News

from the Independent

and Liberal Democrat
Group
Newsletter - December 2014
With warm seasons greetings!
Maria Bigday, Secretary of the ILDG

In the issue:

-------------------------------

Address by the President

Address by Marc Cools, President of ILDG
Marc Cools, UccleBrussels
Recent Appointments

ILDG shares experience:

Alexandru Ambros
- Ungheni, Moldova

Volodymyr Udovychenko
-Slavutych, Ukraine

ILDG: United by values

The Independent, Liberal and Democrat Group
(ILDG) currently brings together 91 members from
31 Council of Europe member states. This is the
third largest group in the Congress of Local and
Regional Authorities. We occupy a central position.
We are neither conservatives, nor socialists. We are
united by humanist values, based on the ideas of
freedom and democracy.

On 13 October, the members of our group entrusted

me with the duty to preside the ILDG. I thank them
for their trust. I see my role in representing our group
Jaroslav Hlinka
- Koice-Juh, Slovakia and coordinating its work. I am also thankful to my predecessor Knud Andersen
for his commitment to our group. Earlier this year, after a long time of fruitful work
in the Congress, Mr Andersen decided to leave our organisation.
Making the Congress

work:

I wish that as many group members as possible take active part in the work of the
Congress. Therefore I encourage members to become rapporteurs, take the floor
in debates, formulate proposals or be part of election observation missions I am
Farid Mukhametshin
- Tatarstan, Russia at your disposal for any question or proposal that you might have regarding the
work of our group or the Congress.

Raymond Svensson
- Haninge, Sweden

Agenda

One of the highlights of the 27th session of the Congress, taking place from 14 to
16 October 2014, was the debate around the role and the place of youth in
todays society with the participation of youth delegates from 35 different
countries. This initiative has proven to be a very interesting one and must
definitely be continued. We, as members of the ILDG, could also more actively
involve the young people in the decision-making on the regional and local level. I
propose to take contact with young democrats and liberals in our countries in
order to share information about our work, about the work of the Council of
Europe, and hear what they would like to share with us.
The weight of our group inside the Congress depends on how many members we
have. Therefore I would like to encourage all those who share our values to join
the ILDG. I ask the group members to take contact with their colleagues in
national delegations and convince them to join our work.
I hope you will enjoy a wonderful holiday season in the different parts of our big
Europe.
Marc Cools
President of ILDG

Recent appointments

New composition of the Bureau and Recent Appointments

ILDG Bureau:
President :

Marc Cools, Uccle-Brussels, Belgium

Vice-Presidents:

Alexandru Ambros, Ungheni, Moldova

Nigel Mermagen, Somerset, United Kingdom

Gabriele Neff, Munich, Germany

Viacheslav Rogov, Pokrov, Russia

Vice-Presidents of the Congress Chambers:

Nataliya Romanova, Chernihiv, Ukraine, Vice-President of the
Chamber of Regions

Jaroslav Hlinka, Koice-Juh, Slovakia, Vice-President of the

Chamber of Local Authorities

Committee appointments:
Monitoring Committee:

Nigel Mermagen, Vice-President (Somerset, UK)

Governance Committee:

Annemieke Traag, Vice-President

(Gelderland, the Netherlands)

Frida Johansson Metso, Vice-President

(Stockholm, Sweden)

Viacheslav Rogov, Vice-President

(Pokrov, Russia)
Current Affairs Committee:

Farid Mukhametshin, President (Tatarstan, Russia)

Volodymyr Udovichenko, Vice-President

(Slavutych, Ukraine)

Malcolm Byrne, Vice-President (Wexford

County, Ireland)

Congress/Committee of the Regions Contact group

Member: Alexandru Ambros, Ungheni, Moldova
Substitute: Nigel Mermagen, Somerset, United Kingdom
Back

