Loulé was one of the Portuguese municipalities distinguished this Monday, 28 June, with the attribution of the European Seal of Excellence in Governance, created within the Council of Europe and instituted, for the first time, in Portugal.
During a ceremony that took place at the Cineteatro Louletano, in addition to Loulé, Alfândega da Fé, Arcos de Valdevez, Miranda do Corvo, Póvoa do Varzim, Vila Franca de Xira and Vila Nova de Poiares received this seal that attests to their adherence to the government policy of local sphere of the 12 principles of good democratic governance.
At the end of 2019, Portugal accepted the challenge of promoting a pilot project of a national nature, through ATAM – Association of Local Administration Workers, the Portuguese partner of UDITE. If initially 21 municipalities showed interest, only 14 advanced to the workshop that took place precisely in the city of Loulé. In April, only 7 of the applications were received and reviewed, culminating today with the delivery of the seal.
From now on, Loulé and the other distinguished municipalities will be the messengers of the project and its central idea, which involves improving the services provided to citizens and strengthening democracy. Not least because, as one of the mentors of this project, Alina Tatarenko, head of the Expert Center for Good Governance of the Council of Europe, said, “poor governance is something extremely dangerous as it poses a threat to democracy”.
Citizen participation, fair elections, representation, responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness, openness and transparency, rule of law, ethical conduct, competence and capacity, innovation and openness to change, sustainability and long-term guidance, solid financial management , Human rights, cultural diversity and social cohesion, accountability.
«These are the principles that guide this entire project, and that, increasingly, will be part of the action of these 7 entities that represent local power», says the Câmara de Loulé.
This ELoGE seal is also the first step towards promoting these 12 principles approved by the Council of Ministers of the countries that are part of the Council of Europe and based on three fundamental pillars: the defense of the Rule of Law, Democracy and Human Rights. As of next year, these will become a legal instrument of the Council of Europe.
As the head of UDITE Paul Gatt said during this ceremony “receiving this seal is a pride for the entire community of these municipalities, but for the populations, it means that their democratically elected representatives were distinguished for their transparency and, in the end, it is what the voter expects of us all».
Satisfied with this distinction, Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, highlighted the set of good practices carried out by the municipality.
"Basically, we have promoted transparency mechanisms that have strengthened the trust of citizens and, at the same time, have allowed us to increase the improvement of the public services we provide, with clear gains for our citizens and the local community," he said. responsible.
This ceremony was also attended by Francisco Alveirinho Correia, president of ATAM, Luís Leite Ramos, deputy of the Assembly of the Republic and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe as Rapporteur of Local and Regional Authorities, for issues of Good Governance, and Ronny Frederickx, UDITE Good Governance project leader.
During the session, the vice president of the Loulé Chamber Pedro Pimpão joined Miguel Franco, councilor of Alfândega da Fé, and Artur Santos, vice president of Vila Nova de Poiares, for a roundtable on the experience lived by these municipalities at the level of governance based on democratic principles that meet the legitimate expectations of the populations.
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