The Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in its 2018 Report on local democracy in Lithuania notes the need by Lithuanian authorities to take measures to develop the regional tier, increasing the competences and the capacities of their administrative apparatus. Similarly, the 2020 European Semester’s Country Report – Lithuania reconfirms the persistently high regional disparities in Lithuania which pose a challenge to achieving more cohesive and sustainable growth in these regions, and also put significant pressure on the quality and efficiency of public services.

Lithuania reacted upon these issues of concern and with the support of the Council of Europe though its project “Delivering Good Governance in Lithuania” adopted the Law on Regional Development that paves the way for the creation of its regions. It is the first step in Lithuania’s intentions to promote regional development, boost progress throughout its territory to ultimately provide better governance and services to its citizens.

At the request of the Government of Lithuania, the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance is starting a new project “Establishment of legal, institutional and financial framework at regional (county) level, capacity-building to enhance quality of regional public administration in Lithuania” to provide technical assistance in the process of setting up the new regional structures and enable the regional and local administration to implement the regional policy. The project is funded by the European Commission via the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM). The project’s two main objectives are:

1. Provide Recommendations for improvements of the institutional set up and performance of the Lithuanian regions, through preparation of policy advice on:

• programming and planning process, fiscal decentralisation, institutional set-up of regions; and
• territorial / regional development strategies, including cross-border and interregional aspects.

2. Capacity-building for regional and local authorities, based on the relevant Council of Europe tools in the following areas:

• Setting out the aims and objectives of the region for the medium-term future, exploring possibilities for linkages between national, regional and municipal level planning, strategic and spatial planning, as well as the aspect of citizen participation in the process, by implementing the Council of Europe toolkit on Strategic Municipal Planning adapted to regional planning.
• Ensuring best use of available resources at all levels to build up specific knowledge on budget planning and efficient use though the Council of Europe toolkits on local finance.
• Harmonisation of functions and human resources allocation in the regions, through the implementation of the Council of Europe toolkit on Human Resources Management.

Lithuania is currently seeking to promote regional development and consolidation of local government structures in the context of public administration reform. According to the European Semester’s Country Report Lithuania 2019, Lithuania could benefit from “more interaction between national and local authorities, the social partners and civil society organisations through all stages of policy-making and implementation would improve involvement, ownership and democratic accountability. In particular, local authorities need to be better equipped for developing their integrated territorial development strategies and selecting operations, and to be assisted through the entire process”. At the request of the Government of Lithuania, the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance is helping to address the above issues through implementation of the project “Delivering Good Governance in Lithuania”. The project is funded by the European Commission via the Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS). The project’s two main objectives are:

1. Provide policy advice on Regional Development and on the implementation of the Lithuanian Regional Policy White Paper 2017-2030, through the organisation of the Peer Review.

2. Capacity-building for local authorities, based on the relevant Council of Europe tools in the following areas:

• Strengthen capacity of local authorities to develop inter-municipal cooperation, to deliver economies of scale and promote regional development based on European standards and on the Council of Europe Inter-municipal Cooperation Toolkit.
• Improve citizen participation through development of local strategies for citizen participation, and in line with European Guidelines on civil participation.
• Build institutional leadership skills of mayors and senior local officials, through the Leadership Academy Programme, which will include sessions on good governance, gender mainstreaming, civil participation, inter-municipal and cross-border cooperation.
• Promote the Council of Europe’s Twelve Principles of Good Governance, through benchmarking and implementation of European Label of Governance Excellence.

Read the short narrative report to find out what we achieved together!