Back Safeguarding integrity among local and regional elected representatives

Safeguarding integrity among local and regional elected representatives

Conflicts of interest, transparency, open government and Code of Conduct regarding local and regional governance: four reports were adopted on these issues during the 35th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France) on 7 November 2018.

Presented by Manuela BORA (Italy, SOC), the “European Code of Conduct for All Persons Involved in Local and Regional Governance” sets out the principles which should guide the activities of those involved in local and regional governance and emphasises the need for mechanisms to enable those principles to be implemented. In the resolution adopted, the Congress calls on local and regional authorities to adopt the Code and, indeed, itself adopted, during the debate, a Code of Conduct for its own members. It also calls for the design of educational programmes to identify potential ethical risk areas, in particular conflicts of interest.

A complex and multifaceted concept, according to Peter JOHN (United Kingdom, SOC), Congress rapporteur, conflicts of interest are also one of the most common forms of corruption. Among the courses of action proposed by the Congress are setting up independent ethics committees to review members’ financial activity and policies to promote disclosure of information prior to any public request.

The concept of “open government” is an effective way of dealing with these risks, in particular when it comes to budgeting, law making and service delivery. That was the message from Andreas GALSTER (Germany, EPP/CCE), presenting the report. “A number of conditions must be met for government to be open and more effective: transparency, which is about making information available and comprehensible to the public, participation, which allows people to influence the workings of their government, and accountability, which allows them to hold their government accountable for its actions,” he explained.

These texts are part of the roadmap of activities for preventing corruption and promoting public ethics at local and regional levels. The aim is to provide a range of responses and tools to help local and regional authorities deal with the challenges facing them in terms of integrity and public ethics. 

 

 

** 35th Session of the Congress **

File 35th Session - Agenda - Videos and photos - Mediabox

35th Session Strasbourg, France 7 November 2018
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Monitoring

The European Charter of Local Self-Government lays down standards for protecting the rights of local authorities and requires states which have ratified it to comply with a number of principles. The Congress is responsible for evaluating the application of the Charter in each Member State.

In the field

Cooperation and thematic activities complement, in the field, the normative work of the Congress. They are based on the political dialogue and the monitoring of the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and enable the implementation of the adopted recommendations and resolutions.

Election observation

The Congress periodically observes local and regional elections in Council of Europe member States and, sometimes, beyond. This activity, which may be organised in cooperation with other international organisations, complements the political monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-Government

Postmonitoring

Post-monitoring and post-electoral dialogue aims to support national authorities in order to ensure the implementation of the recommendations adopted by the Congress and addressed to the national authorities of member states by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Tools

Open Local Government | A tool for action

 bE-Open

 

 

  

Civil Participation Forum | A tool for action

 

Conference, 12-13 september

 

 

47th Session

Ukraine

Agenda 2030
ELDW

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