Annexes to COM(2013)280 - Empowering Local Authorities in partner countries_for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2013)280 - Empowering Local Authorities in partner countries_for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2013)280  |
| date | May 15, 2013 |
The EU should seek to involve Associations of Local Authorities in the programming of national and local priorities as well as in the implementation of related EU-funded programmes, particularly those related to decentralisation. Furthermore, the EU should facilitate the establishment of partnerships between Associations of Local Authorities in partner countries and the EU.
4. A WAY FORWARD: MORE EFFICIENT AND FLEXIBLE MODALITIES OF SUPPORT
The EU should adapt its support to the growing role, potential, and needs of Local Authorities and Associations of Local Authorities in partner countries.
The use of innovative funding modalities facilitating flexible, transparent and cost-effective access to resources at local level should be explored. In the context of support to decentralisation processes this could include performance-based grants for local service delivery based on the results of annual assessment of Local Authorities institutional performance. The EU should also support initiatives allowing citizens to identify, discuss and prioritise public spending projects (e.g. participatory budgeting).
The EU uses budget support operations, particularly Sector Reform Contracts, to support improved service delivery. These could to be decentralised in order to better reach the target population or institutions, for example in health, education, water, sanitation, agriculture, or the process of decentralisation itself.[13] In the design and implementation of budget support, the EU should take into account both central and sub-national government levels. During the implementation, the EU should support systems to monitor the extent to which funding is transferred through government treasury to the most appropriate level of local administration. This may contribute to the improvement of intergovernmental fiscal transfers, strengthening of Local Authorities institutional capacity, procedures and systems in the areas such as planning and financial management, and consequently contribute to the quality of service delivery.
The EU should moreover pay special attention to policy coordination, complementarity and coherence between national and sub-national and sector policies targeted for budget support and to the complementarity with decentralisation reforms and devolution of powers, raising possible concerns in policy dialogues with central authorities.
The EU should continue to support and coordinate decentralised and cross-border cooperation between Local Authorities from Europe and partner countries based on long-term and equal institutional partnerships. Decentralised cooperation between EU Local Authorities and their counterparts in third countries can bring added value to the implementation of development actions, through continuous peer-to-peer learning, transfer of know-how and enhancement of local actors’ participation in the public space at local level.
Recognising that many European Local Authorities have started acting as donors, the EU calls on these actors to bring together their expertise to engage in more systematic cooperation activities, in order to enhance the impact of this cooperation at local level, in respect of the principles of aid and development effectiveness. The Committee of Regions, which provides European Local Authorities with a political space for exchanging experiences and good practices as well as for establishing inter-regional relations, could play a key role in this respect. Likewise, European Local Authorities also have an important role to play in promoting Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR) among citizens.
Upstream support to public sector reforms should be coordinated with downstream support, to reinforce Local Authorities’ roles in policy dialogue and decision-making at national level. The EU should also ensure sufficient flexibility to support Local Authorities’ and Associations of Local Authorities’ own initiatives.
It is proposed to implement the principles outlined in this Communication to support Local Authorities in partner countries and their Associations at country, continental and international levels. The EU should particularly engage in favour of the empowerment of these actors, to enable them to better respond to citizens’ demands and in redistributing more equitably socio-economic benefits at local level. These ambitions should be accompanied by the promotion of a conducive environment at national and local levels and efforts to reinforce the capacities of Local Authorities.
At the international level, the EU should continue to support the role that Local Authorities and Associations of Local Authorities play in raising awareness about local and urban development issues and in shaping the international development agenda with a focus on the interests of local communities. In view of the definition of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the preparation of Habitat III, the international community should better recognise the responsibilities and solutions that different governmental tiers could bring in addressing global and local challenges.
[1] In this Communication, the term «Local Authorities» will refer to public institutions with legal personality, component of the State structure, below the level of central government and accountable to citizens. Local Authorities are usually composed of a deliberative or policy-making body (council or assembly) and an executive body (the Mayor or other executive officer), directly or indirectly elected or selected at local level. The term encompasses different tiers of government, e.g. villages, municipalities, districts, counties, provinces, regions, etc. Within this wide context, the focus of this Communication is however put on the municipal level, which is generally the lowest government tier of the public institutional system and the closest to citizens.
[2] In continuity and complementarity with the Commission Communication Local Authorities: actors of development COM(2008) 626 final (8.10.2008). URL: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0626:FIN:EN:PDF, with the annexed European Charter on development cooperation in support of Local Governance URL: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/aidco/index.php/European_charter_on_development_cooperation_in_support_of_local_governance_paper_P65.
[3] URL: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/who/partners/civil-society/structured-dialogue_en.htm.
[4] COM(2011) 637 final (13.10.2011).
[5] COM(2011) 638 final (13.10.2011), COM(2011) 865 final (7.12.2011), COM(2012) 446 final (20.8.2012), COM(2012) 492 final (12.09.2012) and Council Conclusions (15.10.2012), COM(2012) 586 final (3.10.2012), JOIN(2012) 27 final (3.10.2012), COM(2013) 92 (27.2.2013).
[6] URL: www.aideffectiveness.org/busanhlf4/images/stories/hlf4/OUTCOME_DOCUMENT_-_FINAL_EN.pdf
[7] “The EU considers CSOs to include all non-State, not-for-profit structures (include community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, foundations, research institutions, trade unions, women's organisations, cooperatives, professional and business associations, and the media) through which people organise to pursue shared objectives and ideals”. COM(2012) 492 final. URL: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0492:FIN:EN:PDF.
[8] Governance is related to rules, processes, and behaviours by which interests are articulated, resources are managed, power is exercised in society by the institutions in charge of public affairs and participation of all relevant actors is allowed for. COM(2003) 615 final (20.10.2003).
[9] E.g. institutional arrangements, separation of powers, electoral and party systems, appropriate decentralisation policies, intergovernmental fiscal systems, respect of the rule of law.
[10] Local CSOs may play an important role in keeping local politicians and officials accountable for the responsive and efficient delivery of public services at local level. Furthermore, the interaction between LAs and CSOs contributes to the creation of a local polity where political and developmental processes take place.
[11] According to the principle of subsidiarity, public responsibilities, regulatory functions and spending are transferred to the lowest institutional or social level, closest to citizens, that is able and entrusted to complete them.
[12] The term «Associations of Local Authorities» is to be understood as umbrella organisations based on membership and representativeness at sub-national, national, sub-continental, continental and international level. They may be organised as an autonomous entity in accordance with the legislation in force in the country of registration. Associations of Local Authorities may be composed of a representative body elected by its LA members and a permanent secretariat.
[13] EuropeAid’s Budget Support Guidelines (2012). URL: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/how/delivering-aid/budget-support/documents/bs_guidelines-part_ii-programming,design_management_en.pdf.