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 Congress President meets with UN Secretary General

Family photo of the meeting between the UN Secretary-General and Local and Regional Government Leaders (2nd row, 3rd from left to right: Congress President Anders Knape)

Family photo of the meeting between the UN Secretary-General and Local and Regional Government Leaders (2nd row, 3rd from left to right: Congress President Anders Knape)

The President of the Congress, Anders KNAPE, met the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, on 17 July 2019 during a meeting with a delegation of local and regional elected representatives from several countries. In their message, the members of the delegation stated that “Local and regional authorities share the sense of urgency expressed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations regarding the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The delegation stressed the need for a transformation of governance and different decision-making mechanisms, advocating for “a United-Nations for all” and for the territorial dimension to be taken into account, in particular in view of the Political Declaration of the Summit on the SDGs to be held in New York on 24 and 25 September 2019.

“We call on member States and the international community to recognise us as partners in transformation and to truly embrace local governance and territorial cohesion in the global effort,” underlined the members of the delegation. “To step up efforts, we need greater co-operation and national and international co-ordination mechanisms, as well as sufficient resources," they concluded.

The President of the Congress, Anders KNAPE, participated from 16 to 18 July 2019 in the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, organised in New York under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council under the theme “Empowering people and ensuring inclusion and equality”. He contributed to various sessions dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17 of Agenda 2030.

The Congress' approach to the Sustainable Development Goals is based on three key principles: achieving SDGs is the shared responsibility of all levels of government; local and regional authorities must have the necessary competences and financial autonomy to achieve the goals in their respective areas; citizens must always remain at the heart of the action.

Presidency New-York, United States 17 July 2019
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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.