Today's conference is the inaugural event of the very important work, the reform project for the successful implementation of the new framework for the operation of local government.
This project has been included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, with a budget of €840,000 and implemented by the Ministry of Interior, with our partners in this effort being the Associations of Municipalities and Communities, the Cyprus Academy of Public Administration and the Academy of Local Government.
In order to implement the provisions of the legislative framework, which the House of Representatives passed in March 2022, we entrusted the work to the Council of Europe's Centre of Expertise for Good Governance. In this context, the signing of a Voluntary Contribution Agreement of the Republic of Cyprus to the Council, which has a long and multifaceted experience in local government issues at the European level.
Using the specific training tools available to the Council, as well as the wide network of partners with expertise in local government reform issues, we proceed with the training of elected officials and other local government officials, transferring to them expertise and applied practices already adopted by other Member States.
For this very reason we have approached the Greek Government and have concluded a cooperation agreement to provide a similar supportive effort in order to gain the maximum possible benefits and experiences mainly from the implementation of similar systems in other European countries, such as Greece.
The duration of this training programme will be 30 months, starting in January 2023. Therefore, its activities will last until mid-2025, thus supporting both existing Local Authorities in their efforts to transition to this new framework, and the new Local Authorities and schemes that will operate after the elections for the new Municipal and Community Councils in May 2024.
The aim of the Ministry of Interior, but also of our partners, is to transition to the new form of local government in the smoothest way possible, while providing the appropriate guarantees to deliver more effective and higher quality services to citizens, which was and is for all of us our greatest goal.
From the very first moment, after the adoption of the three pieces of legislation, the Ministry of Interior assumed a coordinating role and it is within this framework that I and my colleagues have been working tirelessly to make the new legislation a reality in time, modern and effective framework for the operation of local government, with the introduction of new radical provisions - some of which are unprecedented for Cyprus - which, among other things, include the establishment of a completely new for our country institution of Provincial Self-Government Organizations.
I will repeat that this huge reform, which the Government persistently demanded and succeeded in passing, will change the map of Local Government in Cyprus. In the June 2024 elections, citizens will elect the Mayors and Community Mayors of the new entities, which will certainly be enriched in terms of population, with increased powers on a number of issues, administratively and financially autonomous, in line with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, with enhanced internal control and transparency mechanisms, increased powers and greater opportunity for citizen participation in decision making. In this way, we hope that we will have stronger municipalities and clusters of communities with increased potential to offer.
The great beneficiary will be the citizen and the rural resident because they will be able to enjoy quality services at the lowest possible cost. Particularly in communities, the creation of Service Delivery Clusters enables the new structures to be strengthened with the necessary staff to provide upgraded rural services, taking advantage of the economies of scale that will naturally arise.
This planning did not happen today. It is a product of the implementation of the National Strategy for Training and Capacity Building of Local Government in Cyprus, which was formulated since 2018 with the valuable input of the Council of Europe's Centre of Expertise for Good Governance and adopted by the Ministry of Interior.
I understand that these actions will be reported in detail later on by the representatives of the Council of Europe who are with us today and therefore I will not go into details. But I will thank them in particular because it is thanks to their catalytic contribution that we are at this level today without deviating from the tight timetables that we have set.
I would especially like to thank Mrs. Alina Tatarenko, Head of the Expertise Centre for Good Governance of the Council of Europe, as well as the Presidents of the Associations of Cyprus Municipalities and Communities.
A very big thank you to my colleagues at the Central Administration of the Ministry of Interior, the Director General and the head of the whole effort, Mr. Antonis Economides and Mrs. Kakia Demetriou, as well as the representatives of the Cyprus Academy of Public Administration, who helped greatly in the successful preparation of this very important project.
I am sure that the final result will be the desired one and with the completion of the second term of President Anastasiades and his Government, we are implementing one more of the most important goals that were set.
To change the map of Local Government in our country for the benefit of the citizens. Welcoming especially our colleagues from abroad, I wish all of them health and a productive New Year and of course a strengthened and properly structured Local Government.
Thank you.
(EFYs/MG/IC)
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