(AGENPARL) – Thu 24 April 2025 Image
PRESS RELEASE
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Ref. CG030(2025)
Council of Europe Congress assisted with reforms and capacity building in 21 countries in 2024
In Ukraine, the Centre pursued, in partnership with the Verhovna Rada, the High-Level Dialogue between the Council of Europe and Ukrainian national and local authorities on good democratic governance, mapping a vision for the country’s post-war multi-governance system and the recovery of local self-government. The Centre also assisted the Ukrainian authorities in updating the long-term vision for multilevel governance system, with the revision of the country’s 2014 Decentralisation Reform Concept. Also in 2024, with Centre support, 10 Ukrainian municipalities (Bilhorod–Dnistrovskyi, Bilshivtsi, Dunaivtsi, Fastiv, Kamianets–Podilskyi, Kyiv, Poltava, Shpola, Ternopil and Zviahel) implemented local initiatives to foster democratic innovations and open government, as well as to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights.
The Centre provided expertise to support the preparation of a new draft Law on Local Self-Government in Armenia. In Malta, the Centre contributed to the development of a National Training Strategy and the establishment of a National Training Council. In Bulgaria, Centre support led to the adoption of a Roadmap for Fiscal Decentralisation, while in Hungary the Centre facilitated a local finance working group to promote data-driven reform of local government finances. In Albania, the Collaboration Platform has been relaunched with Centre support to facilitate multilevel governance cooperation across public administration. A multilateral, multi-stakeholder approach to enhance the capacities of local public authorities to manage migration was implemented in Poland, Republic of Moldova and Romania, and a new project to strengthen human resource management in local authorities was launched in Serbia.
Under the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, the Centre
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is an institution of the Council of Europe, responsible for strengthening local and regional democracy in its 46 member states. Composed of two chambers – the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions – and three committees, it brings together 612 elected officials representing more than 130 000 local and regional authorities.
President of the Congress: Marc Cools (Belgium, ILDG), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities: Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Regions: Cecilia Dalman Eek (Sweden, SOC/G/PD).
Political groups: Group of Socialists, Greens and Progressive Democrats (SOC/G/PD), Group of the European Peoples Party (EPP/CCE), Independent Liberal and Democratic Group (ILDG), European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).
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