“Good democratic governance is crucial to building democracy at local level” said Sigita Ščajevienė, Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania at the International Conference on Democratic Governance and Deliberative Democracy, co-organised by the Lithuanian Ministry of the Interior and the Council of Europe's Centre of Expertise for Good Governance in Vilnius, on 16th November 2023.
Claudia Luciani, Director of Human Dignity, Equality, and Governance of the Council of Europe, recalled that at the recent Summit of Heads of State and Government (16-17 May 2023), the Reykjavík Principles for Democracy were proclaimed as part of the final Reykjavik Declaration, setting a hallmark for democracy as well as a commitment from all 46 member states to “secure and strengthen democracy and good governance at all levels throughout Europe”.
The aim of the Conference was to present and promote the Council of Europe's latest standards on democratic governance, specifically the Recommendation (CM/Rec(2023)5) on the Principles of Good Democratic Governance, with its Explanatory Memorandum, and Recommendation (CM/Rec(2023)6) on Deliberative Democracy. International and national experts discussed the key objectives of these legal instruments, and the importance of their implementation in Lithuania and across Europe. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion, to share insight into relevant experiences and alert on possible challenges with a view to facilitate future implementation of the recommendations. The conference was attended by 120 participants – members of the Parliament, government officials, representatives of the Lithuanian and Polish local authorities, the academic and expert community, and other foreign guests, which helped raise awareness of the Council of Europe standards on democratic governance.
At the end of the conference, an Award Ceremony for the second cycle of the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) was held. Agnė Bilotaitė, Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, stressed the importance of ensuring democratic governance at all levels of government while congratulating all municipalities that have taken part in ELoGE.
The European Label of Governance Excellence is a tool which offers participating municipalities the possibility to undertake a self-evaluation process against a national ELoGE benchmark, later validated through public opinion surveys in the respective municipalities. Municipalities that demonstrate adherence to the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance through their performance are eligible to receive the Label in the form of a crystal dodecahedron engraved with each of the 12 Principles.
