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 The Congress Bureau approves Morocco’s request to accede to Partner for local democracy status

The Congress Bureau approves Morocco’s request to accede to Partner for local democracy status

Meeting in Strasbourg, France, the Bureau of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities approved, on 18 June 2018, the request for granting of Partner for local democracy status to the Kingdom of Morocco. Established by the Congress in 2014, this status is part of the Council of Europe’s neighbourhood policy and offers the countries concerned a special framework for institutional dialogue with their European counterparts.

‟The Kingdom of Morocco is a long-standing partner of the Council of Europe and participates in the work of several of its bodies such as the Venice Commission, the North-South Centre, the Pompidou Group and the Parliamentary Assembly” said Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM, President of the Congress. ‟By joining our Assembly of elected local and regional representatives, the Moroccan authorities have confirmed their desire to anchor Moroccan local democracy in the values of the Council of Europe and the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government”, she added.

Through this status, the Moroccan authorities undertake to develop a process of decentralisation and regionalisation, based on the principles of the Charter, and to hold free and fair elections at local and regional level, which will be in conformity with international standards.

The official application to be granted this status was submitted to the President of the Congress on 30 May 2018 by the Moroccan Minister of the Interior, the Chair of the AMPCC (Moroccan Association of Chairs of Municipal Councils) and the Chair of the ARM (Association of Regions of Morocco).

The draft resolution proposes granting the status to the Kingdom of Morocco with the attribution to the Moroccan delegation of six seats for its representatives and six seats for their substitutes. The text will be submitted for adoption at the 35th session of the Congress to be held in Strasbourg from 6 to 8 November 2018.

‟We welcome the strengthening of our co-operation and are delighted to receive, in Strasbourg, a delegation of Moroccan local and regional elected representatives, which will be the first to benefit from this special status”, said Piero Fassino, thematic spokesperson on the South-Mediterranean Partnership.

Bureau Strasbourg 18 June 2018
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Chamber of Regions

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Chamber of Local Authorities

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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.