| dc.description.abstract | The Committee of Ministers, having regard to Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe,
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members
for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and
to foster their economic and social progress;
Considering that local public services shape the local inhabitants' everyday environment and deter
mine, to a large extent, their quality of life;
Considering that local public services are one of the vital dimensions of local self-government, in
respect of which they allow for its concrete expression and a measure of its real development;
Considering that they account for an important part of the national economy by virtue of the
expenditure they incur, the resources they mobilise and the functions they fulfil;
Considering that these services make a significant contribution to local development and to the
spatial organisation of facilities and services within the territory;
Considering that they play a leading role in organising social solidarity by providing essential
services to meet public needs;
Considering that in view of the above, as far as possible, the users of these services should enjoy the
same rights and safeguards as those afforded by national and regional public services, and in the framework
of the relevant legislation should enjoy, where appropriate, protection comparable to that available to the
customers of private sector enterprises;
Given the considerable variety of duties performed by local public services and the emergence of
new social demands;
Given the contribution that local public services can make to modernising public administration and
to promoting technical or social innovation;
Given the scope of the changes currently under way in these services with a view to finding more
efficient management methods, in particular because of the need to better control public expenditure;
Given the progress already made in a number of countries in establishing rights and safeguards for
users of public services, particularly at the local level, but also the significant inequalities remaining in
these areas; Given that local public services can make a significant contribution to resolving issues of serious
concern to member states and their citizens, such as job creation, social solidarity and cohesion, improving
democracy, the respect for human rights in practice, or environmental protection;
Given the need to facilitate the integration of local public services into modern economic
mechanisms, without however creating obstacles to free competition;
Considering that member states should make modernising the management and operating methods
of local public services a priority, while respecting the principles of local self-government, users' rights and
the rules of a market economy,
Recommends that the governments of member states:
- take into account the Guidelines for local public services in Europe, attached to this recom
mendation, in framing their policies and legislations, so as to encourage local authorities to develop their
public services in order to meet the needs of the community more effectively and to respect users' rights
more fully;
- provide or facilitate the provision of relevant information on the different management methods
of local public services and on how to improve relations with users, in co-operation with local authorities,
their associations and training organisations;
- promote or facilitate, by all appropriate means, studies and innovation in these areas, as well as
exchanges of information between local authorities at national and international level, in co-operation with
local authorities, their associations and training organisations;
- translate the recommendation and the guidelines into their official language(s) and circulate the
texts among local authorities. | en_US |