Alexandru Ambros
Ungheni: European
funding

European funding
Alexandru Ambros
Vice-President of ILDG
Mayor of Ungheni, Republic of Moldova
By signing the Association Agreement with
the European Union the Republic of Moldova
reinforced its commitment to improve social
and economic life and to get closer to the EU
standards through joint efforts of all citizens.
We have to build Europe at home, in cities
where we live, by following the European
standards of democracy and welfare for all
citizens. The local authorities of Ungheni,
together with the civil society, understand it
and have joined their efforts in order to
improve the standard of living, including by
attracting European funds and by preparing
the community for integration into the EU. We
are now getting the first positive results.
All started with a very interesting initiative,
which envisaged on the one hand, the creation of an effective mechanism for attracting
and mobilising financial resources for the local needs, and on the other hand, the initiation
of a community school aimed at encouraging the development and submission of projects
for solving local issues. Thereby, in 2008 a Community Foundation was set up in Ungheni
and since then it has managed to administer 12 grant programmes, financing 104 small
projects with a value of more than 140.000 Euros. This community school of project
development has given the local NGOs and initiative groups the opportunity to strengthen
the capacity of identifying the local problems, finding reasonable solutions, looking for
appropriate partners and co-financing sources and gaining skills in budget planning.
Moreover, the local NGOs and initiative groups that received financial support from the
Ungheni Community Foundation have gained a rich experience in project implementation,
narrative and financial reporting, assuring sustainability and visibility of different projects.
The enhanced capabilities of the civil society regarding the elaboration and implementation
of small projects motivated the community to use the available European funding.
Things have moved on. From small projects, funded by the Ungheni Town Hall through the
Community Foundation, we passed to larger projects, financed by the European Union. In
the last four years 109 projects have been implemented in Ungheni with the help of
external funding of over 6.5 million Euros. These projects have had a significant impact on
the socio-economic development of the town. For instance, this year thanks to the
European funds we have created a Citizens Information Centre and developed a General
Urban Plan of Ungheni (the first of the kind in Moldova). Another project funded by the EU
is aimed at improving the towns road traffic system through modernisation and by making
it safer.
European funding helps the local authorities of Ungheni to be efficient in modernising the
town by making better use of local resources, attracting investments, integrating into the
European and national competitive space, reviving local traditions, improving the quality of
life and getting closer to the mission of Ungheni to become a European town.

Back

Volodymyr
Udovichenko
Slavutych:
civil society and
the state

From civil society to an efficient state

Volodymyr Udovichenko
Vice-President of the Current Affairs Committee in the Congress
Mayor of the town of Slavutych, Ukraine
Democracy and civil society begin at the local
level. In Europe today we work to enhance the
principles of the European Charter of Local SelfGovernment and participatory democracy, we
wish to elaborate effective mechanisms of
citizens participation in the governance of their
cities, towns, communities - and thus their
countries.
Where to start? I think in Ukraine we must begin
with the ideas that would unite our society. I
would like to present the example of the town of
Slavutych. Having found itself in a very difficult
situation following the shutdown of the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant and the loss of many jobs,
Slavutych has developed and implemented a
number of socioeconomic and environmental
programmes which have allowed us to keep the town together for many years.
Our town implements the 12 principles of good democratic governance at local level and the
Code of ethics, honour, decency, fair and effective governance of the Slavutych territorial
community. The towns youth policies are meant to improve the standard of living and the
quality of life. Every year Slavutych hosts the International environmental forum and the World
economic forum for young people. The Festival of youth democracy, television, press and arts
Slavutych golden autumn has just closed its 21st edition.
Since 1996 the Public council on urban development works to enhance dialogue with the civil
society. This is, so to say, a permanently functioning Maidan of Slavutich, i.e. an agora
where decisions are elaborated without conflicts and revolutions: we focus on finding
solutions to local problems. The council meets every Monday at 6 p.m. Among those who
take part in the meetings are local councillors and the executive committee, members of local
associations, political parties, confessions, active youth and other citizens. This council plays
the leading role in the elaboration of a democratic mechanism of governance. I am convinced
that local participatory democracy is the basis for civil society and the state.
A youth city council Future of Slavutych has been functioning since 2002 alongside the
professional town council. This elected body of student governance defends the interests of
students and contributes to decision-making concerning the life of Slavutychs youth. The
young people also take active part in the annual European local democracy week. The youth
council has initiated the building of a skate park and a field for football and other physical
exercises. Twice a year the city council of Slavutych holds joint sessions with the youth
council.
In order to increase the efficiency of cooperation between the local authorities and the citizens
in such areas as the standard of living and comfort in Slavutych, since 2012 we are carrying
out a programme called a hundred of small things. This programme supports a series of
relatively inexpensive projects, such as side-walks maintenance, installation of ramps for
wheelchairs and baby strollers, bicycle lanes, lawns, etc.
A volunteer movement actively works in Slavutych since recently. I talk about voluntary free of
charge social activism mostly involving young people. They help new military conscripts and
their families; they support the IDPs from the east of the country; they collect money, warm
clothes, shoes, food and organize the distribution of this humanitarian aid. They also help to
buy necessary ammunition for soldiers participating in the anti-terrorist operation in the east of
Ukraine.
Today most people in Slavutych live with the very clear and simple philosophy: the way
Slavutych will be, the way Ukraine will be, depends on every one of us. Such an approach
serves as the basis for cooperation in our town and the whole country too, because Ukraine is
made of villages, towns, cities and regions, and all of them make up one country.
Back

Jaroslav Hlinka
Economic crisis and centralisation in Slovakia
Slovakia: economic
crisis and
centralisation

