“In Finland, for decades, democratic local governance has had a stabilising role in our society ,” said Jari PARTANEN, State Secretary of Transport and Communications of Finland, speaking on behalf of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, at the 36th Session of the Congress, on 3 April 2019. Referring to the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the monitoring carried out by the Congress, he said that its impact could still be seen in Finland’s Local Government Act.
“We must work together to ensure that the Council of Europe and its core work on behalf of human rights, democracy and the rule of law can continue in the future, despite the reform process and the other challenges we face,” said Mr PARTANEN. In particular, he spoke of the need to involve citizens more and to build trust, two key factors in implementing reforms.
“A municipality can be strong if its democracy is strong. And by democracy, I mean representative democracy, user democracy and citizen participation in the broadest sense,” he explained. “We can engage residents through both new and traditional means,” he added, referring to the use of new technologies, which can help to increase the voter turnout rate.
Mr PARTANEN also said a few words about Finland’s priorities during its Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, which were centred mainly on human rights and the rule of law in Europe, gender equality and women’s rights, inclusion and youth participation, and preventing radicalisation.
- Speech by Jari PARTANEN, State Secretary of Transport and Communications of Finland
- Video of the debate
*** 36th Session of the Congress ***
