29.09.2008

Address by Yavuz MILDON

President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

of the Council of Europe

on the occasion of the fourth part of the 2008 Ordinary Session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

(Strasbourg, 29 September 2008)

Mr President,

Distinguished members of the Parliamentary Assembly,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

“Show me your friends, and I will tell you who you are”. This phrase springs to mind as I am addressing you, fellow elected representatives, for the first time since my election as President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. The Congress has always been a good friend and a reliable partner of the Parliamentary Assembly in upholding and developing democracy on our continent, and it is a great honour for me to speak to you today to reaffirm our commitment to this close and productive relationship.

Our partnership is only natural since we are two assemblies of representatives elected by the people, elected at different levels of governance to be guardians of popular will and democratic values adhered to by our citizens.

Our partnership is also natural because the predecessor of the Congress was actually created, back in 1957, at the behest of your Parliamentary Assembly, which proposed to convene the European Conference of Local Authorities in support of democratic efforts at local level. From this vantage point, we are your brainchild, and this parental link is reflected in complementarity of our activities which passes through the entire history of our cooperation. Indeed, we are there to make sure that political action at pan-European and national level rests on the solid foundation of local and regional democracy, that our drive to build participatory democracy begins and resounds in our communities, that citizens’ involvement in democratic processes thrives, and their expectations are met, in our cities and in our regions.

The need for synergy between our two assemblies has become even more evident since the Warsaw Summit of Council of Europe Heads of State and Government, in May 2005, which set the course for more democracy at all levels, reaffirming democracy as the main priority of this Organisation and, in this context, the importance of local and regional democratic development.

Its comes as no surprise that, as two democratic pillars of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress are in the forefront of monitoring the development of democracy on our continent and ensuring respect of commitments by member states.

The Congress, as the voice of more than 200,000 territorial communities in Europe, has a great deal to contribute to Assembly activities, drawing on the experience, innovative approaches and best practices of authorities in the field. The range of issues, where our action and our acquis complement each other, is truly vast –

Congress’ monitoring reports and fact-finding missions supplement the Assembly’s monitoring activities as far as local and regional democracy is concerned, and the same can be said of observation of local and regional elections;

our tools and mechanisms to assess the state and development of local and regional self-government, which the Congress elaborated as the unique European body charged with ensuring the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, are at your disposal to have a complete picture of national situations;

our legal expertise of national laws on local and regional democracy helps to bring legislative practice into conformity with European standards.

This is not to mention activities in other areas, some of which used to be the domain of national governments but are increasingly transferred towards and shared with local and regional level. I am talking about sustainable development, social cohesion, culture and education, energy consumption, management of water resources, protection of the environment – this list is long. This expanding scope of competences of territorial authorities means at the same the larger scope of potential cooperation between our two assemblies.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the years, the ever growing political and economic prominence of local and regional communities has reinforced the role of the Congress and its place in the European political architecture. The Congress has become the truly pan-European watchdog of and spokesman for territorial democracy, willing and able to defend the rights of our citizens, within our communities, but also at the national and even international level.

The Committee of Ministers recognised this reinforced political role and the Congress’ position in the institutional balance of the Council of Europe by adopting, in May 2007, the new Congress Charter. The latest plenary session of the Congress, in May this year, was the first organised according to the new Charter. It was indeed a session of Congress’ renewal, renewal of its membership and leadership, and the last before the Congress begins holding two plenary sessions a year as from 2009. But it was also an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to advancing local democracy, in partnership with our staunch and long-standing allies, such as the Parliamentary Assembly.

This was also the first session at which a new requirement for all Congress’ delegations, stipulated in the new Charter, came into force – the requirement of a minimum of 30 per cent of the under-represented sex – clearly, women – in each national delegation. Here, too, we are also in synch with the Assembly in the efforts to increase the representation of women in our institutions, and I am proud to say that all Congress’ delegations complied with this new provision. Our next goal must be to get even closer to 50 – 50 per cent - equal representation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Cooperation between the Congress and the Parliamentary Assembly has been increasing over the years along with the growing number of issues of our common concern. This cooperation takes various forms – consultations to align our positions, support for each other’s initiatives, joint contributions to Council of Europe campaigns – for example, the campaign to combat violence against women – or joint activities such as conferences on transfrontier and interregional cooperation.

I should point out in particular our close cooperation on regionalisation in Europe, with Assembly rapporteur on the subject and good friend of the Congress Lluis Maria de Puig, who is now your new President. I look forward to continuing our cooperation with you, Mr President, and with other members of the Assembly – I am referring to, for example, Luc van den Brande, with whom we also have especially close relations and who is currently President of the EU Committee of the Regions, Congress’ partner within the European Union.

Regions are clearly one area where our interests coincide directly. Many national parliaments in Europe have regional representation or the second chamber; a growing number of countries have regions with legislative power; still others are in the process of developing regional structures. Ever since the regional dimension was added to the activities of the Conference of Local Authorities, the Congress’ predecessor, making it Conference of Local and Regional Authorities in 1975, regionalisation has been high on our political agenda, reflecting the growing power and importance of regions in many Council of Europe member states and the strengthening of regional democracy on our continent.

The work of the Congress in this area resulted in the European Charter of Regional Democracy, adopted at the plenary session in May 2008 after a long period of elaboration and consultations. On behalf of the Congress, I wish to thank the Parliamentary Assembly and particularly its President, Lluis Maria de Puig, for the support which you gave to this project, which has now been submitted to the Committee of Ministers. We count on your support in convincing national governments of the expediency of such a legal instrument.

Apart from being the first legal text laying down the tenets of regional democracy, the Charter reaffirms respect for territorial integrity as one of its main principles, and offers a variety of models for regional autonomy, which could also be used in settling territorial disputes. One of the main debates at your session this week deals with consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, which was set off exactly because of unresolved territorial disputes. We in the Congress strongly believe that alternatives of peaceful settlement, using regional autonomy as an option, were not exhausted in the case of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Congress Bureau discussed the current situation in the conflict zone on 19 September, and we will come back to it at our autumn session on 2 December. Among other things, the Bureau called for the launch of negotiations on the status of disputed territories.

We are convinced that flexible models of regional autonomy constitute a sound alternative to conflict, and I could use as an example the status of Gagauzia in the Republic of Moldova, which the Congress helped to negotiate. [In this regard, I welcome discussions scheduled at this session with the President of Cyprus and the Leader of the Turkish Cypriot Community, in the hope that it will be another step towards a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem. The example of Abkhazia and South Ossetia showed that “frozen” conflicts will not remain cold for ever.] However, the new Charter of Regional Democracy will serve first and foremost to preserve and enhance regional identity and development in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The limited time does not allow me to touch upon all different matters where our cooperation has been constructive and fruitful, and the challenges facing our societies today which require our coordinated response. But I am convinced that together we will find solutions which take into account concerns of all citizens, starting from grassroots level. Let me assure you that during my term of office as President of the Congress, I will seek to widen and deepen our cooperation, cooperation between two assemblies of elected representatives for the sake of democracy and for the benefit of our citizens – for the benefit of Europe. The Congress is the first European institution in which a Turkish national was elected to the chair and, believe me, I have never felt more European.

Thank you.