15^th Plenary Session of The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) - Videoconference – 3 & 4 June 2021

Speech by Leendert Verbeek, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Session of the 3rd Standing Committee on Dialogue among Civilizations and Human Rights, 3 June 2021, 10:30 – 12:30

[1206 words = 9 minutes]

Dear colleagues,

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean for inviting me to contribute on such an important and topical theme.

As I understand since 2015 PAM has invested heavily, with the support of the United Nations, in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, adaptation to climate change and the issue of migration

These are important themes as well for the Congress of local and regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

I have been spokesperson for the Congress amongst others on the issues of Preventing Radicalisation and Violent Extremism.

For four and a half years I was chair of our monitoring committee and as such participated the plenary meetings of the Venice commission.

Now I am President of our Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe,

I am grateful for the opportunity to present our approach and action with regard to promoting dialogue and human rights.

This theme takes on an even greater significance today, in the very complex current situation of the pandemic that has been affecting us all for more than a year.

The health crisis itself and the numerous challenges it has raised have brought to the forefront the need for better protection of Human rights of our citizens.

At the same time, it has highlighted the need for more global solidarity and more dialogue as a necessary requirement for building trust.

Be it between different groups of society, between citizens and authorities, between different levels of governance or indeed between civilisations.

Dialogue is in fact the cornerstone of democracy which, together with the Rule of law and Human Rights, represent the core values of the Council of Europe, which serve as the basis for sustainable democratic development and democratic security of societies.

Promoting these values across the Mediterranean Sea serves therefore to build a more just, more stable and more sustainable order on both of its shores.

But in the Congress, we are also convinced that there cannot be genuine and sustainable democracy without local democracy, and there cannot be democracy in our local communities without dialogue with citizens – local residents.

We are equally convinced that territorial authorities at local and regional level play a crucial role in defending human rights.

The exercise of human rights is a responsibility shared by all levels of governance, and certainly not the exclusive prerogative of national governments.

On the contrary: local authorities are the actors closest to the citizens and therefore are the best placed to fulfil their needs.

Local and regional authorities have the primary responsibility for the

well-being of their communities, and this responsibility is translated into a wide range of obligations that support the exercise of political, economic, and social rights.

I should also add that territorial authorities have the obligation to ensure equal treatment of all community residents.

Especially vulnerable groups, regardless of their legal status as non-citizens, refugees, migrants or foreign residents,

regardless whether they are women, men, children, elderly or have disabilities,

regardless of their religion, ethnic background, political views or sexual orientation.

Many cities and regions have translated human rights into practice or have implemented human rights-based policies.

Their efforts have borne fruit by bringing stability, social cohesion and growth to their local communities.

Conducting public affairs in an inclusive and not-discriminatory manner,

engaging citizens and civil society,

providing targeted training, streamlining internal communication and exchanging practices with other cities or regional authorities, like today, can be crucial to overcoming problems.

Moreover, the practice has revealed that the daily promotion of human rights does not necessarily require more resources or lead to any legal and technical constraints but can rather generate social and economic growth.

One of the most pertinent recent examples to demonstrate the importance of the promotion and protection of social rights at local and regional levels all over the world is the COVID-19 pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 on social rights has been both significant and multi-faceted, cutting across several social rights categories and going beyond the most obvious effects on the right to health.

 

Local and regional authorities have a crucial role to play, as they are the first and most immediate responders, dealing with most of the shortcomings brought to light by this pandemic.

They are the first and responsible agents for protecting the vulnerable members of their communities.

To respond to this and future crises, local authorities should reinforce their active learning capacities and city-to-city communication and exchange within Europe and beyond.

They should also encourage new forms of city-to-city co-operation on prevention, coping and recovery.

In this regard, the Congress has published a set of Handbooks to support and inspire elected representatives in the concrete implementation of Human rights through the collection of territorial good practices.

They represent an innovative instrument showcasing creative and game-changing ways which can be used to ensure respect for human rights by “thinking outside the box”.

The collection entails three volumes, the third one being drafted as we speak.

The first volume focuses on the right to non-discrimination across three vulnerable categories:

-     refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs);

-     Roma and Travellers;

-     And LGBTI+ persons.

The second volume deals with social rights, and the third volume will address sustainable development and environmental issues, pointing to a clear interdependence with human rights.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As often, territorial authorities have found themselves at the frontline for handling the COVID-crisis.

Yet, this role can only be implemented through meaningful decentralisation, according the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and by ensuring an effective dialogue between all actors from all level of governance, and with the citizens.

We, at the Congress, have stressed on many occasions the need for collaboration between the national and local levels, and firmly recognise the key role that territorial authorities play as the level of government closest to the citizens.

The dialogue and exchanges we promote shall not be limited to the national or European level.

Yes, we recognize the differences in culture between our countries.

These differences affect the way of living, affect the standards and values, but at the same time we consider the principles of our Charter to be universal and applicable in the Mediterranean area as well.

This dialogue must lead to building partnerships, which is at the heart of both the Council of Europe’s policy towards neighbouring regions and the Congress South-Mediterranean Partnership – a co-operation framework established in 2017 for dialogue with the countries of the South Mediterranean.

In this framework, the Congress co-operates closely today with Morocco and Tunisia which benefit from the status of Partner for Local Democracy with the Congress, and we hope to see other countries join in in the future.

We see this work and the important work performed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean as complementary, giving us an opportunity to join forces in bringing together elected representatives and providing them with a platform for dialogue and experience sharing.

I wish you every success in these efforts, fruitful discussions at the session today, and look forward to closer dialogue and co-operation between our two institutions as indeed between the two shores of the Mediterranean.

Thank you for your attention.