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 Consultation of local authorities: a must for good democratic governance

Consultation of local authorities: a must for good democratic governance

“The consultation of local authorities by higher levels of government on any matters that concern them is a core principle of the European Charter of Local Self-Government which underpins all the other principles,” pointed out Anders KNAPE (Sweden, EPP/CCE), Congress Rapporteur, presenting the draft Guidelines on the right of local authorities to be consulted, on 8 November 2018.

 The aim of the guidelines is to ensure that these principles – in support of good democratic governance – are respected and implemented. “Consultations should be organised at the preparatory stage of decision and policy making. Local authorities must be properly informed, at every stage of the consultation process, both about the process itself, and about the motives and objectives of each planned decision or policy,” he continued.

Implementing these principles requires a legal framework and a formal institutional framework “with local authorities equipped with institutions to represent them and national authorities equipped with institutions to co-ordinate their activities in this area”. Both of these conditions are central to the guidelines which invite governments to enshrine the Charter’s principles in legislation and to set up or strengthen national associations of local authorities. The Congress also believes that this dialogue between local/regional and central governments should be extended to national or regional parliaments.

 

** 35th Session of the Congress **

35th Session Strasbourg, France 08 November 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.