On 30 May 2024, Congress Vice-President Gunn Marit Helgesen (Norway, EPP/CCE) held an exchange of views with the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) meeting in Oslo, Norway.
She underlined the role of Congress in preventing backsliding of democracy in the context of the Principles for Democracy adopted by the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, pointing out that early signs of democratic backsliding could be detected by observing local and regional elections and compliance with the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The monitoring mechanism could be further used to identify deteriorating patterns through research by theme or type of violation, she added.
Vice-President Helgesen addressed the question of how to translate these Principles for Democracy into practical implementation and to establish benchmarks for an effective evaluation system that all levels of governance could rely on. She highlighted the extensive experience gained by the Congress through its co-operation activities and the Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance in assessing the quality and democratic aspects of governance at local and regional levels, and the sector-specific benchmarks developed in this context.
During the exchange, PACE members thanked the Congress for its action in support of Ukraine, and raised questions about the conditions which should be enforced for deliberative democracy to be effective, how to make sure that local democracy is not weakened by excessive centralisation, and how elected representatives could regain citizens’ trust.
The Congress Vice-President emphasised that, in addition to benchmarking and early detection of democracy deficit, it was crucial to reinforce democratic fibre and restore trust in democratic institutions. She referred to the example of the deliberative process in the city of Mostar which had overcome a totally deadlocked situation by establishing, with the Congress help, a Citizens’ Assembly. Vice-President Helgesen underlined in this regard that deliberative democracy processes was one way which deepens citizens' involvement in political decision-making and helps to regain their trust.
