1022nd meeting – 26 March 2008

Item 2.4

15th session of the Conference of European Ministers responsible for local and regional government

(Valencia, 15-16 October 2007) − Report by the Secretary General

(CM(2008)14, CM(2008)14-add, GR-DEM(2008)CB4-rev)

Decisions

The Deputies,

Having considered the report of the Secretary General on the 15th session of the Conference of European Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government (document CM(2008)14), to which the Valencia Declaration is appended,

As concerns the implementation of the Budapest Agenda

1.         noted that the Ministers had reviewed the challenges, objectives and actions set out in the Budapest Agenda (as appended to the Valencia Declaration, Appendix II);

2.         reaffirmed their commitment to the Budapest Agenda as the basis for intergovernmental co-operation in the field of local and regional democracy, in particular that to be carried out by the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR);

As concerns democratic participation and public ethics at local and regional level


3
.         took note of the Ministers' strong political support for finalising an additional protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government setting out the right to participation in public life at local level, and look forward to the completion of the CDLR's work and to receiving a draft text;

As concerns the Strategy on Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level

4.         noted that the Ministers had approved the Council of Europe Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level and that the Congress, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe had expressed their support for the Strategy;

5.         noted that the CDLR, at its 40th meeting in December 2007, during its examination of the proposed Strategy, did not identify any issues in need of clarification or further elaboration before its adoption;

6.         adopted the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level and set up the Stakeholders’ Platform with the task of following and giving guidance to the implementation of the Strategy by the Walloon region of Belgium, Bulgaria, Norway and Spain, who have already agreed to implement it, and of further developing it, including by drawing up guidelines, in the light of experience, with a view to further countries taking up the Strategy in the years to come;

7.         agreed that the respective stakeholders shall bear the expense of participation of their representatives on the Stakeholders’ Platform and noted that other costs will be covered by existing appropriations in the current budget;

8.         noted that proposals for the funding of the Strategy in 2009 will be submitted in the framework of the examination of the ordinary budget for 2009;

9.         invited the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress, the CDLR and the Conference of INGOs to appoint two persons each before 30 April 2008;


10.       agreed to appoint two members on behalf of the Committee of Ministers at their 1025th meeting

(30 April 2008);

11.       invited all member states to seek to achieve the good governance outcomes of the Strategy, either by adopting the tools made available through it or by taking other appropriate measures which may include drawing on or pursuing existing initiatives or action for continuously improving governance at local level;

As concerns the European Local Democracy Week

12.       welcomed the launch of the European Local Democracy Week;

13.       invited member states and their local authorities across Europe to be part of this initiative as from 2008;

As concerns the preparation of a report on the ways and means by which the work of the Council of Europe on local and regional democracy can be enhanced

14.       noted with satisfaction that the Ministers have entrusted their colleague, Ms Mari Kiviniemi of Finland, with the task of preparing, in her personal capacity and in consultation with other colleagues who are interested and ready to engage in this activity, a report on the ways and means by which the work of the Council of Europe on local and regional democracy can be enhanced, including in its relations with other international structures and organisations, in particular the European Union and the OECD;

15.       wished Ms Kiviniemi success in the performance of her mission and expressed their readiness to meet her for an exchange of views on the role of the Council of Europe in the field of local and regional democracy;

16.       noted that the Secretary General would provide such assistance and information to Ms Kiviniemi as she may require, within the existing structures of the Secretariat and budgetary appropriations;

As concerns the Valencia Declaration as a whole

17.       having regard to decisions 1 to 16 above, took note of the report of the Secretary General, as it appears in document CM(2008)14 as a whole.