(AGENPARL) – gio 27 ottobre 2022 [Image]
Ref. CG059(2022)
Sweden: efficient system of local self-government, but consultation with subnational authorities still to be formalised
However, the Congress expresses concerns that in some cases, new obligations are imposed by the state on municipalities and regions without granting sufficient space for discretion. There is also a lack of systematic formal consultation procedures on all matters that concern subnational authorities, that would be in line with the requirements of the Charter and relevant Congress resolutions and recommendations.
The rapporteurs Harald Bergmann (Netherlands, ILDG) and Matija Kovac (Serbia, EPP/CCE) pointed out that there is a shift in the division of roles between state governance and local/regional self-government, at the cost of the latter, due to new rules and guidelines, methods and instruments of governance launched by the state. They also noted the non-Indexation of grants in times of rising inflation, climate and societal change.
The Congress calls on the Swedish authorities to grant local and regional authorities more freedom of action, whenever new obligations are imposed on them and establish formal consultation procedures on all matters of concern to subnational authorities in line with the Charter. The authorities should also refrain from by-passing the local authorities through the implementation of new methods and instruments of governance and policy arrangements and find, instead, ways for their inclusion. The rapporteurs also call for the introduction of an elaborated system of indexation for state grants, following appropriate consultation procedures.
The Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments conducted a monitoring visit to examine the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Sweden on 5-7 April 2022. During the visit, the Congress delegation met the representatives of various institutions at all levels of government.
See also:
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Institutional Communication Unit
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is an institution of the Council of Europe, responsible for strengthening local and regional democracy in its 46 member states. Composed of two chambers – the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions – and three committees, it brings together 612 elected officials representing more than 130 000 local and regional authorities.
President of the Congress: Leendert Verbeek (Netherlands, SOC/G/PD), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities: Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Regions: Harald Sonderegger (Austria, EPP/CCE).
Political groups: Group of Socialists, Greens and Progressive Democrats (SOC/G/PD), Group of the European Peoples Party (EPP/CCE), Independent Liberal and Democratic Group (ILDG), European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).
Council of Europe/Conseil de l’Europe, Avenue de l’Europe, Strasbourg, . 67000 France