On the occasion of 40 years of local democracy in Spain, Xavier CADORET, Vice-President of the Congress, participated in a conference organised by the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia and the Carles Pi i Sunyer Foundation on 14 February in Barcelona. The event, opened by Strasbourg's Mayor Roland RIES and attended by some 500 representatives of Catalonia's municipalities, focused on current challenges for local self-government and on examples of innovative good practices implemented by Catalan local administrations.
The conference was preceded by bilateral talks between Mr Cadoret and the President of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia, Xavier AMOR I MARTIN, and Carlos MARTINEZ MINGUEZ, spokesman for the Federation of Spanish Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and Vice-President of the EU Committee of the Regions. In this context, the President of the chamber of local authorities of the Congress, Mr Cadoret pointed to the role of the Spanish delegation in the Congress, particularly in view of the preparation of the next monitoring mission to evaluate the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Spain.
During the conference, Mr Cadoret underlined the importance of the Charter as the only legally-binding international reference treaty for local self-government and the major tasks of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities within the Council of Europe, namely the regular monitoring of this Charter and the observation of local and regional elections in Europe. He also stressed the importance of co-operation with national associations of local self-government in this respect. “There is no democracy without local democracy and the Congress’ Charter is the instrument to evaluate it is proper implementation by the member States of the Council of Europe. That is why we are confident also in view of our further co-operation with Spain”, he concluded.
News of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia: Èxit de participació en l'acte de reconeixement a 81 municipis distingits amb el certificat de bona pràctica [only available in Catalan version]
