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 Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM: “We need a truly functional co-operation network in Europe”

Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM: “We need a truly functional co-operation network in Europe”

“CALRE and the Congress share a long-standing relationship of co-operation and share many areas of interest” stated Congress President Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM, speaking at the Standing Committee of the Conference of Regional Legislative Assemblies of Europe (CALRE), held in Brussels, on 28 June 2018. “However, we could better target our co-operation, in a wide range of thematic activities of your ten working groups and the Congress’ three committees” she nuanced.

 

Reiterating Congress intentions to build synergies between the two assemblies, she pointed out many areas of common interest for the two institutions. One of these topics is the challenges of migration and integration of migrants and refugees. “This year, the Congress adopted a manual of good local and regional practices in protecting the human rights of migrants, and a recommendation for border regions facing migration phenomena will be adopted during our 35th Session in November”, Mrs MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM explained.

 

Citizen participation in local and regional decision making was another area of their common concern brought up by the President. In this regard, she recalled that the Congress organises an annual event called the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW), that brings together citizens and local and regional authorities to boost joint decision making.

 

“Promoting cultural diversity and inclusive citizen participation are the subjects that can hardly be separated from the use of regional or minority languages in our communities”, stated Mrs. MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM. In this regard, she recalled that the Congress adopted last October a report on the implementation of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages at the regional level. In May, the Congress also organised a conference about regional and minority languages in order to prepare a report on the use of these languages by the local and regional authorities.

 

To meet the current and future challenges, she warmly encouraged other institutions to join the Congress’ effort. “While co-operation between the Congress and CALRE is undoubtedly important, so are the partnerships with other institutions and associations which work to advance local and regional democracy on our continent”, she concluded.

 

Brussels 28 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.