“The current Congress priorities for 2021-2026 put an emphasis on environmental and social sustainability, digital revolution, as well as citizen engagement,” stressed Jelena Drenjanin (EPP/CCE), Chair of the Congress Governance Committee, at the 15th plenary meeting of the European Committee on Democracy and Governance (CDDG) on 22 April 2022. She mentioned, in particular, the report on the use of deliberative methods in European municipalities and regions, adopted by the Congress in March 2022, which provides practical guidance and concrete examples to municipalities and regions and could serve as a useful contribution to the CDDG's current reflection on deliberative democracy. “Deliberative methods complement local representative democracy making it more resilient by enhancing citizens’ impact on policy-making. They contribute to increase transparency in policy decisions and trust in democracy at the local and regional level,” she said.

Ms Drenjanin highlighted other potential areas for cooperation between the Congress and the CDDG such as good democratic governance, multi-level governance, green public administration, cross-border cooperation, and Covid-19 crisis. She also mentioned three thematic reports being prepared by the Governance Committee in view of their adoption by the Congress in October 2022, which could be of interest to the CDDG: “Regional identities: improving dialogue to reduce regional tensions”, “The impact of hate speech and fake news on the working conditions of local and regional elected representatives”, and “Smart cities and smart regions”.

See also :

• Report Beyond elections: The use of deliberative methods in European municipalities and regions
• CDDG to discuss democratic governance and deliberative democracy

The European Committee on Democracy and Governance (CDDG) is the Council of Europe intergovernmental structure where high-level officials from the 46 member States meet to share information about policy and best practice, as well as to develop or update standards, in the fields of modernisation of democratic institutions, public administration reform, citizens’ participation and democratic governance at all levels.