On the occasion of the meeting of the Congress Monitoring Committee in Nicosia, Cyprus, a delegation composed of the Monitoring Committee's Chair, Lars O. Molin (Sweden, EPP/CCE) and Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress, accompanied by Alexis Galanos, Chair of the Association of Cyprus Municipalities, and Congress member Irene Loizidou (EPP/CCE, Cyprus), met with Constantinos Nicolades, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, and representatives of the Ministry in charge of Local Government. The delegation had a fruitful exchange on the decentralisation programme implemented in Cyprus which was aimed at strengthening the responsibilities and competencies of local authorities. Lars O.Molin welcomed the inclusive approach of consulting all stakeholders in this process, and offered the Congress’s co-operation in preparing the new legislation, notably in the run-up to the Congress monitoring mission planned for 2015.