Congress President Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM addressed the debate on "The role of national parliaments in ensuring the success of decentralisation processes" at the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 11 October 2018.
She presented the Congress's activities relating to the monitoring of the application of the Charter of Local Self-Government and the observation of territorial elections, as well as thematic activities such as the fight against radicalisation, the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, the prevention of corruption and the integration of migrants. "It is in cities and regions that solutions to most of the challenges facing our societies can be found. If they do not work at the local level, they will not work at the national level either," she said, pointing out some of the difficulties that can affect communities and undermine the principles of local self-government.
"The Congress has recently highlighted several recurring issues that challenge or even threaten local and regional democracy in Europe, and it is significant to note that there is a clear trend towards recentralisation in our member states," she said.
The President of the Congress stressed the importance of interaction between all levels of government, and in particular between parliamentary committees and local government representatives. "It is the quality of this interaction that we must focus on. We need mutual respect between all actors, effective consultation, openness and transparency in a spirit of multi-level governance," she explained.
Turning to the forms of such interaction, the President suggested that the rules of procedure of parliamentary committees should contain specific provisions on the organisation of public consultations or hearings with local authorities, identifying the subject of the consultation, the procedures and timetable, as well as the participants in this process. She also encouraged national associations of local authorities to develop memoranda of understanding with their national parliaments.
In this regard, the Congress has prepared "Guidelines on the right of local authorities to be consulted by higher levels of government", which will be presented for adoption at its next session (6-8 November 2018).
"We in Congress, and our mayors and members of municipal councils, need our deputies as much as you need local and regional elected officials, to carry out decentralisation policies that meet the needs of our citizens," she concluded, welcoming the cooperation between the Congress and the Parliamentary Assembly.
