1107^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

 

Strasbourg, France, 2 March 2011

Statement by Secretary General Andreas Kiefer, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Council of Europe

Thank you, Mr Chairman,

First of all, on behalf of the Congress Bureau, I would like to thank your Committee for approving, on 19 January, the proposed changes to the Congress Charter. This approval will enable us to enter into the 3^rd stage of the Congress reform.

In my presentation today, I would like to focus on four aspects – taken from the written communication, which will be distributed to you:

- the continuation of the reform process;

- the preparation of the forthcoming 20^th Session of the Congress;

- Congress action for Roma integration;

- and the 2^nd Euro-Arab Cities Forum.

Reform process

By pursuing its reform, the Congress is fully engaging in the process of refocusing its activities on the core values of this Organisation, which is being advanced by your Committee, and the Congress has already adapted its structures to be more reactive to priorities identified by member states and by our members.  We are continuing our efforts to improve working methods further, in line with the tasks laid down in the Congress Charter and in the political priorities for 2011-2012. With this in mind, we are currently undergoing a thorough revision of the Congress Rules of Procedure.

One important element of the reform is improving the Congress monitoring activities that cover, as you know, all 44 countries that ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The objective is to make this exercise more fair and objective, more regular, more transparent but also more binding on the Congress itself. For example, the rules for monitoring, adopted last year, are more stringent on the selection of rapporteurs, on including statements of member states in the reports and on the Congress’ follow-up of its recommendations.

In 2010 the Congress carried out 13 missions and four reports will be submitted to the Session in March: Austria, Malta, Romania and Turkey. In 2011, twelve countries will be visited under the monitoring procedure, with a clear objective of not only pinpointing problems and shortcomings observed, but also of assisting the countries concerned in improving governance, the legal and political environment and multi-level governance, to mention a few.

The Congress will include a human rights element in its activities when visiting countries. The aim is to promote the local and regional dimension of human rights and to raise awareness of local and regional authorities of their role in human rights implementation. Many cities joined an initiative called human rights cities and many -  like Paris and others - have appointed deputy mayors responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights and/or established local ombudsmen. In the long run, a better exercise of individual rights in our communities means fewer possible violations and less recourse to the European Court of Human Rights, which is fully in the spirit of the Interlaken process. In two weeks, the Chair of the Congress’ Monitoring Committee, Lars O. Molin, will explain our position on this issue in greater detail to your Rapporteur-Group on Human Rights, GR-H. I would like to thank the Norwegian Ambassador for having invited the Congress. This is a good example of dialogue between the CM and the Congress in a concrete matter.

20^th Session of the Congress (Strasbourg, 22-24 March 2011)

The question of human rights action at local and regional level will also be subject of a debate during the 20^th Session of the Congress in March, with the participation of Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg.

Congress members will then discuss the progress of the reform and the role of the Congress with Secretary General Jagland. We have also invited the Assembly Rapporteur on the reform, Jean-Claude Mignon, to discuss for the first time his views that he presented to the Assembly in January. .

The Congress will - finally to be confirmed -  exchange views with Undersecretary of the Turkish Ministry of Interior, Osman GÜNEŞ, representing the Committee of Ministers’ Chairmanship, and with Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Tykhonov, in light of the forthcoming Chairmanship of his country. We will also be pleased to welcome Philippe Richert, French Minister responsible for local and regional authorities.

Another exchange of views will be held with President of the Parliamentary Assembly Mevlut Cavusoglu. In addition, Congress members will for the first time discuss with European Union Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn about the local and regional dimension of European politics, and the respective complementary roles of the Council of Europe Congress and the EU Committee of the Regions.

Furthermore, the Congress will examine a report on the observation of local elections in Ukraine on 30 October 2010.

Action for integration of Roma

The main current affairs’ debate during the Session will focus on the situation of Roma as a challenge for local and regional authorities, in light of the results of the High-Level Meeting on Roma of 20 October 2010, which stressed the crucial importance of local and regional action. The Thematic Rapporteur on Roma and Travellers issues, Mr John Warmisham (United Kingdom, SOC), will prepare a report proposing specific measures to be taken at local and regional level.

Other Congress activities on Roma will include:

a Summit of Mayors involved in addressing the situation of Roma, which would bring together representatives of various municipalities and municipal networks active in this field, with a view to setting up a European cooperation framework on Roma issues at local and regional level;

and the 3^rd edition of the Dosta!-Congress Prize for Municipalities, to be awarded during the 21^st Session in October 2011.

The Congress has also reached out to local authorities in the countries selected for the training programme for Roma mediators, in support of this programme.

2^nd Euro-Arab Cities Forum

Finally, on 25 and 26 February the Congress co-organised the 2^nd Euro-Arab Cities Forum in Malaga, Spain, notably with the participation of Jorge Sampaio, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilisations and former President of Portugal. The discussions focused on furthering cooperation between European and Arab municipalities, and paid special attention to the current upheavals and changes in the southern Mediterranean.

In an adopted declaration, which is appended to my communication, the Forum in particular demanded the immediate cessation of all crimes against humanity perpetrated against the civilian population in those countries. Some 150 participants from more than 30 countries have also committed themselves to working together to build a new model of participation of the citizens, in particular of young people and women, and to strengthen local government and democracy, responding to the aspirations of the people.

Thank you for your attention.