Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 25th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview I. Local Government Author(s) Antonella Valmorbida ALDA (European Association for Local Democracy) Brussels Belgium Title About the Potential of Local Governments and Community Approach as a Tool for a Strengthened Cooperation between the European Union and Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Antonella Valmorbida Abstract The system of local governments in countries of the EaP and in Russia is among the institutional changes and innovation that followed the end of the Soviet Union. By joining the Council of Europe , these countries - with the exception of Belarus - have engaged in a process of decentralisation and creation of local governments. This institutional setting was mostly realized from 1990 to 2005. They all ratified, with some relevant limitations, the European Charter on Local Self Government of the Council of Europe. The Congress of the Council of Europe is regularly carrying out monitoring of the implementation of the Charter. With hopes met and those missed, the process of consolidation of local governments and local democracy are among the aims of the European Union (but not only) policies in the regions mentioned above. It seems that this vision of the future of the Eastern Partnership countries is not questioned even though difficult to be achieved. The Russian case is more complicated since this country is not part of the Eastern Partnership process. Russia remains though a member of the Council of Europe, which has ratified the European Charter on Local Self Government. Local governments as actors of cooperation between EaP/Russia and EU stakeholders Contacts and cooperation between local governments and communities from the European Union and the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia already exist thanks to different forms of cooperation: some are more old fashioned, like the well known institutional city-twinning, some are more actual like community development and decentralised cooperation. The funding allocated for this cooperation can be either local and regional (directly coming from the partners involved) or from the national and international institutions. The EU programmes are also sponsoring and focusing on this kind of cooperation with precise programmes and funding. The programmes regard both the democratic aspect of the governance (ie. how to engage with citizens and associations) and the technical functioning of local government (ie. How provide services to citizens, how to develop a plan for urbanisation, pilot projects for one stop shop in local governments, etc.). The territorial cooperation promoted by the EU is also providing good basis for the community-to-community approach (ie. Cross Boarder Cooperation programmes, EGTC for EaP) . The added value of this cooperation has been highlighted in the recent publication of the Local Democracy Library of ALDA. It includes a very good ratio between results and financial investments (since it engages often more human capital and other sources of knowledge than financial support) and a capacity of direct relationship between communities, bypassing more structural divisions both cultural (prejudices) and practical (these communities would rarely have the chance to meet and know from others if not through these programmes). A valuable element to be highlighted is the potentiality of decentralised cooperation and community cooperation to open possibilities of contacts and cooperation, which are substantially by passing more “highly political and sensitive” settings. It creates a constant level of cooperation between people with exchanges, day-to-day work, groups of students and community approach, which is avoiding blockades of suspicion and, sometimes, fear. • To study the full potential of the cooperation (opportunities and problems) between local governments and communities in the EU and the local governments and communities in Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia. • Identify practices and experiences existing so that to have a qualitative and quantitative in Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia. • To identify the necessary conditions to be met for empowering this cooperation both from the EU and from the EaP and Russian side. • To develop recommendations
