Congress President

Marc Cools, President of the Congress


Marc Cools (Belgium, ILDG) was elected President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on 24 October 2023 for a mandate of two years and a half. He is currently the Communal Councillor of Uccle (Belgium) and Honorary Vice-President of the Brussels Parliament  and was previously the chair of the Independent and Liberal Democrat Group in the Congress.

Chamber of Local Authorities

Bernd Vöhringer, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities

Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE) was elected on 25 October 2023 President of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress for a two-and-a-half-year term of office.

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Back Belarus: The Congress experience as a tool for strengthening decentralisation

Belarus: The Congress experience as a tool for strengthening decentralisation

On the occasion of his meeting with Congress President Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM in Minsk on 11 September 2018, the Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Mikhail MIASNIKOVICH, stated that the Belarusian authorities were interested in intensifying their co-operation with the Council of Europe, in particular in the field of local self-government.

“The European Charter of Local Self-Government prescribes the anchoring of local self-government in national law. This is the case in Belarus' constitution and it is a solid basis for consolidating local autonomy in your country,” the Congress President stressed. “The Congress’s experience is a relevant tool at your disposal to strengthen decentralisation within the framework of good co-operation," she added.

Presidency Minsk, Belarus 11 September 2018
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President's role

The President's role is to direct the political activities of the Congress and its Chambers, to carry out Congress policy and to represent the Congress vis-à-vis other international organisations, within the context of the Council of Europe's general policy on external relations.

The President of the Congress ensures that decisions taken by the Congress are implemented and reacts on behalf of the Congress to current developments. He or she also presents the activities of the Congress and the texts that it has adopted to the Parliamentary Assembly and Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.  

Chamber of Regions

Tunc Soyer, President of the Chamber of Regions

Tunc Soyer (Türkiye, SOC/G/PD) was elected on 25 October 2023 President of the Chamber of Regions of the Congress for a two-and-a-half-year term of office.