Decentralization, Democracy and Stability in Southeastern Europe Forum
Bucharest, February 23 24, 2000
Ginka Kapitanova
Executive Director
FLGR
No. 4/2000
On February 23 24, 2000, the Council of Europe held a Decentralization, Democracy and Stability in Southeastern Europe Forum, within the Stability Pact context. The forum was attended by ministers, members of parliament, representatives of local and regional authorities in 41 Council of Europe member countries. Bulgaria was represented by Mr. Vassil Garnizov, deputy-minister, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, Mr. Ivan Kourtev, vice chair of the National Assembly, MPs Ms. Maria Stoyanova, Mr. Evegeni Bakurdzhiev, Ms. Yulia Yaneva, and Ms. Vesselina Lyubenova from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe presented the Local Democracy and Stability in Southeastern Europe Action Plan. The document was discussed by the participants and, at the end of the forum, they adopted a declaration on its implementation.
The two work sessions of the forum had a very practical orientation.
The first session was on decentralization in Southeastern Europe: territorial development; institutions and financial basis of local democracy. The reality in each country in the region was presented as seen by the central government and by the local governments. The European Parliament and USAID representatives stated that the processes under way in these countries are really impressing albeit slow and difficult, and could be a learning basis for many of the people in the developed countries who take democracy for granted. Their statements generated a lot of interest among the participants.
The second work session was on economic and financial management and on service delivery at local level. Professor Daflon from the University of Freiburg, Switzerland, spoke about the decentralization criteria, function sharing and service delivery at all government levels and coordination between them, decentralization of local finance and balancing the budgets. Mr. Balduchi, vice-president of the European Training Organizations Network, focused on the training of elected officials and administration staff in new management and technical skills.
FLGR s executive director, Mrs. Ginka Kapitanova, presented the experience and the positive practices of the Bulgarian municipalities. The information on the citizen information centers, the so-called one-stop shops, generated a lot of interest. Mrs, Kapitanova also presented FLGR s achievements, mostly with regard to international cooperation, publishing, training, citizen participation, innovative practices and exchange of information. FLGR is Bulgaria s anchor in the Local Government Information Network (LOGIN). Its experience will be used by all countries in the region.
The presentation on the experience of Bulgaria and FLGR stimulated the audience s interest. An opinion was expressed that the potential accumulated by local organizations should be used for the implementation of the Action Plan and that there should be purposeful donor support for programs that encourage the cooperation and exchange of experience between municipalities and organizations in the Southeastern Europe countries.
In general, the results from the two work sessions could be summarized as follows:
The following pre-requisites are needed to successfully complete the decentralization process:
- political will for decentralization at national level;
- motivation, responsibility and professional skills ate local level;
- active and effective non-governmental organizations;
- informed and interested citizens, committed to the development of their communities;
- international cooperation.
FLGR presented two projects for funding under the Stability Pact: a program for exchange of expert skills and knowledge between municipalities in Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia; and a project for training and consulting assistance to municipalities in the development of local and regional development strategies, in cooperation with the National Territorial Development Center.
We hope that we ll be successful!
Excerpt from Mrs. Kapitanova statement at the forum:
Ladies and gentlemen,
I gave these examples of successful practices to underline the fact that some countries in the region don t start from ground zero. There are local organizations that have already accumulated significant experience. I am convinced that this experience may be used successfully by the neighboring countries.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that, in order to provide for the sustainability of the initiatives and the programs incorporated in the Action Plan, it is necessary to pay greater attention to the institutional building and organizational strengthening of local institutions that are able to continue the process of decentralization and good government.
All countries in the region are facing similar problems and challenges. At the same time, all of them are very different and are at different stages of local democracy development. This is why I believe that a unified approach won t be successful. The donor organizations should consider the specific environment in each of the countries and try to meet its specific needs, should build on the basis of local experience and capacity and should encourage the exchange of information on lessons learned and results achieved.