On the occasion of the handover ceremony of the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from Greece to Germany, the President of the Congress Anders Knape praised the ability of the Greek authorities to successfully implement their priorities despite the difficult circumstances of the sanitary crisis. “The Greek Chairmanship was the first e-presidency of the Committee of Ministers and it illustrated well how in these times, we all have to find ways to adapt and to pursue our action and work,” he stated.
He underlined that since the beginning of this pandemic, the Congress has been developing new working methods and tools to be able to continue to support local and regional authorities facing the crisis and to interact with the national level. Among others, the Congress has collected inspiring examples of grassroots action from municipalities, regions and its institutional partners and has showcased them on its website. The Congress is also organising an online event on 7 December 2020, which will bring together the Secretary General, Ministers of the two successive Greek and German presidencies of the Committee of Ministers and local and regional politicians throughout the continent to share experiences and best practices in the fight against the pandemic.
Underlining that, in this fight, local and regional authorities have been taking up an increasing share of operational and financial responsibilities together with national governments, Anders Knape stated that was needed is “active vertical and horizontal cooperation, coordination and consultation between all levels of government.” “This means we need a functioning system of multi-level governance which allows greater flexibility in coping with emergencies as different levels are differently equipped and able to providing solutions tailored to specific needs”, he explained.
The President welcomed Germany’s priorities for the coming six months, which were presented by the German Minister for Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas. He praised in particular Germany’s intention to promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law, bringing the Council of Europe closer to the citizens as well as strengthening youth participation and gender equality in political life.
The Congress will actively support also Germany’s priority to contribute to global efforts to address the current environmental challenges. “There is a lot of Council of Europe standards and values in the policies implemented at local and level - and in the cities and regions these values can be made visible” declared the President.
See also:
