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Corruption in the Maltese government and police: more robust and effective action needed
In an evaluation report published today, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) assesses the effectiveness of the framework in place in Malta to prevent corruption amongst persons with top executive functions (ministers and other senior government officials) and the...
Poland: relatively alarming developments for local and regional democracy
The situation of local and regional democracy in Poland has changed significantly over the past years: formerly one of the “top ten” countries in the EU, in terms of the level of local autonomy, Poland now shows “alarming trends”. These are among the key findings of the report and recommendation...
Future of the Council of Europe – restoring confidence in democratic institutions from the local level up
In our response to the current democratic crisis, local institutions have a strategic role in restoring the links between citizens and the institutions which represent them. This is the Congress members’ message to the foreign ministers of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, who are to...
Council of Europe and European Commission strengthen their co-operation to support reforms in the Member States
Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General of the Council and Maarten Verwey, Director-General of the European Commission's Structural Reform Support Service announced today a new co-operation framework to provide support to a number of EU and Council of Europe member states under the...
Fighting nepotism through clear and transparent recruitment procedures
Against a background of diminished public trust in public authorities, fighting nepotism and ensuring impartial recruitment procedures are fundamental requirements. The report adopted on this subject by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on 2 April 2019 is...
Morocco – first “Partner for local democracy”
In a resolution adopted today by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the Kingdom of Morocco was granted the status of “Partner for local democracy” with this assembly of local and regional elected representatives from the Organisation’s 47 member states. This...
Europe’s rate of imprisonment falls, according to Council of Europe survey
The overall imprisonment rate in Europe fell by 6.6% between 2016 and 2018 - from 109.7 to 102.5 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants- according to the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics for 2018 (SPACE), published today (see also the key findings). This decrease continues a trend that started...
Local elections in Turkey
Congress observer delegation calls on Turkey to seize the opportunity to continue normalisation and enhance local democracy
36th Congress session: "Mayors safeguarding democracy"
The members of the Congress of local and regional authorities will meet from 2 to 4 April 2019 in Strasbourg, at their 36th session, with "Mayors safeguarding democracy" as this year's theme. A debate will be held on this topic, with the participants including Ignacio Sanchez Amor, Spanish...
Protection of health-related data: new guidelines
The Council of Europe has issued a set of guidelines to its 47 member states urging them to ensure, in law and practice, that the processing of health-related data is done in full respect of human rights, notably the right to privacy and data protection. With the development of new technological...
