Week of Municipalities, 10^th Anniversary of the Association of Municipalities of Kosovo

Pristina, 27 June 2011

Speech by Keith Whitmore President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Dear President Xhemaili,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear colleagues,

It is a great pleasure for me to be here today and to be able to say, on behalf of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, “Happy birthday, Association of Kosovo Municipalities, happy 10^th anniversary!”

The Congress attaches a particular importance to associations of local and regional authorities, which are our partners and main interlocutors in the national settings. We see associations such as AKM as bridges between the Congress and local communities, relaying our action, which is European in character, at the grassroots level. We also see such associations as kind of “united fronts” representing and defending the interests of local authorities vis-à-vis national governments, lobbying and putting pressure on national authorities to take action for improving the conditions of local self-government, also by implementing specific Congress recommendations. Thus, associations of local authorities are indispensable for a better follow-up to Congress proposals, and as sources of information for our monitoring of the situation, in the preparation of our reports.

This is why we were pleased to give the Association of Kosovo Municipalities observer status with the Congress back in 2002, and we have been relying on your support and co-operation in our activities in Kosovo over the past decade. On the occasion of your 10^th Anniversary, we can say that the Congress and AKM walked this path together, both witnessing and shaping the events of these ten years.

This co-operation includes in particular such milestones as the observation by the Congress of municipal and Assembly elections in Kosovo in 2007; the opening of a Local Democracy Agency in Peja in August 2010, with the participation of Congress Vice-President Günther Krug; and your joining the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe, NALAS, set up at the Congress’ initiative.

We also welcome the fact that the Association is following closely the work of the Congress and is participating in Congress activities as an observer organisation. In particular, I was pleased to meet with your delegation during the 20^th session of the Congress in March this year, and to have an exchange with your members on the current situation and achievements of local authorities in Kosovo and the situation around the transfer of competences from central to local level. Such participation and co-operation between the Congress and AKM should continue and be increased.

During this meeting in March, I accepted the invitation of your delegation and promised to visit Kosovo in the near future. As you can see, I have kept my promise, and it gives me particular pleasure to be able to see the situation first-hand.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In March, the delegation of your Association informed me about co-operation AKM had established with new Kosovo municipalities, and about the Association’s work in promoting the European Charter of Local Self-Government. I would like to stress the crucial importance of these two issues.

I was particularly pleased to find a clear reference to the European Charter of Local Self-Government in the aims and objectives of AKM, not only to Article 10 on the right of local authorities to associate, but also to Article 4 on the scope of local self-government defining the basic powers and responsibilities of local authorities, and also to Article 6 of the Charter setting the frame for appropriate administrative structures and resources for the tasks of local authorities.

Inter-municipal co-operation and networking is of crucial importance for local development as its provides opportunities for the sharing of ideas, experiences and best practices, joint project management, skills transfer, pooling of resources and cross-investment. In this regard, your active contribution to the work of NALAS is especially encouraging, notably concerning municipal budget negotiations in 2008 and intergovernmental financial relations in South-East Europe in the light of global economic crisis in 2009, which resulted in the so-called "Dubrovnik Declaration".

We are convinced that your active and broad participation within NALAS could help your Association to increase the knowledge of best practices in South-East Europe, but also to step up the Association’s their visibility on the regional and even European level. 

Networking is certainly contributing to the success of the core mission of AKM, which is to create efficient, sustainable and democratic local government through high-quality performance in providing service to needs of its citizens. However, this mission would be handicapped in the absence of a solid legal framework for local governance based on the principles of local democracy, and I should stress in this regard the need to rely on, and fully implement the European Charter of Local Self-Government. This is a cornerstone treaty for local democracy in Europe, and I welcome the commitment of your Association to using the Charter and ensuring that its principles are legally recognised and fully applied. This commitment is a backbone of your political action and indeed your legitimacy, and I wish to thank the Association of Kosovo Municipalities for its work in this direction.

I also welcome your efforts to involve all communities of Kosovo in the process of building democracy and restoring trust at the grassroots, in particular with respect to the Serb communities. This important action must be increased and strengthened.

It is clear that local government reform and decentralisation in Kosovo is a very complex process and requires the establishment of new municipalities and gradual transfer of competencies from central to local government, while raising the local capacities for an efficient self-government and reforming the local finance system. This process must be based on a legal framework which integrates the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

I am convinced that the existence of local authorities with real responsibilities and the full implementation of the European Charter of Self-Government can provide an administration which is both effective and close to the citizen.

This process must be a two-way and must be both bottom-up as well as top down. The Association of Kosovo Municipalities has a crucial role to play as it represents this bottom-up movement at the grass-root, the political will and commitment of local authorities for a democratic and strong self-government must fully engage with all citizens. Today, this local self-government must not only be for the benefit of all citizens – it must also involve citizens in the governing process, must remain open for citizen participation, and especially so for the participation of young people.

In this regard, I would like to congratulate your Association for the recent initiative to launch a contest on the topic of "Youth and local governance in Kosovo". This initiative seeks to encourage activities and municipal projects for youth, involvement of youth in municipal decision-making and the creation of Youth Action Space at local level. It is symbolic that the Association of Kosovo Municipalities treads into the future taking in new ideas and vision coming from young people.

Once again, I congratulate you on your 10^th Anniversary and wish you much success in your future endeavours.

Thank you.