At its meeting in Strasbourg on 11 September 2019, the Congress Bureau discussed the situation of local and regional democracy in Turkey and Albania, as well as the local elections in the Republic of Moldova (20 October 2019) and the Russian Federation (31 July 2019).

The members of the Bureau also examined the agenda of the 37th session, which will be held from 29 to 31 October next and which will be placed under the annual theme "Mayors safeguarding democracy". The session will include several debates on the monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-Government as well as on issues related to the governance of territories in Europe.

With regard to the functioning of the Congress and the means of implementing its statutory activities, the Bureau adopted a declaration on the budgetary situation for the 2020/2021 biennium. The revision of the Congress Rules and Procedures was also on the agenda of the meeting.