The members of the Congress of the Council of Europe / European Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the European Union High Level Group held an online meeting on 10 July 2020. Discussions focused on the COVID-19 health crisis and the responses at the local and regional levels. The presidents of the two organisations presented the actions developed to help support national authorities and the European Union and Council of Europe institutions in ensuring good democratic governance and the respect of human rights and the rule of law also in times of crises. Among the initiatives launched by the two organisations were the CoR's exchange platform "We Stand Together #EuropeansAgainstCovid19" and the platform "COVID-19: local and regional responses" developed by the Congress to facilitate the exchange of good practice between municipalities, regions and partners.
"The crisis has had a major impact on the functioning of democratic institutions and mechanisms of governance at local and regional level," stressed Congress President Anders Knape. "The entire system of multi-level governance has been put to a test," he added, referring to the Declaration adopted by the Bureau of the Congress on 9 June 2020, in which it expresses its concern about the democratic and financial autonomy of local and regional authorities and the urgent need to restore democratic functioning, in accordance with the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.
Gunn Marit Helgesen, President of the Congress Chamber of Regions, presented the forthcoming work of the Congress and referred to several reports and discussions on the agendas of the Monitoring, Governance and Current Affairs Committees in September. They will deal with several issues raised by the COVID-19 crisis: the safeguarding of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the challenges of multi-level governance and the protection of minorities in cities and regions. "We are faced with worrying issues such as the trend towards recentralisation, the impact of recovery plans on local and regional budgets, the lack of consultation, and the organisation of local and regional elections in times of crisis. A final evaluation will have to take place after the crisis," she added.
CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas also congratulated Mr Knape and the Congress on the launch of the project aiming at supporting the process towards local elections in the City of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where no local elections have been held since 2008.
The Congress was represented by President Anders Knape, President of the Chamber of Regions Gunn Marit Helgesen, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities Xavier Cadoret and Acting Congress Secretary General Andreas Kiefer. CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Chairman of the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) Mark Speich and CoR Secretary General Petr Blížkovský took part in this regular exchange between on behalf of the CoR.
The next High-Level Group meeting will take place in December 2020.
A co-operation agreement was signed in 2005 by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the Committee of the Regions of the European Union. The fields of interest and methods of co-operation of the two institutions were formalised in 2009 and revised in 2018, on the basis of the more general memorandum of understanding concluded in 2007 between the Council of Europe and the European Union. The cooperation agreement reaffirms, in particular, the principle of complementarity between the Congress and the Committee of the Regions, as well as mutual respect for their skills.
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