The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Known from 1957 to 1983 as the Conference of Local Authorities of Europe and from 1983 to 1994 as the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, its role is to promote local and regional democracy, improve local and regional governance, and strengthen authorities' self-government according to the principles laid down in the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

The Congress is made up of two chambers, the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions, and holds its plenary sessions twice a year at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, where its permanent Secretariat is based.

The two Chambers have a total of 612 members, who each must hold an elective office (they may be regional or municipal councillors, mayors or presidents of regional authorities) and who represent over 130,000 authorities in the different states. It encourages the devolution and regionalization processes, as well as the trans-frontier co-operation between cities and regions. The Congress conducts regular monitoring visits to all member states to appraise their implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, observes the functioning of local and regional elections in its member states, and creates international treaties that lay down common European standards to protect local authorities' rights.

History

The present Congress of Local and Regional Authorities was established on 14 January 1994 with the Statutory Resolution 94(3) of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. However, the history of the Congress reflects the already fifty-year history of the development of local and regional democracy in Europe.

The Congress's predecessor, the Conference of Local Authorities of Europe was first established at the Council of Europe in 1957. It held its first session on 12 January 1957 in Strasbourg presided by the prominent French statesman Jacques Chaban-Delmas, who was President of the Conference from January 1957 to January 1960. In 1975 the Committee of Ministers established the Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe that brought together also representatives of European regions, not only local authorities, thus replacing and enhancing the Conference of Local Authorities.

In 1979 it became the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe. Six years later, in 1985, the Standing Conference adopted the European Charter of Local Self-Government, recognizing the increasing role of the development of local democracy, which has become one of the most important achievements of the organization. The Charter was opened for signature in October 1985 and has since been signed by all Council of Europe member states. In 1994 the Standing Conference asked the Committee of Ministers to further enhance its statute, and the Standing Conference was transformed into the present Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. In 2005, during the Warsaw Summit, the Heads of State and Government of the member states of the Council of Europe reasserted the importance of local and regional democracy for Europe and underlined the major role of the Congress in its mission, again supporting its mandate.

In October 2010, the Congress adopted a comprehensive reform of its structures and activities meant to increase the impact of its action and make it more effective and more relevant to European citizens and their elected representatives. In particular, the structural changes included the creation of three new committees, to replace the existing previous four: a Monitoring Committee, a Governance Committee and a Current Affairs Committee. Moreover, a Statutory Forum was set up, the mandate of Congress members extended from two to four years, and the 30-per cent requirement for women's representation in national delegations applied also to substitute members. The role of the Bureau as the executive body of the Congress was strengthened, and the adopted texts subject to a clearer and more concrete follow-up procedure.

In the light of this reform, the Committee of Ministers adopted a revised version of the Statutory Resolution and the Charter of the Congress in January 2011. The Congress adopted its new Rules of Procedure in March 2012. In October 2012 it adopted its priorities 2013–2016. These priorities are focused on 5 areas: monitoring of local and regional democracy, observation of local and regional elections, targeted post-monitoring and post-observation assistance, the local and regional dimension of human rights and streamlined thematic activities.

Role

As political Assembly of local and regional elected representatives, the Congress is the voice of Europe's 130,000 regions and municipalities. It promotes the strengthening of local and regional democracy in all Council of Europe member States. The Congress carries out monitoring missions of the local and regional authorities in member states and prepares reports on the situation in the State concerned. These reports and the draft resolutions and recommendations they contain are submitted to the plenary sessions which debate them in the presence of high representatives of the governments before adopting them. The recommendations are then forwarded to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe which gives them the appropriate follow up whenever needed. It also observes local and regional elections. After an observation mission it drafts a report and a recommendation which are also submitted to the sessions for adoption.

Furthermore, it prepares thematic reports which, together with a recommendation and/or a resolution, are debated during its sessions.

To fulfill its objectives the Congress cooperates with various partners: national associations, international associations, observers, civil society and other institutional partners such as the Committee of Regions of the European Union.

