On 6 June 2013, the Seimas Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities, in partnership with the Embassy of France, the Ministry of the Interior, the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania and the European Information Office of the Seimas, organized a seminar, How Participatory Democracy and Decentralised Cooperation Contributes to the Management of Local Affairs. The event was attended by Maryse Berniau, Ambassador of France; guests from France: Pierre Pougnaud, Jean Deshayes, Geneviève Severin; Members of the Seimas, staff of the Office of the Government, representatives of ministries, members of the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania, and representatives of municipalities, local community-based organizations and associations.
During his welcome speech, Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, said that this matter is important for the development of civil society and strong local self-government and that without active and effective communication and cooperation between local authorities, NGOs and citizens on local affairs it is difficult to achieve the desired improvement in the quality of life both in individual municipalities and across the country.
The experts from France shared their experience of participatory and decentralised democracy and gave specific examples of civic involvement in local affairs in the communes in France. They noted that dialogue between the local government and local communities requires public trust in local authorities as well as transparency and openness of local authorities for proposals from the public and readiness to implement them. The Head of the International and Regional Partnership Unit of Regional Council of Nord Pas de Calais talked about the region’s on-going decentralised cooperation projects carried out in cooperation with other French regions, as well as other countries, including Germany, Poland, and some African regions. She focused on the progress of the projects and the benefits this brings to Nord Pas de Calais, one of the 27 administrative regions in France, with a population of 4 million.
Algimantas Juocevičius, Vice-Minister of Internal Affairs, made a presentation on the Lithuanian legislation governing civic participation in local affairs. He persuaded the seminar participants that Lithuania also has a potential for participatory democracy and that participation can take a variety of forms including surveys, public debates, participation in municipal council committees and commissions, petitions, and work of representatives of residential areas. However, the locals do not show signs of engagement due to a variety of reasons, both depending on the local government and on personal beliefs.
Arūnas Plikšnys, Director of Regional Policy Department at the Ministry of the Interior, and Arūnas Gražulis, Advisor to the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania, pointed out that the Lithuanian municipalities also have many opportunities to successfully develop and implement decentralised cooperation projects in cooperation with NGOs and other Lithuanian municipalities, as well as with the municipalities of France or other countries. The new opportunities for financial support from the EU Structural Funds opening in 2014 for local community initiatives caught particular interest of the audience. Apart from the LTL 8 million annually allocated by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour under its programme for the development of local communities and self-governance, an additional LTL 20 million from the EU Structural Funds would contribute significantly to strengthening urban and rural NGOs and improving self-government of rural and urban communities in Lithuania.
Mr Pougnaud said the seminar was a success, noting that “rarely do seminars or conferences end so successfully. The success stems from the knowledge gained by the end of the seminar as to the actions that need to be taken in order to address the issues raised and discussed at the seminar.” By the end of the seminar, the heads of the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania were invited to meet the French Ambassador Ms Berniau again and discuss the cooperation to help the Lithuanian municipalities and NGOs to create and implement decentralised cooperation and participatory democracy projects.
“Discussions should not be feared and language should not be a barrier to cooperation and sharing experience. Everything and anything can be done if we have an objective and want to pursue it,” said Valentinas Bukauskas, Chair of the Seimas Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities, concluding the conference.
Algirdas Astrauskas, Adviser, Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities
tel: +370 5 239 6803, e-mail: alastr@lrs.lt
