- Addressing the low level of electoral turnout in elections at local and regional level in many countries;

- Responding to the changing ways in which citizens engage in public life at local level and, in some cases, the decreasing willingness to do so;

- Broadening the scope for participation by foreign residents in public life at local level.

Actions:

- To pursue the implementation of Recommendation (2001) 19 on the Participation of Citizens in Local Public Life;

- To continue work on the ways in which information and communication technologies can facilitate democratic reform at local and regional level;

- To examine the desirability and feasibility of forms of remote voting in local and regional elections;

- To develop and make use of tools to assess the effectiveness of measures taken to enhance participation in public life at local level;

- To examine the desirability and feasibility of introducing convention-based legal standards on the participation of citizens in public life at local and regional level;

- To seek to overcome any obstacles to acceding to the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level and to ratify it as soon as possible.

Public ethics at local and regional level

Challenges:

- Ensuring ethical behaviour by local and regional authorities, elected representatives and officials, whilst respecting local and regional self-government as well as individual rights and legitimate interests.

Actions:

- To continue to promote the Handbook of Good Practice on Public Ethics at Local Level and prepare, where possible, handbooks suited to the particular situation in member States and thematic documents targeted at specific audiences;

- To gather and share good practices concerning the evaluation of compliance with standards of public ethics at local and regional level;

- To exchange experiences and provide the information necessary for the review of the Handbook, with a view to preparing a revised version in 3 to 4 years time.