The Meeting of the Bureau of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities took place in Yerevan

The meeting of the Bureau of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities was held in Yerevan on 18 June 2013, in the framework of the Armenian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The members of the Bureau had an exchange of views with Mr. Armen Gevorgyan, Vice Prime-Minister and the Minister of Territorial Administration of Armenia, among other items.

In his address to the participants, Mr. Gevorgyan underlined that since its accession to the Council of Europe, Armenia has developed a comprehensive and multi-dimensional co-operation with the Organisation, and that this co-operation plays a significant role in Armenia’s efforts towards developing and further improving local democracy.

Mr. Gevorgyan also read out the welcoming address of the President of the Republic, Mr. Serzh Sargsyan, to the participants of the Bureau meeting. The address mentioned that:

“Local democracy has been a priority area for a number of Council of Europe Chairmanships and it will remain a priority area during Armenia’s Chairmanship as well, since local democracy is the principal component for the democratic development of society. The holding of the meeting of the Bureau of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, which is a statutory body of the Council of Europe, is clear evidence of Armenia’s irreversible advancement towards democracy and specifically towards ensuring effective democratic practices at local level.

We are committed to a further strengthening and deepening of local democracy and we believe that Armenia’s co-operation with the Council of Europe, which already has a long tradition, will continue to be fruitful in the future.

The local democracy dimension is included in Armenia’s programme of co-operation with the Council of Europe. The tasks defined in the programme are quite ambitious and deal with such issues as further decentralisation of state powers, transparency of the work of local authorities, citizen participation, and the wide range and the quality of services provided at local level.

In order toaddress these issues, we put the question of bringing the abilities and the capabilities of local communities in line with their powers on our agenda.  Among other envisaged measures, we consider administrative reforms aimed at consolidation as well as expansion of financial capabilities of communities to be the most relevant steps, and we have already embarked on their implementation.

We are confident that we can count on the expertise and assistance of the Council of Europe to help us in our efforts.”

Mr. Gevorgyan also spoke about the existing issues in Armenia with regard to local and regional authorities, and about perspectives of the reform process, as well as Armenia’s co-operation with the Congress.

After the exchange of views, the President of the Congress, Mr. Herwig Van Staa, and the First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration of Armenia, Mr. Vache Terteryan, held a press-conference.  

In camera, Congress Bureau members discussed the agenda of the 25^th Session of the Congress, the activities of the Congress committees, and the latest developments in local and regional democracy.