News of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Call for applications: training of trainers on Deliberative Democracy in South-East Europe
The Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is launching a call for participants to take part in the training programme on Deliberative Democracy. This initiative aims to create a pool of 25 trainers across the...
Congress calls for multilevel approach to overcome European housing crisis
“The importance of social justice and social rights, including the right to adequate housing, for maintaining democratic stability has been recognised by all Council of Europe member States, both at the 2023 Reykjavik summit and the 2024 conference on the European Social Charter in Vilnius....
International Day of Non-Violence: Violence against grassroots politicians has a chilling effect on local democracy
On the occasion of International Day of Non-Violence (2 October), Bernd Vöhringer, Congress Rapporteur on combating violence against local and regional elected representatives, has made the following statement: “Over the last ten years, we have witnessed an alarming rise in violent attacks...
Council of Europe Congress observes local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina
A 20-member delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will carry out an election observation mission from 3 to 7 October to observe the local elections throughout the country. Prior to the election day, the delegation, led by Carla Dejonghe, Belgium...
Congress supports including local and regional governments in the UN work
Speaking at the UN 4th Forum of Mayors, in Geneva on 30 September 2024, Congress Secretary General Mathieu Mori welcomed the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Pact for the Future and the important role of local and regional authorities in delivering a renewed multilateral system. He also...
Podgorica early local elections orderly but improvements desired
A five-member Congress Election Observation Mission completed its mission to monitor the early municipal elections in Podgorica, which took place on Sunday 29 September in 212 polling stations. On election day, four Congress teams led by Randi Mondorf (Denmark, R, ILDG) visited 55 randomly...
Congress experts discuss foreign interference with local and regional electoral processes in Europe
Meeting in Strasbourg on 26-27 September 2024, the Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government – an advisory expert body for the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe – examined the questions of foreign interference with local and...
Conference in Vilnius underlines the role of multilevel governance in strengthening democratic resilience
Improving participation, a clear distribution of competences between levels of governance, and dynamic dialogue between all actors can help ensure that effective multilevel governance counters populism and the polarisation of society. These were among the key takeaways of a conference organised...
Regional administration: a new pilot project in Ukraine
The Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance (CEMG) at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will support the reform of the Ternopil Regional State Administration, helping it to transition to an administrative body close to the prefecture type. Namely, the...
Conference in Cyprus: good governance and citizen participation
Speaking at the Conference on the principles of good democratic governance, in Nicosia (Cyprus) on 23 September 2024, Congress Spokesperson on the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) Konstantinos Koukas (Greece, EPP/CCE) stressed the need to deliver tangible, meaningful outcomes for citizens at...
Council of Europe Congress observes local elections in Podgorica
A five-member delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will carry out an election observation mission from 26 to 30 September to observe the elections for the City Assembly of Podgorica, Montenegro. Prior to the election day, the delegation, led by...
Innovation to help us live together better
The round table on “Local innovation for stronger local authorities” held on 13 September during the Congress Conference showed that social and technological innovation is as much about incorporating human rights into local policies as it is about how we approach climate change, the fight against...
Congress conference supports democracy, resilience and reconstruction in Ukraine
News from the front line featured constantly in the debate on co-ordinating the aid provided to Ukraine by associations of local and regional authorities in Europe and making it more effective. Brought together by the Congress, their representatives were able to exchange views directly with...
Congress and national associations: advance the cause of local and regional democracy
The 4th Conference of National Associations of Local and Regional Authorities held in Strasbourg on 12 and 13 September gave the associations an opportunity to set out what they expect from Congress members while also taking stock of implementation on the ground on a daily basis of the various...
Representation of women and young people: how to boost democratic participation at local and regional level?
Making local and regional democracy more inclusive means first and foremost increasing the proportion of women among elected representatives, but also opening up assemblies to young people and allowing groups such as people with disabilities, the elderly and migrants to make their voices heard...
Coalition of Cities against Racism: Congress puts forward European action against rising extremism
As a forum for debates and peer exchanges between local and regional elected representatives from across Europe, the Congress responded to increasing extremism with proposals for action against hate speech and fake news. These were notably stemming from its 2022 report, and a 2024 debate against...
Congress President deplores adoption of anti-LGBTI legislation in Georgia
Marc Cools, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, has made the following statement: “I am deeply concerned about the adoption by the Parliament of Georgia of the legislation “On protecting family values and minors”, despite the persistent calls from...
The Council of Europe Congress examines the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in San Marino
A delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, composed of rapporteurs Alexander BOOMGAARS, Netherlands (L, SOC/G/PD) and Tanja JOONA, Finland (L, ILDG), will conduct a monitoring visit to the Republic of San Marino from 17 to 18 September 2024 to assess the application of the...
Local innovation is a catalyst for empowering communities
“We are living through unprecedented crises that pose new challenges and require innovating in response to them; local authorities are at the forefront of responding to these new challenges,” underlined Melanie Lepoultier, Deputy Permanent Rapporteur of the Congress on human rights and Mayor of...
Boosting citizen participation
A round table on “Boosting democracy by engaging all citizens”, held in Strasbourg on 13 September 2024, focused on the challenges faced by democratic societies such as a crisis of trust in representative democracy, a low level of engagement by young people and low rates of women’s participation...
