As part of its monitoring of regional democracy in Europe, the Congress maintains a regular dialogue with member states of the Council of Europe. The Committee of Ministers, which includes the 46 Foreign Ministers of these states, the Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional authorities, as well as its Steering Committees are partners in this regard.

Several times a year, the President and the Secretary General of the Congress provide the representatives of the member states in the Committee of Ministers with a record of its activities and hold an exchange of views.

The Congress also has direct contacts and exchanges with national governments, in particular, on the occasion of official visits in the member states, or during follow-up visits or observation of local and regional elections.
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Back Andreas Kiefer at the Committee of Ministers: “The reform of the Congress will be an opportunity to strengthen its effectiveness”

Andreas Kiefer at the Committee of Ministers: “The reform of the Congress will be an opportunity to strengthen its effectiveness”

Twice a year, Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General, presents a communication to the Deputies in the Committee of Ministers on-going work, upcoming events, challenges and working conditions of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. In his communication on 17 October 2018 in Strasbourg, he gave an update of the statutory work achieved since last presentation in April 2018 in particular the monitoring and election observation activities and the co-operation activities within the Council of Europe Action Plans as well as an overview of the implementation of the work programme of the Congress committees.

He also explained the philosophy and aim of the reform that the Congress has undertaken since beginning 2018: “As a reaction to the challenging financial situation of the Council of Europe, the Congress Bureau decided to launch a reflection on the changes needed to secure institutional functioning of the Congress, its capacity to continue to deliver, to maintain outreach and to contribute thematically” he said, underlining that the Congress wanted to further strengthen its institutional role as second political Assembly of the Council of Europe.

He gave an outlook to the agenda of the forthcoming session (6-8 November 2018) which includes in particular the election of the new Congress President and Vice-Presidents. Furthermore, the theme of the Session will be “Integrity and Ethical behavior of elected representatives” and a debate on this subject will be held on 7 November 2018 with the presentation of several reports. The 1st series of a Human Rights handbook focusing on refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and IDPs; Roma and Travellers, and LGBTI people will be presented also.

The Secretary-General thanked the Ministers' Deputies for their support and contribution to maintaining a regular dialogue with the governments of member states in Strasbourg or in the capitals. He appealed for voluntary contributions from States in order to continue funding, in particular, the Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion.

The oral communication of the Secretary General was accompanied by a written report containing a comprehensive information on the work achieved by the Congress and its entities between April and October 2018

 

Committee of Ministers Strasbourg, France 18 October 2018
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