On October 16, the Congress passed a resolution and recommendations inviting the Committee of Ministers to call on member states to fully implement the ratified provisions of the Charter of Local and Regional Self-Government. The follow-up report on the application of the Charter in the period 2021-2024 reveals significant failures to comply with its principles, both in terms of the funding and autonomy of municipalities and regions, and in the organization of local elections.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine and climate change, along with their economic and social consequences, have intensified the problems of population displacement, cyber-attacks and misinformation. Voter confidence in institutions and representative democracy is in crisis.
Presented in plenary session by co-rapporteur Stewart Dickson (United Kingdom, R, GILD), the report of the Commission for Monitoring the Application of the Charter of Local Self-Government, notes that certain recurring problems, identified during the previous period (2017-2020), remain or have worsened. The local financial situation has deteriorated, along with the safety of mayors and local elected officials, who are often the victims of verbal and physical assaults. The difficult conditions in which they carry out their duties have a dissuasive effect on possible future candidates for election, leading to a vicious circle of breach of the democratic contract between citizens and their representatives. A true barometer of democracy, local elections are often discredited by voters due to inaccurate electoral rolls, the misuse of administrative resources during election campaigns, the politicization of electoral administration at all levels, unequal conditions for all candidates, and the rise of foreign interference, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine.
During the debate, members reflected on solutions to these recurring problems. German member Heiner Klemp (SOC/G/PD) emphasized the need for additional instruments and procedures to counteract breaches of member states' obligations: the naming and shaming method, or the creation of a compliance register with various predefined criteria, which would enable a color-coded assessment of the degree of application of the Charter in member countries. He also raised the possibility of extending the Charter to make the observation of local and regional elections a right of Congress, without the need for an invitation. In response to this proposal, co-rapporteur Stewart Dickson underlined the practical legal and administrative difficulties created by the absence of an invitation. Observers cannot “force their way” into polling stations without accreditation. The rapporteur did, however, welcome the idea of creating a tricolor evaluation system, which would give greater visibility to criteria identified in advance.
As a member of the Congress delegations observing the local elections in Türkiye, Slovenia and Georgia, the head of the Swiss delegation, David Eray (EPP/CCE), drew the attention of Congress members to the disparity of opportunities for candidates, a problem which concerns not only the countries in question, but also his own country of origin.
Andorra's youth delegate Lisa Cruz Lackner drew the Congress' attention to the need to mobilize the energy of the younger generation to improve citizen participation in local and regional politics, while others spoke of the need to guard against the ill-intentioned use of artificial intelligence, whose recent uses create significant risks of interference and disinformation in local elections.
Finally, despite the alarming trends, the members shared the hope that the exchange of good practices listed in the report would stimulate positive advances in the implementation of the Charter, notably in terms of participation and consultation of local and regional government associations, as well as the adoption of measures aimed at strengthening citizen participation in local public affairs.