Jaroslav Hlinka
Vice-President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, ILDG Bureau member
Mayor of the City District Koice-Juh, Slovak Republic
The economic and financial crisis had a serious
impact on all European countries. On the one hand
we passed regulations stimulating economic
growth, and on the other tried to stabilise public
finances by reducing spending. Inevitably, the crisis
also affected local authorities who suffer significant
decrease in income and have been forced to adjust
their spending accordingly.
In Slovakia, the financial crisis launched a
discussion about rearrangement of financial
relations between central and local administration.
Several solutions proposed in this debate were based on a rather inaccurate perception of
the wealth of the Slovak cities and municipalities. These discussions had been encouraged
by the Constitutional law on budgetary responsibility passed in December 2011. As the aim
of the law was to meet both the deficit and debt aspects of the Euro convergence criteria, it
stipulated different levels of budgetary restrictions on central, regional and local
administrations according to the amount of the official state debt. The Constitutional law,
alongside with the rising debt of the Slovak Republic, has forced the central government to
cut not only its own expenses, but also those of other levels of public administration.
Accordingly, a Memorandum on cooperation between the Government of the Slovak
Republic and the Association of Towns and Communities of Slovakia was signed in 2012.
By signing this document, the Slovak cities and municipalities have committed themselves
to stabilise public finances by decreasing their debt and spending and by coordinating
budgetary policies between the central and local governments.
At the same time the Memorandum gave the central government a lever to influence local
administration. The central government has used this opportunity to lay the blame on local
authorities for Slovakias inability to decrease its debt and proposed measures to punish
or more precisely fine the non-cooperative local authorities, for example by lowering
financial transfers from the state.
This is just one example of ramping centralisation in Slovakia. This tendency for
centralisation is based, according to the opinion of Slovak local authorities, on a completely
wrong assumption that the central government is a reliable manager, while other levels of
public administration are undisciplined or even inept to manage their finances responsibly.
Representatives of cities and municipalities are hearing on regular basis even from the
highest echelons of the state administration that local authorities are to be held
responsible for high debts. This attitude is clearly rejected by the Association of Towns and
Communities of Slovakia which has committed itself to stabilise public finances. But it will
only do so as a partner, as an independent and legitimate representative of citizens, as the
level of public administration much closer to the citizens than the central government.
The economic and financial crisis has struck Slovak cities and municipalities very hard.
They are struggling to maintain the bare minimum of services that have to be provided by
local authorities. The crisis has led to cuts in spending and that is understandable. What
we cannot understand are the attempts to abuse this situation in order to limit the powers
of the local authorities, and what is even more troublesome to harm the legitimacy of
the public administration as a whole. If we agree that the crisis is a complex issue, its
remedy requires cooperation of a vast range of stakeholders. The solution should not be
based on centralisation leaving no room for participation of other levels of public
administration and more importantly the citizens.
We ought to view this crisis as an opportunity to establish new forms of cooperation
between different organisations and find new, more efficient tools for public administration,
including local authorities. How successfully we will have weathered out the crisis will not
be measured by how fast we return to the previous state, but by what lessons we learn
from it.
Back

Farid Mukhametshin

Current affairs committee: work on essential issues

Work in the Current

affairs committee

Farid Mukhametshin
Chair of the Current Affairs Committee
Chairman of the State Council (Parliament) of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia)
The multi-faceted activities of the Congress are aimed at
developing democratic principles, protecting human rights
and the rule of law, promoting the European cultural
diversity and the inter-cultural dialogue. Over the years, the
Congress has followed the historic road to building a
modern partnership in Europe. Members of the Congress
local and regional representatives of 47 Member States
work to reinforce the pan-European platform for meaningful
discussions and elaborate balanced decisions in the name
of peace and sustainable development.
Life does not stand still, and some years ago the Congress
has paved the way to its in-depth institutional and
administrative reform. In 2011 the Congress agreed on its
renewed internal structure with its three new committees
(Monitoring Committee, Governance Committee and
Current Affairs Committee).
During the 27th Session of the Congress, colleagues
supported by an absolute majority my re-election for the second term as Chairman of the
Current Affairs Committee. In our Committee meetings we deal with such crucial topics as
Local and regional authorities responding to the economic crisis, Integration through selfemployment: promoting migrant entrepreneurship in European municipalities, Migrants
access to regional labour markets, Empowering Roma youth through participation:
effective policy design at local and regional levels, etc. We have initiated the European
Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion and actively contributed to the
implementation of the ONE in FIVE campaign.
We have mastered a number of new working methods. We have noticeably intensified
collaboration with national delegations through thematic questionnaires which substantially
help with the preparation of the Committees reports, resolutions, and recommendations.
The Committee members have become more interested in our work and make proposals
on a number of new reports.
I hope we would further promote this approach. Following the initiative of Mr Johan van
den Hout (Netherlands, R, SOC) and Mr Jean-Louis Testud (France, L, EPP/CCE) we are
to discuss such important issues as Championing childrens rights in times of austerity
and Fighting the increasing poverty of women: the responsibility of local and regional
authorities.
On our prospective agenda are the points on Partnership with civil society to foster active
citizenship and implementation of the Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the
Decision-Making Process by Rapporteur Raymond Svensson (Sweden, L, ILDG), on
Local and regional authorities and new forms of youth participation in representative,
direct, participatory, deliberative and counter democracy by Rapporteur Natalia Pilius
(Russian Federation, L, ILDG), on Womens participation in political life at local and
regional levels: good practices in members States and Congress action by Rapporteur
Inger Linge (Sweden, R, EPP/CCE).
I am confident that such a broad range of issues being discussed within the Current Affairs
Committee will facilitate further progress on the above-mentioned topics in the Council of
Europe Member States.

