Congress of The Council of Europe - History

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. The history of the Congress reflects the already fifty-year history of the development of local and regional democracy in Europe.

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 organisation. The Charter was opened for signature in 1985 and has since been ratified by almost 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 of Council of Europe. 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. The new 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.

In particular, the structural changes include the creation of three new statutory committees, to replace the existing previous four: a Monitoring Committee, a Governance Committee and a Current Affairs Committee. Moreover, the Congress’ Standing Committee was replaced by a Statutory Forum, 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 Minister approved in January 2011 a revised version of the Statutory Resolution and the Charter of the Congress. In March 2012, the Congress finally adopted its new rules of procedure.