(AGENPARL) - Roma, 4 Maggio 2026 - Image
 
PRESS RELEASE

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

+33(0)388413890                    (                    (

Ref. CG039(2026)

Council of Europe Congress to examine the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Portugal

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is the political assembly representing local and regional governments across the 46 member States, responsible for promoting and monitoring local democracy.

Strasbourg, 04.05.2026 – A delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe ( , composed of rapporteurs Zana Gümüş (Türkiye, SOC/G/PD) and Elianne Demollin-Schneiders (Netherlands, EPP/CCE) will carry out the second part of a monitoring visit to Portugal from 5 to 6 May 2026. The Congress delegation will meet  with national authorities in Lisbon and will also visit the Autonomous Region of the Azores to assess the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government (  since the previous monitoring report (  adopted by the Congress in 2020. The rapporteurs will be accompanied by Professor Nikos Chlepas, Vice-President of the Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government (Greece).

During this part of the visit, the Congress delegation will continue to focus on the follow-up to   Congress recommendation 445/2020 "Monitoring of the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Portugal". (  Furthermore, particular attention will be paid to the functioning of regional and local self-government within the autonomous regions and to the implementation of the principles of the Charter in these specific contexts.

In Lisbon, the rapporteurs will meet with the Secretary of State for Local Administration and Land Planning of the Ministry of Economy and of Territorial Cohesion. In Ponta Delgada, meetings are scheduled with the President of the Association of Municipalities of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the representatives of the Legislative Assembly and of the Regional Government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, as well as the Azores Regional Section of the Court of Auditors.

Contact:  Svitlana Pereverten (

Composed of two chambers – the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions – and three committees, the Congress brings together 612 elected officials representing more than 130 000 local and regional authorities.

President of the Congress: Gunn Marit Helgesen (Norway, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities: Konstantinos Koukas (Greece, 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), Patriots for Europe (PfE).

If you would rather not receive future communications from Council of Europe/Conseil de l'Europe, please go to
Council of Europe/Conseil de l'Europe, Avenue de l'Europe, Strasbourg, . 67000 France