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.

news

Back The Congress at the Helsinki Ministerial Summit

Finlandia Hall in Helsinki

Finlandia Hall in Helsinki

Foreign Ministers of the 47-member states of the Council of Europe met in Helsinki, Finland, on 16 and 17 May 2019, in the context of the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Council of Europe. The Congress was represented by Anders KNAPE, President of the Congress, and Gunn-Marit HELGESEN, President of the Chamber of Regions.

The President of the Chamber of Regions participated in the commemorative ceremony organised on 16 May by the Finnish authorities, in the presence of the President of the Republic of Finland, Mr Sauli NIINISTÖ. On the same day, she also participated in a "treaty event" which enabled the governments of the various countries to sign and ratify a number of Council of Europe conventions.

The President of the Congress addressed the Foreign Ministers on 17 May and presented the Congress' contribution on the future of the Council of Europe. This text, adopted by the Congress at its 36th Session on 2 April 2019, recalls that local and regional democracy is an essential pillar of European democracy and that, in the face of democratic crises, local institutions occupy a strategic place to rebuild the link between citizens and the institutions that represent them.

At the end of the ministerial session chaired by the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Timo SOINI, Finland handed over the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to France, following which the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Amélie DE MONTCHALIN, presented the priorities of her country's Presidency.

Congress contribution on the future of the Council of Europe: Report CG36(2019)08

See also: Ministers for Foreign Affairs to discuss role of Council of Europe as the Organisation turns 70

Ministerial Summit Helsinki, Finland 16 and 17 May 2019
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page
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.