1126^th Meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

(Strasbourg, 16 November 2011)

Statement by President Keith Whitmore

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Council of Europe

Madam Chair,

Ministers’ Deputies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After my election as Congress President last year, I made a pledge to improve the dialog with yourselves to meet as many of you as possible, and I was very pleased with the discussions we have had so far. I will continue on this path, and today, I welcome the opportunity to have again an exchange of views with your Committee.

Over the last year the Congress has developed and changed quite substantially. We listen, we talk, we contribute and we now deliver. From the Congress you, Ambassadors, I am certain that you get clear and focused view of local and regional democracy.

We are convinced that the current situation in Europe and in member states calls for putting our public action under the sign of solidarity, for joining our forces in responding to the common challenges that we are facing: We – national governments and local and regional authorities as well as European institutions together.

In this difficult political landscape, the Congress as a representative assembly of local and regional authorities and politicians has a new role to play. Today, I must say the Congress is very different from what it used to be when it often worked to the margin than rather tackling the core issues of the Council of Europe.

Most importantly we do represent the interests of communities, and in particular of making sure that the distribution of means and resources corresponds to the distribution of competences, and is not to the detriment of the grassroots level. But however, today we also have new responsibilities – and particularly playing our part in ensuring coherence of action between the different levels of governance, of making sure that local and regional authorities act and pursue the same key objectives and priorities as national governments and the European institutions, each within their respective remit.

Our emphasis in promoting human rights at the grassroots, in fostering democratic citizenship and intercultural dialogue to deal better with cultural diversity, on increasing citizen participation and in pursuing local integration for better social cohesion – these are different aspects of our efforts to make local and regional action to meet national and European priorities of the day and to ensure its coherence. Today, this is the key message of the Congress – responsibility in common, solidarity, coherence: every actor has to play its role and to contribute! This is also what multi level governance is about. And this is also the message that we are promoting through our European Local Democracy Week, which brings together, year after year, more and more local initiatives.

The Congresses presence at the Ministerial Conference in Kyiv I think  ensured that we got our message across. I would like to thank yet again the Ukrainian Chairmanship for organising this important event and, in particular, for making local and regional democracy a priority of its Presidency.

In this framework, we very much appreciate the role played by Minister Manuel Chaves, the Vice-President of the Spanish Government, in preparing his report, his personal commitment and vision for interaction and synergies between the European, national and grassroots levels. This vision of jointly working on an agenda in common respecting the identities and roles of all partners involved I think must guide our future action in implementing the proposals of the Kyiv Conference. You will be discussing this soon in the Committee of Ministers, and I very much look forward to our continued dialogue on this matter.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would also like to say a few words about the current work of the Congress. In line with the Council of Europe priorities, we have been pursuing our work on the inclusion of Roma at the grassroots level. Two main events took place:

- a Summit of Mayors on Roma, organised here in Strasbourg on 22 September in co-operation with the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues, and with the support of several partners, in particular the financial contribution of the Foreign Ministry of France;

- and the adoption by the Congress of a resolution and a recommendation on the situation of Roma as a challenge for local and regional authorities, was adopted during the session in October.

The Summit of Mayors on Roma, had well over 400 participants, was a great success, helping to identify the main problems and identified ways of working with Roma communities.

We very much see this Summit as the beginning of a process. We are determined to establish a European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion. This Alliance should help to coordinate and steer action at local and regional levels, to improve capacities for project implementation and to ensure their financing.

The Congress session in October also addressed a wide range of topical issues and current affairs. During the Congress Session there was a discussion on the results of the visit of a Congress delegation to meet Ms Leyla Güven in Turkey in early October. I would like to thank the Permanent Representative of Turkey for his assistance in organising this visit. The Congress delegation, much as the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in May last year, has held substantive discussions with Ms Güven, Mayor of Viransehir and Congress member, who has been incarcerated for almost two years, along with many other mayors and local councillors.

It is of course not our aim to interfere with the Turkish judicial proceedings. The Congress position in this matter is rather that a massive detention of local elected representatives, who are unable to exercise their duties, is detrimental to local democracy and the democratic functioning of local councils, in which so many seats remain unoccupied. We strongly hope that a solution will be found as soon as possible and the Bureau will be following the developments closely.

Touching on the reform of the Congress: we continue to pursue the reform process, and expect to adopt the rules of procedure as the 3^rd stage of the reform at the next session in March next year.

You will find more detailed information about the activities of the Congress – as usual - in a written communication of the Congress Secretary General, which will be distributed to you shortly.

In conclusion, I would like to welcome once again the Chairmanship of the United Kingdom, now in its first days. We welcome in particular the fact that the UK Presidency, much as that of Ukraine, has marked its interest for local and regional democracy among its priorities. The Congress will contribute to this – among other activities - with the European Local Democracy Week.

Furthermore the Congress will present proposals to enhance the relevance of its monitoring activities of the European Charter of Local Self Government. Now today you will adopt decisions about 5 recommendations following monitoring reports and 2 recommendations following observation of local/regional elections. I think it is not enough to forward these recommendations to the respective governments alone. The increase to 10 - 15 recommendations following monitoring visits per year I think will enable us to identify common challenges, innovative action and new solutions serving member states in their policies to develop local and regional government. And this is the very added value that this work of the Congress can bring and certainly it can be the starting point for a new quality of political exchange for example twice a year in the GR-DEM.

And finally we want to support the outreach to the mayors and citizens of Strasbourg and the wider Alsace to make them better aware of the activities of the Council of Europe for local and regional democracy. The cultural programme initiated by Ambassador Eleanor Fuller during the UK chairmanship will serve as the basis for this.

Thank you very much indeed.