The 9th meeting of the European Committee on Democracy and Governance (CDDG) on 28-30 November proved to be an occasion for in-depth exchanges of views and best practices on decentralisation, good governance and democracy. The Director General of Democracy, Snežana Samardžić-Marković, illustrated the close link between democracy, governance and human rights and emphasised that challenges to democracy require smart governance solutions.
The Minister of Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia, Mr Lovro Kuščević, presented the public administration reforms in his country and held an in-depth exchange with the Committee members on measures to enhance the quality and responsiveness of public service at a lower cost through functional and fiscal decentralisation, capacity-building, rationalisation of state agencies and digitisation.
The General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly on local and regional authorities, Mr Jean-Pierre Grin, and the Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Mr Andreas Kiefer, presented recent findings of their respective institutions and best practice in relation to decentralisation and empowering and strengthening local government.
Local government contributes not only to serving local needs but to enhancing all aspects of public administration and the functioning of democratic institutions. All stakeholders involved should be consulted though, including national parliaments and local authorities, while adequate financing for new responsibilities should also be ensured.
As regards decentralisation, the CDDG approved a draft revised recommendation on supervision of local authorities’ action while in terms of good governance a substantial debate was held on the guide on public ethics and measures to implementing public ethics in public organisations.
