Toolkit on Intermunicipal Cooperation now available [07/02/12] The IMC Toolkit was jointly prepared by the Council of Europe (CoE), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Local Government Initiative (LGI) of the Open Society. It was developed with a view to finding solutions to the challenges currently facing many European local authorities. (more...)

Toolkit on Intermunicipal cooperation

Best Practice Award 2012 – Regenerating Coastal Towns, deadline for applications: 20 February [01/02/2012]  The Best Practice Programme is a scheme developed to recognise, award and disseminate best practices in improvement and development at the local and regional level that bring real benefits to citizens. The scheme works to raise standards through peer learning and knowledge transfer. This scheme has been designed using methodologies developed by the UK Local Government Association (IDeA’s Beacon Scheme) and the Centre of Expertise of the Council of Europe. This year’s theme is the regeneration of coastal towns.

Between 1 and 20 February, coastal local authorities may make an initial expression of interest in participating by completing and submitting the application form below, in English or in French, to the following email address: dgII_coastal_bp@coe.int.

At this first stage of the award procedure, applicant authorities are required to give a short description of the best practice they would like considered. This initial application will be screened by a selection panel and successful applicant authorities will be invited to submit a full application by 1 April. The programme’s award ceremony will be held in May in the UK. For further information please see the prospectus below.

Best Practice Award Prospectus
Application form

Teatime debate on the effects of the financial crisis at local level; Strasbourg, 30 January 2012 [26/01/2012]  A new initiative – Teatime- will be held in Strasbourg on 30 January. Intended as a time for reflection, exchange and looking ahead, its first topic will focus on the effects of the financial crisis on local authority budgets. Teatime is the idea of the Institut national des études territoriales - INET (national institute for territorial studies), organised within the framework of the Pôle européen d'Administration publique - PEAP (a network of centres of excellence in Strasbourg), in collaboration with the Directorate of European Affairs at the Ecole nationale d’administration (ENA). (more...)

Regeneration of European coastal towns through the Council of Europe Best Practice Programme [16/01/2012]  At the initiative of the Local Government Association (UK), the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Keith Whitmore, invited the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform to support the launch of a Best Practice Programme for European coastal towns. The programme is one of the activities being implemented under the UK chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (November 2011-May 2012). (more...)

Ukraine Officials visit Strasbourg to exchange experience and analyse the Local Government programme's results to date [13/01/2012]  Ukrainian officials, including members of parliament, mayors, local representatives and senior officials, participated in a study visit to the Council of Europe from 13 to 18 December. The visit was one of a number of activities organised as part of the Council of Europe programme to strengthen local democracy in Ukraine. The aim was to provide the officials with an opportunity for sharing their experience of fiscal decentralisation, regional development policy, local government reform and intermunicipal co-operaton, as well as for learning from the experience of other Council of Europe member States in these matters, notably France, Poland, Germany and Sweden.The officials heard indepth presentations by Council of Europe experts currently working for the programme. The presentations focused in particular on local government reform, fiscal decentralisation and intermunicipal co-operation. (more...)

[08/12/2011] KYIV, 7 December – A two-day regional seminar on promoting local government reform, good economic governance and sound financial management at the local level, co-organised by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Kyiv and the Government of Ukraine, got underway in Kyiv today. The event gathered more than 30 participants, including senior local government and municipal officials dealing with financial management, fiscal decentralisation, public procurement, budget and integrity issues, representatives from Ministries responsible for Local and Regional Government from a number of EU, Eastern European and South Caucasus countries, as well as international experts including from OSCE field operations in the Balkans. (more...)

Belgium/Wallonia, 12-13 December: Evaluating municipal policy to help make ends meet [08/12/2011] Officials from three Belgian pilot municipalities (Andenne, Beauraing and Tournai) will be holding separate talks with Council of Europe experts to discuss how to approach performance management and municipal policy evaluation. Performance management is a series of processes, techniques and methods which makes performance targets easier to identify and assesses progress towards achieving them. In the public sector, performance management is often primarily seen as a way to ensure benefits have genuine value. However, it can also be used to compare the performance of local authorities, identify good practices and enable users, the general public and governments to have a greater say in how local public services are run. This is the 2nd stage of a programme on performance management at local level implemented with the support of the Union of cities and communes of Wallonia (UVCW) since early 2011. (more...)

Senior Spanish officials to discuss implementation of The Strategy’s “ELoGE” [02/12/2011] Council of Europe officials will hold indepth talks with Senior Spanish officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Spanish Local Authorities Association (FEMP) and several Spanish pilot municipalities, in Malaga, 2 December, to agree on the tools necessary for running the European Label of Governance Excellence in Spain and to discuss the timeline for its implementation. The Label is a learning tool which helps local authorities to understand their strengths and weaknesses in providing public services and exercising public authority, with a view to improving the quality of their governance. (more...)

Useful Lnks

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
 

Treaty Office site (information on signatures and ratifications of CoE Treaties)
 

Council of Europe programme for strengthening local democracy in Ukraine