The News (Site updated Friday, November 20, 2009 | 9:30)

Ian Micallef: Congress welcomes the plan to improve Kurdish rights in Turkey

[17/11/2009 12:30:00] In an interview during the Ministerial Conference in Utrecht (Netherlands), Acting Congress President Ian Micallef confirmed the Congress’ readiness to take into account plans to improve Kurdish rights, unveiled recently by the Turkish government, in the framework of the monitoring of local and regional democracy in the country. ''We consider this initiative as the right step in the right direction, and the Congress decided to reflect on concrete measures taken by Turkey at its next Plenary Session in March 2010,'' Ian Micallef said. He suggested postponing the monitoring mission to the country, stressing that ''Turkey needs some time now to substantiate this courageous project and to implement the envisaged measures''. (more ...)

Kathrin Hilber: ''Local authorities need to prove that they are serious about citizen participation''
[17/11/2009 17:00:00] Kathrin Hilber (Switzerland, SOC) Head of the interior department member of the government of the Canton of St Gallen represented Switzerland at the Ministerial Conference in Utrecht, on the challenges for good local and regional governance in times of crises. In this interview she expresses her views on the highlights of the conference.

Interview

Ministers adopt the Utrecht Agenda on the establishment of good local and regional governance for 2010-2013
[17/11/2009 15:00:00] Meeting in Utrecht, the Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government of the Council of Europe countries adopted, on 17 November, the Utrecht Agenda on the establishment of good local and regional governance for 2010-2013, identifying specific challenges of great common significance. Among these may be mentioned the management of the financial/economic crisis, the low level of democratic participation in public life at the local and regional levels, and increasing the organisational effectiveness of local and regional authorities' governance. The Ministers emphased the leading role of local and regional authorities in ending the economic and financial crisis, and stressed the responsibility of central governments for guaranteeing the resources of local authorities. (more ...)

Utrecht Agenda

Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe: ''The reference framework on regional democracy is an encouraging compromise''
[17/11/2009 10:00:00] ''From now on, we can work on the protection and improvement of regional governance on the basis of the reference framework on regional democracy, which constitutes a follow-up to the Helsinki principles,'' Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, Congress Rapporteur on regionalisation in Europe, stressed at the Conference in Utrecht on 17 November. ''Nevertheless, we in the Congress remain convinced that this text represents only the beginning of the process of elaborating a normative text in the form of a Charter or a Convention, and that the future will lead the Council of Europe to the adoption of an international legal instrument providing for the monitoring of regional democracy, which is a statutory responsibility of the Congress,'' he said.

Speech (French)

Ank Bijleveld-Schouten : ''The European Local Democracy Week calls for innovative methods to increase citizen participation''
[16/11/2009 16:00:00] Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Dutch Ministry for the Interior and Kingdom Relations, participated in the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government, in Utrecht, Netherlands, on 16 and 17 November 2009. In an interview, she speaks of the importance of citizens’ participation and co-operation between governments and territorial structures.

Interview

Ian Micallef: ''Governments should be more active in implementing Congress recommendations''
[16/11/2009 09:00:00] Addressing the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government, in Utrecht (Netherlands) on 16 November, Acting Congress President Ian Micallef pointed out that ''any action to ensure good governance of our communities must necessarily involve local and regional authorities themselves.'' ''Monitoring the quality of local and regional democracy is the sole responsibility of the Congress which is accountable to territorial authorities, and we would like to see governments more active in implementing our recommendations,'' he said, stressing the need for constant dialogue between governments and territorial authorities, both at the national level and within the framework of the Council of Europe.

Speech

Ministerial conferences offer an opportunity for interaction between three ties of governance, says Keith Whitmore (more ...)

Speech

Congress to contribute to key issues of Council of Europe Ministerial Conference in Utrecht (more ...)

Special file

Website of the Conference

Transfrontier co-operation and citizens participation at the heart of two new Council of Europe treaties
[17/11/2009 10:30:00] Two new Council of Europe treaties have been opened for signature on 16 November, on the occasion of the Conference of Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government taking place in Utrecht (The Netherlands). Protocol No. 3 to the European outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation provides for the legal status, establishment and operation of 'Euroregional Co-operation Groupings', composed of local authorities and other public bodies. It has been signed by Belgium, France, Germany, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands and Slovenia. The Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government adds a new dimension to the Charter by providing an international legal guarantee of the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority. This Treaty has been signed by Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, the United Kingdom. Congress expressed its favorable opinion on these treaties during the meeting of its Standing Committee in June 2009.

Protocol No. 3 to the European outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities concerning Euroregional Co-operation Groupings (ECGs)

The Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority

Jean-Claude Frécon and Keith Whitmore: Congress leads in monitoring territorial democracy, Ministers responsible for acting up on its recommendations
[16/11/2009 13:30:00] Speaking in the debate on the report presented by Mari Kiviniemi at the Conference in Utrecht, on 16 November, Congress Vice-President Jean-Claude Frécon pointed to the crucial role of the Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government in acting up on Congress recommendations. Keith Whitmore, President of the Institutional Committee, underlined the leading role of the Congress in monitoring the quality of local and regional democracy in Europe. He made it clear that from the Congress’ point of view, there were some open questions with regard to the Final Declaration of the Utrecht Conference, which is why the Congress submitted two amendments to the text, supported also by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

Speech by Jean-Claude Frécon (French)

Congress - Committee of Regions

Congress and EU-Committee of the Regions join their forces for Local Democracy Week
[16/11/2009 16:00:00] Congress President a.i. Ian Micallef welcomed the decision of the European Union's Committee of the Regions to join the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW), the Council's programme of events to raise awareness for grassroots policies in Europe. 'This agreement is an important step for the further strengthening of the ELDW. The committment of the Committee of the Regions, our partner organisation in the EU, will contribute to make this concept one of the major events on the calendar of the 47 Council of Europe member states', concluded the political co-ordinator of the Local Democracy Week, Keith Whitmore, on the fringes of discussions about the ELDW during the Utrecht Ministerial Conference.

ELDW website

Congress and Committee of the Regions signed a new cooperation agreement (more ...)