The members of the Monitoring Committee of the Congress met on Wednesday 18 October 2017 in Strasbourg, during the 33rd Session of the Congress. They elected Stewart DICKSON (United Kingdom, ILDG), member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, as the Committee's 5th vice-chair. The Committee examined the contents of letters raising issues related to the proper functioning of local democracy in Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, Romania and Armenia. Congress Spokesperson on Human Rights, Harald BERGMANN (Netherlands, ILDG), presented to the members a Human Rights Manual, that brings together good practice all over Europe at local and regional levels. The publication will be dedicated to non-discrimination against three groups: refugees, asylum seekers and migrants; Roma and Travellers; LGBT persons. Taking a global approach, the manual will provide a compendium of good practices, some of them ground-breaking, in integration and awareness-building initiatives to provide optimum support for local elected representatives. “For your local authorities, it is about turning challenges into opportunities”, stated Harald BERGMANN to the members of the Committee. In addition, members were also informed of recent Monitoring activities (notably on September, in Latvia) and of elections observations carried out in “the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, on 15 October. Finally, the committee approved a mandate to draw up a report on “Voting rights at local level of internally displaced persons and migrants”. The next meeting of the Monitoring Committee will be held on 14 February 2018.
33rd Session, 18-20 October 2017
Speaking at the opening of the 33rd Congress Session, in Strasbourg, France, on 18 October 2017, Congress President Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM, pointed out that the European construction has enabled historic advances over the last sixty years. 'We do not want to abandon these advances and each and every one of us, in our own particular roles, can help preserve what has been achieved,' she added highlighting the role of the Congress in this regard. Reaffirming the importance of strong regions with broad powers, the President of the Congress indicated that she did not believe that 'the Europe we earnestly hope for can be built on weak nation States, a disintegrated, fragmented Europe which would be devoid of all influence in the world.”. 'There is no room for selfishness, be it national or regional. There is no place for nationalism, whether national or regional”, she added. .' For the President, the message of the Congress is clear: 'We know that devolution is essential, that municipal and regional self-government, clearly defined within the limits of each State’s legally-established borders, is indispensable. But we do not want to see our nations implode,” she concluded.
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