The European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) is a program of the Council of Europe implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance. The ELoGE label is awarded to the municipalities that have reached a high level of “good governance” measured against the Benchmark developed by the Council of Europe. The award is one-year ELoGE accreditation as well as the symbolic award – crystal dodecahedron engraved in the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance.
LINK 4 Cooperation project, founded by European Union, intends to use the 12 principles followed by ELoGE to assess local governments in order to determine ways in which improvements could be made.
Good Governance – the responsible conduct of public affairs and management of public resources – is encapsulated in the Council of Europe 12 Principles of Good Governance. The 12 Principles are enshrined in the Strategy on Innovation and Good Governance at local level, endorsed by a decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2008. They cover issues such as ethical conduct, rule of law, efficiency and effectiveness, transparency, sound financial management and accountability. The Centre of Expertise has developed toolkits to assist local authorities, and in some cases central authorities, in living up to these principles and thus delivering better services to citizens. The European Label of Governance’ Excellence (ELoGE) is awarded to local authorities having achieved a high overall level of good governance measured against the relevant benchmark.
The procedure to be accredited to implement the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) has the following stages:
More on the ELoGE on the official web site of the Council of Europe.