Conference on the Western Balkans’ European perspective: The contribution of local and regional authorities
Paris, 18-19 February 2011
Speech by President Keith Whitmore Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Council of Europe
Mr Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
It is a particular pleasure for me to address this conference. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has had close links with the Western Balkans, links which are almost paternal for some institutional structures of the region. Before any talk of the accession to the European Union, we were already operating in the Western Balkans in 1993. While the conflict was still rife, putting in place local democracy agencies to build democracy from grassroots.
We were, and still are, convinced that ethnic diversity of this region is a particular, specific factor, crucial for stability and democratic consolidation. Local governments, working directly with the people, are best placed to restore trust and hold multiethnic communities together – this is the idea behind local democracy agencies, which evolved over time into a successful association – and I’m pleased that the Association’s President, Mr Per Vinther, was able to take part in this conference.
Driven much by the same conviction, the Congress sought to restore links between communities across borders which had not been in existence before, in an attempt to create a framework for cross-border co-operation. These efforts resulted in two other success stories – the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe, NALAS, whose President Vladimir Moskow and Executive Director Kelmend Zajazi have been with us during this conference, and the Adriatic Euroregion, with its capital in Pula, Croatia – and I can only welcome the participation of Mr Ivan Jacovcic.
At this conference, much was said about the need for training and skills transfer, and the challenge of the economic crisis. I strongly believe that cross-border, decentralised co-operation offers at least partial solutions for both – through the experience- and (why not?) staff-sharing, and through possible economies of scale as a result of intermunicipal and interregional teamwork.
The discussions over these two days showed consensus on several key challenges faced by local and regional authorities in the Western Balkans today:
- the need for clear delimitation of competences between different tiers of government, and for more competences for local and regional level;
- the need for appropriate local and regional financing, and action to respond to the economic crisis;
- the need to improve local and regional governance through greater transparency, accountability, and citizens’ participation in order, among other things, to fight corruption;
- finally, the overall need to strengthen the countries’ capacity for public administration at local and regional level, including through better training for elected representatives and their staff.
However, in preparing the countries’ for EU accession, we should not lose sight of the fundamental requirement to have a strong and sound legal base for local democracy. It is our firm conviction that the full implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the respect of its principles, is the foundation upon which we can build good governance.
For example, if we insist on the full recognition and respect of the principle of subsidiarity, which entails the transfer of competences, and the principle of financial autonomy which would imply necessary financial and human resources, the dependence of local authorities on the largess of central governments would then be considerably reduced.
That is why monitoring the Charter’s implementation has been the core mission of the Congress, in the Western Balkans as elsewhere in Europe. Last year, for example, we carried out our first full monitoring of Serbia, and a follow-up monitoring of Slovenia, and established a new practice for our monitoring rapporteurs and country rapporteurs of the EU Committee of the Regions to “compare notes”. We see this monitoring exercise, together with the observation of local and regional elections, as our current main contribution to improving the situation in the Western Balkans. We are pleased to see that national governments are taking into account and following our recommendations, as Mr Refik Rrugeja, Congress Rapporteur for South-East Europe, mentioned yesterday in respect of Albania.
As from this year, the Congress has added a new priority to its assessment of the situation on the ground: a dimension of human rights at local and regional level. The authorities at grassroots play a crucial role in putting in place conditions for the exercise of human rights, often without even realising it. For example, such issues as housing, health care, local employment, education are all within the remit of local and regional authorities – and they all constitute access to social rights which are an integral part of human rights. That is why we will also be looking at the human rights implementation in our communities as part of the whole picture, and we are currently preparing indicators for evaluating such implementation.
I would like to conclude that, in my opinion, the Western Balkans have made a tremendous progress, compared to where they started, and their future lies, of course, in the European integration. There is no alternative to it. Today, at a time of disappearing borders, at a time of globalisation, at a time of economies of scale and intermunicipal co-operation as one response to the economic crisis, this integration passes by way of empowering our communities, and building the capacity for good governance at the grassroots level.
And if today we are pushing for a system of multilevel governance, based on equal partnership of all tiers of government, then this approach should also be taken into account during the accession process, and in disbursing assistance.
For its part, the Congress has been with the Western Balkans from the very beginning, and will continue to offer its assistance to both national governments and local and regional authorities in improving the framework for grassroots democracy, and pursuing integration.
This process may be slower than we wish it to be, but the work of democracy is never finished, and the drive of people for being in control of decisions, being in charge of their destiny and managing their own affairs, starting from the local level, is absolutely essential. Because without local democracy, as Mr Per Vinther reminded us yesterday, there is no democracy at all.
Thank you.