‘The award showed us that we are on the right path, and we keep seeking new solutions that will help us address the needs of our citizens’ said Kornélia Schramek Holopné, deputy mayor of Budapest’s XIIIth district at the ceremony awarding the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) to six Hungarian municipalities. The event was organised by the Hungarian National Association of Local Authorities (TÖOSZ) in conjunction with the final presentations from municipalities participating in the Best Practice Programme 2023. Hosted by the Ministry of Interior of Hungary, the ceremony was attended by ninety participants from the Ministry of Interior, municipalities and local government associations.
Dr. Bence Rétvári, Parliamentary State Secretary highlighted the event’s role in showcasing the creativity and innovation at the local government level. Referencing the European Charter of Local Self-Government, Mr. Daniel Popescu, Head of the Democracy and Governance department of the Council of Europe emphasised the shared European values of strong local democracy and the importance of local governments’ capacity to deliver high quality services to communities. He further stressed the role that ELoGE can play in identifying areas for continuous improvement.
The Best Practice Programme Hungary, based on a Council of Europe methodology, has demonstrated and celebrated innovative approaches at local government level since 2008. This year’s edition featured initiatives across the themes of innovation in service delivery, public safety, and culture-based economic development. This included efforts to better integrate elderly populations, sustainable alternatives to car-based travel to local schools, and the use of technology to assist local administration and to promote local commerce.
The European Label of Governance Excellence enables municipalities to undertake a self-evaluation process against the ELoGE benchmark. This is validated through public opinion surveys in the participating municipalities. Local governments that demonstrate adherence to the Principles of Good Democratic Governance are then eligible to receive the Label in the form of a crystal dodecahedron engraved with each of the Principles. In the 2023 edition, Budapest’s XIIIth district, Szarvas, Zalaszentgrót, Hernád, Vép and Rigács received the ELoGE Label – representing all sizes of Hungarian local governments from capital district to rural municipality.
‘Receiving the award is confirmation for us of our commitment to European values, and the opportunities we seek to provide for citizens to express and channel their views into decision-making, based on transparency and publicity’, said Dr. Beáta Simon, Notary of the city of Zalaszentgrót. Dr. Mária Pallaga Zsírosné, mayor of Hernád, added that ‘what captured my attention was that the process of the leadership of a municipality going through the self-assessment helps identify development potential as well as bottlenecks to be addressed.’ Dr. János Melis, Notary of Szarvas pointed to the central role that transparency had played in strengthening the relations between elected officials and residents in the work of successive local councils. He noted that Szarvas’ leadership considers the label as an expression of the legacy of a well-governed city which would endure.
The 2023 editions of ELoGE and BPP receive financial support under the project ‘Local Government Public Finance Development and Municipal Capacity Building in Hungary’ project, co-funded by the European Commission’s DG REFORM via the Technical Support Instrument 2022 and by the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance.
