The organisation was represented by the Secretary General, Antonella Valmorbida, and Mariam Khotenashvili, project manager and head of the Brussels office. The CSF EaP, being a permanent observer of the Corleap, proposes every year a contribution to the assessment of the situation and contribute with proposals. This year, the contribution elaborated by the Subgroup focused on the future of the Eastern Partnership approach in the region. “The Civil Society Forum Subgroup on Local Government and Public administration reform calls for the continued effort to strengthen public administration reform in all six the countries of the EaP, without giving up on any countries. We consider further decentralisation, autonomy and sustainability as fundamental aspects in securing meaningful participation of civil society at the local level. We should not be afraid to team up and work together with our colleagues in the areas of transparency and anti-corruption, only two points which need to be addressed urgently at all levels of the institutions. We furthermore, support the proposal for the Flagship Initiative on Municipal development, inclusive of a strong civil society element supporting local democracy and local government.” was the main message of the Coordinator of the Subgroup Antonella Valmorbida.

“The Subgroup on Local Government and Public Administration Reform, which I am coordinating, is an active branch of the CSF, composed of more than 20 organisations, supporting local government and public administrative reform, working together to develop policies, share expertise and ideas, and devise projects to support fundamental processes within the EaP countries. We are building strong links between the public, local and national institutions, and civil society. The Subgroup this year closely cooperated with the Committee of the Regions, participating in the different hearings on Local Democracy (following the monitoring of the Congress on Ukraine and Armenia). Our colleagues also provided valuable information in this context when being approached by the monitoring group. We carefully observed and assisted the work of our group members to initiate and develop policy actions, in particular in Ukraine and Belarus. Specific initiatives, in cooperation with my organisation, ALDA, the European Association for Local Democracy and its programme Working Together for Development, have taken place on Fiscal Decentralisation and Territorial Cooperation (a training and exchange of best practices and a presentation at the CIVEX commission, with the participation of many of our experts) in April this year.

In these crucial times for policy making, the Subgroup has also actively participated in the debate for the definition of the Flagship Initiative for Municipal Development, which we fully support, and call for a concrete and quick approval of the process.

The objectives of our group are to support Local Democracy and Local Governance and to work more closely on public administration reform processes, in particular transparency and anticorruption, in which we hope to build even closer links to our colleagues of the Anti-corruption Subgroup of the CSF EaP. Our Subgroup also participates and contributes actively in the Public Administration Reform Panel of the EEAS.”