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The European
Label of Governance Excellence is part of the
Strategy for
Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level. The Label is a
learning tool and should help local authorities to:
Understand
their strengths and weaknesses in the way they provide
public service to the local
community and in the way they
exercise public authority;
Improve the
quality of local governance with the help of the various
tools developed especially for the Strategy
Take
inspiration from their colleagues’ best practices.
The Label will
be awarded by a national or regional
stakeholder’s platform to
local authorities who have achieved a high overall level of
governance, as measured against the twelve European principles
of Good Democratic Governance.
This national/ regional platform needs to be accredited by
the Stakeholders’ Platform at the Council of Europe.
Accreditation will be granted to those countries and regions
which comply with the rules and standards as decided by the
Stakeholders’ Platform. Countries and regions rules and
standards may differ from those specified in the reference documents, for example because certain effects of the principles
are dealt with differently, but this has to be addressed and
explained during the accreditation process.
If a local authority wants to receive the Label, it must
apply to its regional or national stakeholders’ platform. It
will be asked to fulfil the criteria for the evaluation tools: -
a matrix evaluating the action of the local authority - a
questionnaire addressed to citizens - a questionnaire addressed
to local elected representatives
The Label for Good Democratic Governance is symbolised by a
crystal dodecahedron engraved with the twelve European
principles of good democratic governance, the Council of Europe
logo and the date of the award.
In December 2010 Bulgaria was the first country to be
accredited by the Stakeholders’ Platform. It held its first
award ceremony in May 2011, when the label was awarded to 13
municipalities. In June 2011, Norway was the next country to be
accredited. It held its first award ceremony in May 2012, and
awarded the label to 4 municipalities.
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