Back

Raymond Svensson

Partnership between local and regional authorities and civil society to

foster active citizenship and citizen participation

Cooperation with
civil society

Raymond Svensson
Councillor, Haninge Municipal Council, Sweden
A reflection group between the Congress
and the Council of Europe Conference of
INGOs has been working for a year to
contribute to the report on Partnerships
between local and regional authorities
and civil society to foster active
citizenship and citizen participation which
I will have the honour to present.
This summer we sent out a questionnaire
asking you to share with us your
experience of relations between your
local or regional authority and civil society organisations aiming for active citizenship in
your localities. Unfortunately, we have received only a very limited number of replies, which
makes a conclusive analysis based on these replies difficult. One reason might be that
summer is not the best season to do surveys, but I think this also indicates that perhaps
our members knowledge of this issue is limited and they might have feared not to be able
to answer the questions. In any event, I would like to thank those of you who have replied
to the questionnaire.
Our experts have produced a first draft of the report that I presented in the Current Affairs
Committee in October. I would like to inform you very briefly where we are. As you know,
the background of this initiative is the Code of good practice for civil participation in the
decision-making process adopted by the Conference of INGOs in 2009. In our report we
are reviewing the experience of implementing the Code: what has already been
accomplished and learned, which countries use the Code, and what tools have been
developed in line with the participatory democracy methodology. I have a few remarks at
this stage.
The Code seems to be perceived as a theoretical document and an analytical tool. It is not
understood as a practical document providing ideas about how to actually implement the
concept. Four countries have carried out projects to implement the Code: Montenegro,
Serbia, Slovenia and Sweden. Although the results vary, the Code seems to be working in
different national environments. For example, in Serbia, civil society organisations have
little knowledge about the existing mechanisms for citizens participation and when they do,
the question is how to motivate them to use these instruments. The biggest problem is the
lack of funds for activities of local NGOs. In Sweden, the Code works well as a description
of the interaction between the authorities and the civil society and can be used as a tool;
however, it is too abstract and requires more concrete examples.
We can say that although there is an agreement to review the Code, there are also many
good reasons why we should hold on to it. The Code helps to build a bridge between
participatory processes and the formal decision-making procedure. There is an urgent
need to spread and to deepen the knowledge of the background and of the driving forces
for the Code both as regards its contents and practical implementation.

In March I will make some recommendations, including the following:

the Code is an important tool, but it has to be modified in a way to make it more
useful and user-friendly for local and regional authorities; the current Promotion
and implementation strategy and the assessment phase have to be reviewed and
updated;
the work on translation of the current Code needs to be continued and the version
for visually-impaired persons has to be developed to make it easy to read;
we should aim at recruiting actors from both local and regional authorities and the
civil society who will serve as the ambassadors of the Code in each country;
we need to set up a follow-up committee with members representing both the civil
society and the Congress;

we need to create incentives for increased participation such as organising a major

event that can serve as an inspiration to implement the Code and setting up a
European prize to stimulate and pay attention to local and regional examples of
positive collaboration.

Finally, I would like to say that our report and the work done by the reflection group is not
only a good example of fruitful collaboration with INGOs, but also has the potential for
launching Congresss action for citizen participation for the coming years.
If you have questions or remarks on this topic, please send me an email:
raymond.svensson@centerpartiet.se
Back

Agenda

Tel: +33 3 88412682

Bureau of the Congress: 2 February 2015, Strasbourg

Bureau of the Congress: 23 March 2015, Strasbourg
ILDG meetings: 23 March 2015; 19 October 2015
28th Plenary Session: 24-26 March 2015
29th Plenary Session: 20-22 October 2015

maria.bigday@coe.int
ILDG-GILD

UH

Fax: +33 3 88 41 37 61