Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe (CoE) is an inter-governmental organisation, based in Strasbourg (France), which the overall mandate is to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference international texts (Conventions & Charters, Recommendations, Resolutions, Opinions, etc.)
The Republic of Turkey is a member of CoE since August 1949 (the 13th state to join the organisation as a member).
Local and regional democracy is one of the main fields of work of the Council of Europe, which has in its institutional structure a specific body, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, as a Europe-wide political assembly of representatives of local and regional authorities from all the 47 member countries. (http://www.coe.int/T/Congress/Default_en.asp)
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRAE) was the initiator and proponent of the main international text on local self-government in the European area: the European Charter of Local Self-government (adopted in 1985 and ratified by the Turkish Republic in 1992). The Charter lays down what are widely acknowledged as the commonly accepted principles and standards of local self-government in Europe. (http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Word/122.doc) All texts adopted by the CLRAE (including reports and recommendations) can be found in http://www.coe.int/T/Congress/4-texts/adoptedTexts_en.asp.
Other bodies and structures in the Council of Europe dealing with local and regional democracy are:
- The Conference of European Ministers responsible for local and regional government. The Conference is a high-level meeting organised every 2-3 years in collaboration between the CoE and a host member state. Its next session will take place in Valencia (Spain) on 15-16 October 2007.
- The European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR), also called Steering Committee. CDLR was established in 1967 to make it possible for governments of member states to discuss issues of local and regional democracy and to pave the way for European co-operation in this area. The Committee comprises government officials dealing with local and regional affairs, nominated by their respective governments.
- Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform. Established on 1 January 2006, within the Directorate of Democratic Institutions of the CoE's General Secretariat (Directorate-General of Democracy and Political Affairs), the Centre aims to support member states in the delivery of effective and democratic local government, including the development of tools and resources for the building of capacity in local authorities and their associations.
All information about these bodies, their areas of work, their working methods and instruments, as well as the CoE's documentation and resources on local and regional democracy and trans-frontier co-operation between local and regional authorities, are available from the following website:
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Legal_Affairs/Local_and_regional_Democracy
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