26.10.2011

SPEECH BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 17TH COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONFERENCE FOR LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

Ukrainian house, KYIV, 3 November 2011

Mr President [Mr Yanukovitch]

Mr Chairman [Mr Gryshchenko], Deputy Prime Minister [Mr Tygypko],

President of the Congress,

Ministers,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour to speak at the opening of the 17th session of the European Conference of Ministers Responsible for Local and Regional Government and I would like to thank most warmly the host authorities, as well as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, for the invitation.

This Conference is being held within the framework of the Ukrainian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. As you know, the Assembly gave its full support to the priorities of the Chairmanship and, therefore, we are particularly pleased with the fact that such an important high-level international event was included in the Chairmanship’s programme.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The development of good democratic governance at regional and local level requires co-ordinated action by all bodies and institutions concerned. This conference offers an excellent platform for an inter-institutional dialogue between all Council of Europe bodies involved: the Committee of Ministers and the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress, as well as the Conference of INGOs.

And I very much hope that the current practice of organising such ministerial conferences at regular intervals will continue in future and, in this respect, we count on the support of the forthcoming United Kingdom and Albanian chairmanships.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today’s conference focuses on a very important subject – the situation of local and regional authorities in times of the economic crisis. As we all know very well, the crisis has left many European countries with a legacy of modest growth, weak public finances and persistently high unemployment. Naturally, local and regional authorities are directly affected by the consequences of the crisis.

In this context, national governments have the duty to support regional and local authorities by providing them with the necessary tools and mechanisms to address the effects of the crisis. And the “Kyiv guidelines”, prepared on the basis of the work of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy, in co-operation with the Open Society Institute as well a local government representatives, provide a wealth of recommendations and policy options for governments to take into account. We welcome very much this work which follows-up to the Ministers’ decisions taken in Utrecht in 2009!

Now, it is time to encourage governments to translate these guidelines into their national policies. And I can assure you that the Assembly will be actively supporting this process: as members of national parliaments we will take into account the conclusions of this Conference in our legislative work. Moreover, let me inform you that Sir Alan Meale, Chair of the Assembly’s Sub-committee on local and regional authorities, is preparing a report on the impact of the world economic crisis on local and regional authorities. I am confident that our exchange of views will be most useful for Sir Alan Meale’s work.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and friends,

The protection and promotion of human rights is “core business” of the Council of Europe. It is a multi-dimensional activity, where both national, as well as local and regional authorities, have a role to play. Therefore, I am glad that this Conference will address this issue.

Today, a great majority of public services delivered by local authorities are in fact essential for giving everyday meaning to human rights. This Conference provides an excellent opportunity to discuss how central, as well as regional and local authorities, can work together in order to implement human rights at regional and local levels. In this context, the Congress’ Resolutions and Recommendations, as well as the Report of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy on Human Rights at local level, contain a lot of ideas which will feed the discussion.

For my part, let me highlight two issues which we should take into account in our work.

Firstly, our actions should aim at strengthening local and regional authorities’ capacities for the implementation of their competences, including in the field of delivering human rights. In this respect, experience-sharing and exchange of best practices could be a powerful tool to achieve this objective.

Secondly, the issue of promotion of human rights at local and regional level must be seen from an inter-institutional perspective and all Council of Europe bodies concerned, and in particular the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress, should seek to make best use of their respective competences and strengths, in order to foster synergies and avoid duplications of efforts. And I am sure that our discussion will help us identify concrete initiatives in this respect.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Finally, allow me to stress that the Parliamentary Assembly fully supports policies aiming at fostering transfrontier co-operation between local and regional authorities.

Transfrontier co-operation gives the possibility to local and regional authorities to contribute directly to the process of European integration, by developing joint projects and harmonising policy approaches. It is also a powerful tool to share local and regional experiences within the European continent but also with our neighbours.

In this respect, I am sure that local and regional authorities should play a key role in transferring our expertise in the field of democracy and human rights to their counterparts in the Southern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia, where democratic transformations are ongoing. And I can assure you that the Parliamentary Assembly will fully support initiatives in this field, including through our new status of Partnership for Democracy which we have already granted to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco and to the Palestinian National Council.

Ladies and gentlemen,

And now I would like to wish us all a very successful conference as well as a very nice stay in Kyiv! Thank you very much for your attention.