How to bridge the democratic gap engendered by the lack of citizens' trust in politicians and their feeling of exclusion from political decision-making? This is the issue debated on by the Bureau of the Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) of the European Committee of the Regions during a thematic exchange on participatory democracy; in Brussels on 29 May.
Speaking in the debate, Marc Cools, Congress Rapporteur on Local and Regional Democracy in Ukraine, recalled the key role of local and regional authorities in defining and implementing public policies which are more transparent and accountable to citizens.
"The local and regional level provides an adequate space for shaping participatory democracy in practice and experimenting with new and more inclusive forms of decision-making to better respond to citizens' needs and concerns," he stressed, giving examples of participation initiatives, including those carried out as part of the Congress co-operation activities in Eastern Partnership countries.
