Herwig van Staa calls for European Charter of Regional Self-Government to be adopted as Council of Europe Convention

25.05.2004 - Speaking today as his term of office draws to an end, Herwig van Staa, President of the Congress, said that the Congress considered that a European Charter of Regional Self-Government would be useful, enabling the existing institutional machinery to be strengthened through the presence of strong regions in those countries where this was possible.

Looking back over the development of the Congress since it was set up in 1994, Mr van Staa emphasised the field activities carried out, especially in those regions of Europe where wars had occurred. He said that the Congress had devised its own ways of contributing to the setting up of associations of local authorities in south-eastern Europe and in the Caucasus, as well as encouraging transfrontier and inter-regional co-operation in those regions.

He voiced the hope that the forthcoming Council of Europe Summit would unreservedly offer support to the Congress and its activities.

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