13th Plenary Session of the Congress
Strasbourg, 30 May - 1 June 2006
The
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe held its plenary session from 30 May to 1 June in Strasbourg. The session began with the renewal
of the delegations and elections for the posts of President of the Congress
and Presidents of the chambers, Vice-presidents and Chairs of the Statutory
committees.
The members of the Congress reviewed
the recent initiatives of the Congress as the setting up of a Council
of Europe centre for interregional and transfrontier cooperation in Saint
Petersburg or the creation of new types of Euroregions such as the Adriatic
Euroregion and the Black Sea Euroregion.
The members also assessed the
state of local and regional democracy in Europe. They examined reports on
the local elections in Ukraine on 26 March 2006 and on the Referendum on
self-determination for Montenegro (Serbia & Montenegro) on 21 May 2006 and
debated urban security, access for migrants to social rights and the
management of water and waste. The presentation of a report on combating
trafficking in human beings was followed by the signing of a declaration.
The guests who are to address the
Congress include Terry Davis, Council of Europe Secretary General, Thomas
Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, and Michel Delebarre, President of the European Union's Committee of the Regions.
Halvdan
Skard elected President of the Council of Europe Congress.
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Speech
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Ian Micallef and Yavuz Mildon elected Presidents of the
Chambers of the Congress of the Council of Europe
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Giovanni
Di Stasi : ''The role of territorial democracy is on the rise''
speech
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Is the reform of local taxation in the Netherlands in
violation of the Charter of Local Self-Government?
The Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress of the Council of
Europe expressed anxiety on Wednesday morning over the effects of the
local tax reform on the financial independence of the Dutch local
authorities.
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