During the 8th Annual Meeting of the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) on 24 September 2018 in Kyiv, Gunn Marit HELGESEN (Norway, EPP/CCE), Congress Vice President and President of the Chamber of Regions, stressed the need to advocate for good governance and local democracy throughout Europe, promote ethics and transparency at local and regional levels, and work towards building safe and inclusive societies that respect diversity.
“Local authorities in Europe have made a tremendous progress during the last 30 years of implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, although there are still challenges ahead that we must overcome”, stressed Ms HELGESEN. She also highlighted the importance of the Congress’ “continuous support on the Eastern Partnership region in strengthening the dialogue and establishing sustainable consultation mechanisms between different levels of government, and implementing ethical, innovative and inclusive policies and practices at the local level.”
Moreover, the Congress Vice President reaffirmed that enhanced quality of local democracy requires the involvement of all relevant stakeholders at central, regional and local levels. In this regard, she emphasised that the “associations of local and regional authorities play a key role” in ensuring the sustainability of the local self-government system, since they are placed at the core of the dialogue between local and national authorities.
The Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Hugues MINGARELLI, stressed the importance of good local governance and underlined that “local communities are the place where consensus-based policies are a must”, reaffirming the message of Ms HELGESEN, who highlighted that “participatory approaches in local decision-making processes are a pillar of our democracies which will increase trust on local authorities.”
Recalling the good synergies between the Congress and CORLEAP, on the Congress Vice President pointed to the “need to advance and deepen decentralisation so as to bolster the local self-government system and pave the way for sustainable municipal development”.