Priorities of the Congress 2021–2026 The Congress will focus on the contribution of local and regional authorities to the UN Sustainable Development Goals by promoting:

Resilient societies: effective responses to public health crisis; Democratic societies: quality of representative democracy and citizen participation; Cohesive societies: reducing inequalities; Sustainable societies: environmental issues and climate action; Digital societies: digitalisation and artificial intelligence in the local context.

Structure

Bureau The Bureau of the Congress, which consists of the members of the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions under the leadership of the Congress President, is responsible for organising the plenary sessions, the coordination of the work of the two chambers and the committees, as well as organising the monitoring and election observation missions, the budget and all questions that need to be treated in between two plenary sessions.

Complete list of Congress Bureau members

Chambers

Chamber of Local Authorities The main task of the Chamber of Local Authorities is to assess the situation of local democracy and observe local elections based on the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The Chamber also handles social issues and supports the cooperation of European cities, such as intercultural dialogues, e-democracy, or multiculturalism. It promotes the principles of local democracy outside Europe, inter alia through Euro-Arab dialogue between cities and Euro-Mediterranean co-operation. At its meetings, which take place twice a year during the Plenary Sessions, the Chamber of Local Authorities holds thematic debates on issues such as the fight against radicalisation, cities against terrorism, migrations, the protection of cultural heritage and adopts recommendations and resolutions. If necessary, the Chamber of Local Authorities can also require a member to write a report to a relevant question of his or her expertise. The Chamber of Local Authorities must examine issues that are relevant to its jurisdiction, namely substantive and current issues relating to the local dimension in Europe, and if necessary may raise a debate during a Congress session. A list of the members of this Chamber can be found here.

Chamber of Regions The Chamber of Regions consists of representatives of authorities that act between the local and central levels of government. The authority must have either self-governing or state-like powers. It must effectively be able to take full responsibility for a substantial share of matters of public concern, in the interest of its community, and it has to take into account the principle of subsidiarity. The Chamber of Regions meets twice a year during the plenary sessions of the Congress, holds debates on issues such as the regionalisation in Europe, and adopts resolutions and recommendations. It deals with the role of regions within the member states of the Congress, regional democracy, inter-regional cooperation and regional economy, among others. The members of this Chamber can be found here.

Statutory Forum With the adoption of the revised Charter of the Congress on 19 January 2011, the former Standing Committee was replaced by the Statutory Forum. This Forum is composed of heads of all national delegations together with the members of the Bureau of Congress. The Forum acts on behalf of the Congress between sessions and may be convened at any time by the President of the Congress, as he deems necessary.

Committees In October 2010, the Congress set up three committees: the Monitoring Committee, the Governance Committee and the Current Affairs Committee. These Committees prepare most of the reports which are submitted to the Chambers or to the Plenary Sessions. In March 2024, the terms of reference of the committees were revised and their names changed to the Committee on the Monitoring of the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and on the respect of Human Rights and the Rule of Law at local and regional levels (“the Monitoring Committee”); the Committee on Governance, Civic Engagement and the Environment (“the Governance Committee”); and the Committee on Social Inclusion and Human Dignity (“the Social Inclusion Committee”).

Monitoring Committee

The Monitoring Committee was established to follow the implementation of the commitment and obligations of the member states to the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It organises monitoring visits and drafts reports and recommendations on the situation of the local and regional democracy in the member states concerned. It encourages member states to evaluate the situation of local democracy, in relation to the Charter, and identifies the obstacles that prevent them from implementing it fully. The members of this Committee can be found here.

Governance Committee

The Governance Committee is responsible for affairs relating to the Congress's statutory mandate. These include public finance, cross border and inter-regional co-operation and e-democracy as well as co-operation with intergovernmental bodies. The site of the Congress contains a list with the members of this Committee.

Social Inclusion Committee The members of this Committee can be found on the site of the Congress.

The Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government The Group of Independent Experts helps the three statutory committees to carry out their responsibilities in local and regional democracy, in regards to the European Charter. The experts are recruited from universities and other research centers based on their expertise in law, economics, or political science and have a renewable term of four years. The Group of Independent Experts is mandated to assist the Congress in :