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Council of Europe Congress strengthens its dialogue with governments
In order to improve the visibility of its dialogue with governments; the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has created a new web space which includes information relating to communications that are regularly presented to the Committee of Ministers. The web page is rounded off by a detailed presentation of the activities dedicated to territorial democracy under the respective Chairmanship of the Council of Europe.
Since the adoption and implementation of its reform, the activities of the Congress systematically form part of a close partnership with all levels of governance. This involves not only joint work with the other operational departments and bodies of the Council of Europe, but also direct co-operation with the governments of the Council of Europe member states. In this regard, the programme on local democracy devised by Albania, with the active participation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, is a concrete illustration of this strengthened dialogue.
Thus, several conferences and events will be organised throughout the Albanian Chairmanship. Two of these, in September and October 2012, will concern the promotion of human rights at local level and citizen participation in local public life, themes identified in 2011 as high in priority by the European Ministers responsible for Local Government. Likewise, a day will be devoted to multi-level co-operation facilitating cross-border co-operation. In the perpective of this agenda, the key texts of Congress - such as the European Charter of Local Self Government, the Reference Framework for Regional Democracy, etc. - have also been translated into Albanian.
 Dialogue with governments
Albanian Chairmanship and territorial democracy
Communication of the Congress Secretary General - CG(22)20 [Text available in french - english - german - russian and italian] |
The 23rd Session of the Congress, taking place from 16 to 18 October 2012 in Strasbourg (France), will bring together more than 300 local and regional elected representatives from 47 Council of Europe member states, to discuss the current challenges for grassroots democracy. The agenda also includes the renewal of national delegations, the election of the president of Congress, Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Chambers, and Committee Chairmen. An information seminar for new members will be held on October 15. Members will also adopt the priorities of Congress for 2013-2016.
The 4th General Meeting of national associations of local and regional authorities will take place on 13 September in Strasbourg, France. It will be an occasion to examine the priorities of the Congress for 2013-2016 with a view to their adoption at the 23rd Session this October, and also to discuss joint actions that might be conducted by the Congress and the national associations.
The 2012 edition of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) will take place from 15 to 21 October and will focus on “Human rights make for more inclusive communities”. Local and regional authorities of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe are invited to take part and to organise events in their community, in order to strengthen citizen democratic participation at local and regional level. To make the task of the participating communities easier, several innovations have been included in the new ELDW internet platform.
