Luxembourgish delegation participates at the 2nd part of 40th Session of the Congress of local and regional authorities

From 15th to 17th of June, the Luxembourgish delegation took part in the 40th session of the Congress for local and regional authorities of the Council of Europe. As with the first part of the 40th session, which took place in March and was the constituent after the renewal of all the delegations, the event was held entirely via video-conference.

At the opening of the session, the President of the Congress Leendert Verbeek emphasised the need to provide cities and regions with sufficient means for post-crisis recovery, as he stressed that: “More than ever, the crisis has confirmed the need for strong and credible governments at all levels.”

During the session the Congress adopted two reports on LGBTI rights, the first one on the protection of LGBTI people in the context of rising anti-LGBTI hate speech and discrimination, calling on local and regional authorities to mainstream LGBTI equality in their policies and invites the central governments to develop national action plans reinforcing anti-discriminatory and human rights measures, and the second calling on Polish local and regional authorities to withdraw anti-“LGBTI ideology” texts and to protect the rights of minority and vulnerable groups, including LGBTI people.

In addition the Congress discussed reports on “Territorial solidarity: the role of regions”, “Culture without borders: Cultural heritage management for local and regional development” and “Holding referendums at local level”. 

Three monitoring reports on compliance with the European Charter on Local Self-Government were also adopted for: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. On the same matter, the Congress considered the report on “Recurring issues based on assessments resulting from Congress monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and election observation missions (reference period 2017-2020)”.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric had an exchange of views with members of the Congress on the Strategic Framework of the Council of Europe for the next four years and the unique contribution of the Congress to the work of the Council of Europe and to the implementation of the United Nations sustainable development goals. She also underlined that the difficulties of 150 000 local and regional authorities across Europe have often worsened with the advent of COVID-19. “The reality is that they are on the front line when it comes to finding solutions. By adopting a joined-up approach, sharing good practice, and applying the lessons learned, every level of government can be better placed to succeed in the post-crisis recovery,” she underlined.

Other invited guest speakers included: Gergely Karacsony, Mayor of Budapest, as well as the Mayor of Prague Zdenek Hrib and Vache Terteryan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Armenia and finally Vilayet Zahirov, Deputy Minister of Justice, Azerbaijan and Valentina Varbeva, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works of Bulgaria.

For further information: https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/sessions.