Conference on “Decentralisation and citizens’ participation in Georgia –

Achievements and Challenges

Tbilisi, Georgia, 28-29 March 2012

Speech by Ian Micallef, Rapporteur on Georgia, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to take part in this conference on the subject of citizen participation – a subject of paramount importance in Europe today. It is also a pleasure for me to be back in Georgia, country for which I am Rapporteur on local democracy in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. I participated regularly in Congress activities in Georgia. My previous visit to this country was in July 2010, and I am glad to be here again today.

I wish to thank the organisers of this conference, Georgian authorities and in particular the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia, NALAG, for their invitation and for this timely initiative. 

The theme of the conference is timely indeed as the issues of decentralisation and citizen participating are gaining importance across all of Europe, against the background of two crises challenging European democracy today. On the one hand, the current economic and financial crisis has had severe consequences for all levels of governance on our continent. It has hit particularly hard local and regional authorities who bear the brunt of its triple effect: shrinking local revenues, cuts in budgetary transfers from national governments, and, at the same time, increased responsibilities for providing social assistance to local citizens suffering the most from the crisis. The crisis is challenging the most our ability to uphold our social achievements and access to social rights and quality public services.

On the other hand, we can speak today of the crisis of democratic mechanisms and institutions, a growing gap between democratic procedures and citizens who feel increasingly excluded from decision-making. Disaffection with democracy, disengagement from democratic processes and mistrust in politicians are directs results of this second crisis, which was once described by a young Greek activist addressing the Congress as “the crisis of values”, and which was qualified by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly as “the crisis of democracy” in its 2010 report. The scourge of corruption, which most Europeans regard as a major challenge to the rule of law today, is an intricate part of this crisis, adding to the overall disillusionment of our citizens.

This situation calls for a new thinking, or re-thinking of the current model of representative democracy. It calls for the introduction of the elements of direct democracy to complement the traditional representative system, for building a model which could be described as genuine participatory democracy based on a new system of multi-level governance. Increased and constant citizen participation, not limited to voting in elections but reflected in permanent consultations with citizens and their feedback on government action, is a key factor in creating this new model – in fact, its basis. This model will require a different distribution of power and competences between various domains of governance – not the vertical subordination of today, with the top-down delegation of responsibilities, but their horizontal delimitation among equal governing partners. This multi-level governance and citizen participation are thus two crucial components of a new democratic model.

The Council of Europe Congress, a political assembly of grassroots politicians from 47 European countries, is convinced that that this new model must be built first and foremost in our local and regional communities which represent a great potential for innovation and where citizen participation is the most direct, and its results are the most tangible. We are pleased to see more and more initiatives being taken at local level to ensure consultations with citizens and citizens’ involvement in the affairs of their communities – regular town hall meetings, participatory budgeting, holding of local referendums, encouragement of citizens’ initiatives, or consultations through the use of new technologies and provision of e-services in the framework of so-called “e-democracy”.

Against this background, the Congress’ initiative of organising an annual European Local Democracy Week has become a true pan-European event over the past five years. It provides an opportunity for citizens to meet their local authorities, learn about the functioning of local democracy and discuss face to face the problems of their communities. We are pleased that NALAG and Georgian municipalities are actively involved in organising the Local Democracy Week in this country, and we hope that this practice will be taken on board by more and more local communities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Building participatory democracy and boosting citizen participation in Europe, beginning from the local and regional levels, requires further decentralisation of power and the transfer of competences and financial resources to these levels. This, in turn, requires the necessary legal framework and corresponding legal instruments put into place at national level.

The cornerstone of this framework remains the European Charter of Local Self-Government, ratified to date by 45 out of the 47 Council of Europe member states, with the exception of Monaco and San Marino. Georgia ratified the Charter in December 2004. The Charter lays down the principles of decentralisation and democratic functioning of local communities. However, given the need for increasing citizen participation, the Charter was complemented in November 2009 with an Additional Protocol on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority. Georgia has not yet signed this Protocol, and we strongly hope that its signature and ratification for this country will happen soon, and that the legal participatory framework will thus be enlarged and enhanced.

A further challenge to developing the framework for decentralization is incorporating the provisions of the Charter and its Additional Protocol into domestic law, to enable their application in day-to-day administrative practice. We call this the “reception of the Charter into domestic legislation”, and we are convinced that this process is of fundamental importance for the good functioning of local democracy in European countries. The case-law of constitutional courts with regard to the Charter’s implementation is the best proof of it. This is why last October, the Congress decided to draft guidelines on the current interpretation of the provisions of the Charter, for use by legislative bodies, monitoring bodies and constitutional courts.

Also last October, the Congress adopted its proposals on enhancing local and regional participation of citizens in Europe, based on a report on direct involvement of citizens in decision-making processes at the grassroots level. In addition to existing procedures of direct democracy, such as local referendums or popular initiatives, we advocate encouraging local and regional authorities to also make use of new information and communication technologies, to set up citizen networks and to promote the implementation of pro-active mechanisms such as online publication of raw government information and participatory budgeting.

I should stress that involving non-governmental organisations, civil society in a broad sense, is crucial in developing mechanisms for citizen participation and in associating citizens better with governing processes at the grassroots. The Congress believes that, in times of increasing cuts to local and regional authority allocations and disenchantment of citizens with the political process, it is more important than ever that citizens actively participate at the level closest to them.

In the same spirit, we are currently preparing a report on the modalities of consultations between national governments and local authorities on matters concerning them, which is a requirement set out in the European Charter of Local Self-Government. Such consultations, when made obligatory under domestic law, will provide an opportunity to influence national decision-making and policy elaboration, and will help local authorities to inform better their citizens on topical issues and situations. This will represent a bridge for citizen participation nation-wide.

At the same time, citizen participation will remain a dead letter without an active civic position of citizens themselves, their awareness of their rights and responsibilities, and their ability to take a stand on issues of concern. This is why the most recent axis of action by the Council of Europe and its Congress is aimed at fostering active democratic citizenship among Europeans, in particular by developing education for democratic citizenship and human rights education. This work must also begin at local level, and last October the Congress approved proposals drawing local authorities’ attention to the tools available to them in this regard.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I call on Georgian authorities, in their work for further decentralisation and greater citizen participation, to take on board these various tools and recommendations dealing with different aspects of participatory democracy. But as Rapporteur on Georgia, I would like to conclude by saying a few words about our monitoring of the situation of grassroots democracy in this country.

The latest monitoring recommendation on Georgia was adopted back in 2004, which is why a new monitoring mission is currently being planned for June this year to provide an update of the situation. May I just recall that in the 2004 recommendation, the Congress stated "that decentralisation process which implicitly implies devolution of powers of the central government to local authorities is a genuine opportunity to encourage participation by citizens in local institutions, and that local democracy is a precondition for political and economic stability in the country".

I am looking forward to returning to this country in June, together with the other Rapporteur, my colleague Ms Helena PIHLAJASAARI, as part of our monitoring mission, as much as I am looking forward to our discussions today on the challenges to decentralisation and citizen participation.

Thank you.