Strasbourg, Oct.15-17.– The agenda of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities includes the protection of 
Ukraine’s cultural heritage, ageing communities, fostering circular economy at the grassroots level, common challenges to local democracy in Europe, the situation of regions with special status, the role of regions in Ukraine’s reconstruction, as well as efforts to expand the outreach of the Local Self-Government Charter to cities in non-member states (Kazakhstan, Mauritania, and Morocco) and 10 years of direct youth engagement in the work of the Congress are on the agenda of the session.
The Congress will also debate monitoring reports on the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Finland, Iceland, Latvia, and Malta, as well as on the observation of local elections in Türkiye on 31 March 2024.
Among the invited guests are: the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset; Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of the Interior Arnoldas Abramavičius on behalf of his country’s Presidency of Committee of Ministers; Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Theodoros Rousopoulos; Iceland’s Minister of Infrastructure Svandís Svavarsdóttir; Latvia’s Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development Inga Bērziņa; State Secretary to Finland’s Minister of Local and Regional Government Kristiina Kokko; and Speaker of the Parliament of Åland (Finland) Jörgen Pettersson. Ukrainian Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi Deputy Minister for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalisation of Ukraine Anastasia Bondar are expected to participate online.
The Congress session opens to the media upon prior accreditation. It will be webcast live in five languages.
Session page - Agenda – Draft reports
Contact: Tatiana Baeva-Frachon, tel. +33 6 85 11 64 93