There are many applications for the expertise of UI academics beyond the walls of the University, and our staff are often called on to advise the government and other Icelandic institutions and organisations. Increasingly, UI academics are also asked to contribute to projects outside Iceland. The project which Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir, professor of public administration, took part in this autumn is an excellent example. Eva Marín travelled to the small state of San Marino as part of a delegation to assess the European Charter of Local Self-Government application.
States that have ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government have committed to ensuring administrative, organisational and financial autonomy at the local level. They must also legally recognise the principle of local self-government, allow for the democratic election of local representatives and support the decentralisation of power towards the level closest to the citizen.
Iceland is one of the countries that has ratified the Charter, which means that we nominate elected local representatives to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, as well as experts to the Group of Independent Experts.
“Academics can apply to join the Group of Independent Experts and members are appointed every five years on the basis of their specialist knowledge of local democracy, with one member from each country. GIE provides guidance to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities on various issues concerning local government in general and the Charter specifically,” explains Eva Marín, whose research career at UI has focused on local government and who has been a member of GIE for the past six years.
Examined four local governments
States that have ratified the Charter agree to receive a monitoring visit from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities every five years. Congress delegations monitor the situation to ensure that states are upholding the Charter in line with the commitments they have made. Delegations are made up of two members of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, one employee of the European Council and one expert from GIE.
“I haven’t put myself forward to go on a monitoring visit before, since it involves a considerable amount of work,” says Eva Marín, who made her first Congress delegation visit to San Marino in mid September, together with two representatives from Finland and the Netherlands. “We visited four local governments and various institutions and ministries in order to review the status of local democracy in San Marino in general and in terms of the European Charter of Local Self-Government specifically.”
Eva Marín’s role is to collect data and write a monitoring report about the visit, which will be submitted to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Strasbourg later this winter. “I’ve almost finished writing the report and there won’t be another monitoring visit to San Marino for another five years,” she says.
According to Eva Marín, the trip was extremely informative. “For the monitoring visit, we need to know the Charter inside out. Most European states have ratified the Charter, but systems of local government vary considerably. It is fascinating to see how different countries find ways to uphold the Charter within very different organisational structures. This work is directly connected to my research, which first and foremost explores local government,” she says.
But would she consider doing more of this kind of work for the European Council? “I might well consider going on a trip like this again, because I learned a huge amount and gained a very different perspective on the European Charter of Local Self-Government than I have had as a normal member of GIE,” concludes Eva Marín.