'The Monitoring Committee is dealing with issues that are probably the most normative at the Congress - including constitutional questions relating to local and regional democracy. This is why deeper co-operation with the Venice Commission is so important', underlined Leen Verbeek, Netherlands (SOC, R), Chair of this Committee, at the 109th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission. He outlined recurring issues identified by the Congress including inadequate financial resources for local and regional authorities, the restricted definition of their competences and the lack of consultation with regard to central government. 'However, the absence of direct applicability of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in domestic legal systems is a new and particularly worrying problem,' he explained stressing the risk of re-centralisation in member States. With regard to transversal problems identified during missions to observe local and regional elections, Mr Verbeek referred to the misuse of administrative resources during electoral processes as the most pressing issue. 

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Speech by Leen Verbeek
Presentation by Stewart Dickson
Resolution 402 (2016)
Joint Guidelines - Venice Commission