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 High level meetings and round table on local self-government in Belarus

High level meetings and round table on local self-government in Belarus

At the invitation of the Belarusian authorities, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe held a round table and several high-level meetings with the Belarusian authorities in Minsk on 11 and 12 September 2018.

The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM met the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander LUKASHENKO, as well as the President of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Mikhail MIASNIKOVICH on 11 September 2018. She also participated in a seminar organised with students and professors from the Minsk Academy of Public Administration.

On the same day, a seminar brought together Congress members and experts to discuss the situation of local self-government in Belarus, in the light of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It was opened by the Vice-President of the Congress, Michalis ANGELOPOULOS (Greece, SOC) and the Dean of the Academy of Public Administration, Gennady PALCHIK.

On 12 September, a round table will be devoted to these issues with a view to examining how the principles of the Charter are taken into account in Belarus' local government system, as well as their practical implementation and future prospects. The role of national associations of local authorities will be presented, in particular, by Leendert VERBEEK (Netherlands, SOC), Chairman of the Congress Monitoring Committee, and cross-border co-operation by Robert Csongor GRUMAN, Vice-President of the Congress. Participants will also discuss several local self-government issues such as the training of local government staff and twinning as a development tool.

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.