By Andros Karagiannis *:
An international conference entitled "Inter-municipal cooperation and good governance: Cypriot and European experience" was recently held, attended and addressed by representatives of the Local Government from Cyprus and abroad.
Remarkable were the statements of several representatives of European countries, who sent the strong message that local government is a democratic space, which speaks to the ordinary citizen. The representative of Ireland focused on the need to find ways of cooperating with joint services in local government that will aim at strengthening local government and administration. He also stressed the need to strengthen the long-term role of local government and the decentralization of the system by the central government to further improve service delivery leading to local decision-making and service innovation through efficiency, effectiveness and accountability control. .
The representative of the French Ministry of the Interior referred to the strong system of local democracy in his country, due to the existence of several municipalities and communities, thus giving the opportunity to involve and elect citizens in the local councils. The merger of Municipalities completed, proved to be a failure, after it took two hundred years after the French Revolution to realize that some municipalities could not cooperate. He also advised us to start merging municipalities / communities slowly and not to insist on rushing. If it does not succeed, we must stop, he concluded, a proposal full of messages for us here in Cyprus.
In Switzerland, it is important that elected officials are directly elected by the communities to promote stable democracy through public participation, while the good functioning of local government in Poland has brought several changes to the country's image. Local authorities have set common goals for bilateral cooperation between municipalities and communities to promote local problems and improve the quality of life of citizens.
In Austria, voluntary mergers of municipalities have started in the last five years, while others have been done by law, thus strengthening the expansion of cooperation between small and large municipalities.
The European representatives of the Local Government placed special emphasis on financial autonomy, the utilization of the suggestions of the local authorities, the creation of consortia and the democratic dialogue between all the bodies involved in the preparation of bills.
The European Charter of Local Self-Government also highlights the need to safeguard and strengthen local government and its contribution to the creation of a Europe based on the principles of democracy and decentralization. The need for local authorities endowed with democratically-minded decision-making bodies and broad autonomy is also recognized.
The report of the Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe recognizes the need to constitutionally enshrine local authorities for local self-government, local democracy and more local government functions, such as schools, consumer protection or municipal police. In order to carry out the tasks, there is a suggestion for the provision of staff and technical facilities by the central government, which controls the approval of the budget of the local authorities, something that should be abolished.
Also illustrative are the conclusions reached by the 121st Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions, which discussed the need to restore the confidence of the European Union with the help of regions and cities in a united Europe with its citizens. . In the resolution voted for the future of Europe, European local authorities call on the European Union to provide effective and timely solutions to the great challenges facing municipalities and the need to meet the special needs of young people through an open dialogue between all generations.
European countries emphasize democratic dialogue, cooperation through consortia and decision-making in consultation with citizens and local authorities. In Cyprus, the effort to enforce the Local Government Reform without conducting an economic study and recording the real needs of the citizens does not guarantee better results, but only brings discomfort and indignation. The local authorities are in a good mood to cooperate with the central state, as long as their voice is heard through democratic processes.
* Andros G. Karagiannis
Mayor of Deryneia