Our salaries come from the people’s taxes and so our people have every right to expect the best possible service. They also expect the highest level of administration and systems applied to achieve a fair, transparent and best value for money. 

In this regard, today we speak about good governance. Good governance does not only depend on how we act, it also depends a lot on how politicians take decisions and what kind of decisions they take. Still we know that our role is instrumental in guiding our local politicians through complex and interconnected issues that increasingly arise locally.. 

UDiTE has the subject of Good Governance at its very core and does everything possible to lead by example and encourage our members to practice it too. For a number of years we have maintained close contact with the Centre of Expertise of the Council of Europe and collaborated extensively to encourage European Municipalities to put into practice the twelve principles of Good Governance as established in 2008 by  the Council of Ministers within the Council of Europe.  What we do with the Council of Europe has far reaching implications for local standards in its 47 member countries! 

It is with pleasure that for the second time UDiTE has been accredited to manage and reward those Councils that have reached the highest level of excellence. This time the initiative took place in Portugal and in a few days we will be awarding the European Label of Governance Excellence to those Councils that have reached the expected levels for each of the twelve principles. 

This means a lot for us.  I have no doubt that it is so gratifying to those who will be awarded this label. We hope that more cities and towns take on this tough but very rewarding challenge. We also hope that through their participation, municipalities will set an example to Central Governments as well. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank ATAM (Portugal) for their cooperation in carrying out this project successfully despite many hurdles but above all I would like to thank the Centre of Expertise of the Council of Europe for its trust in UDITE  and the constant help and encouragement.