, which the three Presidencies of Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Albania have chosen as one of their Chairmanship priorities.

I would like also to express our support to the Kyiv Declaration of the Conference of European Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government, organised in Kyiv last week. The Congress took an active part in this Conference, which focused on important co-operation between national governments and local and regional authorities, to ensure joint action will benefit our local citizens. The Conference also stressed the need for solidarity between all levels of governance, especially in these difficult times of economic crisis – a position which we fully share.

We are confident that the incoming Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers will give due priority to working in partnership and strengthening dialogue between the national and grassroots levels of governance. The Congress welcomes the Chairmanship of the United Kingdom, my home country, a country with strong traditions of local democracy, a birthplace of the Local Democracy Week – an initiative which became a pan-European event under the Congress coordination.

Foreign Secretary, can I, both personally and on behalf of the Congress, wish you every success in the UK Chairmanship.

For its part, the Congress remains fully committed to strengthening and broadening its dialogue with the Committee of Ministers, its rapporteur groups and the Ministerial Conference, a dialogue which is indispensable for the effective democratic functioning of both national and territorial levels of governance, and for improving the situation of democracy at the grassroots, in our communities.

Mr Hague, we wish your Presidency well.

Thank you.