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.

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.  

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Back Congress President expresses concern after the invalidation of the elections in Chisinau

Congress President expresses concern after the invalidation of the elections in Chisinau

In reaction to the decision by the Chisinau Appeals Court, to uphold the non-validation of the mayoral elections recently held in the capital city of the Republic of Moldova, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM, expressed serious concern about the latest post-electoral developments in Chisinau.

“Transparency, impartiality and independency are integral parts of the European democratic heritage. This includes all phases of the electoral process including post-electoral decisions. Respect for the results of genuine elections is of primordial importance for democratic stability of a country and of Europe as a whole. The decision of the Chisinau City Court not to validate the result of the ballot held on 3 June 2018 and the rejection of the appeal lodged by Mr Andrei NASTASE, who emerged as the winner of this run-off vote, by the Chisinau Appeals Court, raises many issues, in particular related to these core values of the European electoral and democratic tradition”, the Congress President stated.

“The Congress observed the early local elections held on 20 May in Chisinau, Balti and five other localities and found them in line with democratic standards, overall. The non-validation of the result of the mayoral run-off held on 3 June in Chisinau came as a surprise and raised questions with regard to transparency and proportionality. The reports about the courts’ decisions is a worrying sign for us in the Congress, considering the difficult situation of local democracy which Chisinau has been facing now over a too long period”, Gudrun-MOSLER TÖRNSTRÖM concluded.

This new situation and the draft Information Report on the early local elections held on 20 May 2018 in seven localities including Chisinau and Balti, Republic of Moldova, will be discussed at the Monitoring Meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to be held on 28 June 2018 in Büyükcekmece (Istanbul, Turkey).

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Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Planning, Coordination and institutional Communication Unit
Tel: +33 (0)3 90 21 48 95
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 27 51
[email protected]
www.coe.int/congress

Presidency Strasbourg, France 22 June 2018
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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.

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.