The round table, moderated by journalist Daniel Riot, was an opportunity to look back at the road travelled since 1957 and examine the current situation of local and regional democracy, both in the Council of Europe's 47 member states and beyond Europe's borders.

50 years on – and the towns and regions are helping to build Europe
The participants to the round-table recalled the role of the Congress in developing and promoting local self-government in Europe. They underlined the importance of the Charter of local self-government and the principal of subsidiarity, stressing the need for its concrete implementation. European construction is not achieved only at the supra-national level, but also at the infra-national level, that of local and regional communities. (more...)
Daniel Riot: “The spirit of the Congress is the spirit of Strasbourg Europe” (more...)	The Congress: 50 years of championing local and regional democracy (more...)
Participants to the Round table
Walter Schmied, Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly and Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs
Neris Germanas, Thematic Co-ordinator of Local and Regional Co-operation (TC-LARC) for the Committee of Ministers and Ambassador of Lithuania to the Council of Europe
António Paiva, President of the Commission for Constitutional Affairs of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union and Mayor of Tomar (Portugal)
Ivan Jacovcic, Vice-President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and President of the Region of Istria (Croatia)
Heinrich Hoffschulte, Honorary Vice-President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)