CG/BUR/INF(26)33

2 September 2014

Co-operation activities of the Congress

Situation as of 2 September 2014

Document submitted for information to the Bureau of the Congress on 8 September 2014


Since the last information document provided to the Bureau for its meeting on 9 May 2014, the Congress Secretariat has pursued the development of its co-operation activities in an increasing number of countries and has submitted projects for co-financing to potential donors, as described below.

Member states of the Council of Europe

Albania

The Council of Europe is running a project, entitled “Strengthening local government structures and co-operation of local elected representatives”, which is comprised of two lines of action:

-       Line of Action I: to strengthen the capacities of local authorities, with special focus on human resources management and inter-municipal co-operation, proposed and led by the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform*;

-       Line of Action II: to build a unified platform for dialogue and co-operation between local and regional elected representatives, proposed and led by the Congress.

This project, which will be implemented until 2015, is part of the Council of Europe’s Co-operation document with Albania launched in November 2012. Funded by Switzerland, the total budget amounts to € 1,480,000, of which € 560,000 is for the activities of the Congress (Line of Action II) and the personnel in charge of their implementation. One project manager based in Tirana and a (part-time) coordinator based in Strasbourg were recruited in November 2012.

The Council of Europe project was officially launched on 27 February 2013 in Tirana, on the occasion of the 1st meeting of the Steering Committee – a structure made up of all the stakeholders involved in the project and whose main mission is to provide it with strategic guidance.

As for Line of Action II, an Executive Body (restricted working group of ten representatives of Albanian local government units of all levels) was created to initiate the process of dialogue among Local Government Units (LGUs), with the perspective of creating a platform to enhance horizontal and vertical dialogue among LGUs and with the central authorities.

Three regional seminars were organised in Fier, Elbasan and Lezha on 3, 4 and 5 April 2013 and attended by approximately 150 Mayors of Municipalities and Communes, Heads of Municipal Councils and Presidents of Regions. The objective was to gain legitimacy for forthcoming activities in the framework of the project, raise awareness of the need for a unified voice of all local and regional authorities in Albania, and discuss a strategy for the establishment of such a common platform. The declaration “Conclusion – The Way Forward” agreed upon for each seminar confirmed the need for a strong unified voice for all LGUs and for such a project to nurture and accompany the process.

In the context of the extreme political tension in the country during the parliamentary election campaign of 23 June 2013, political dialogue provided to be virtually impossible. Project meetings, for which constructive dialogue and bi-partisan support are required, were therefore put on hold.

Activities were resumed in September 2013, when a delegation of 50 Mayors, Head of Municipal Councils and Presidents of Regions participated in the NEXPO International Municipal Fair in Rijeka (Croatia) to attend the workshop “Cooperation between Albanian mayors as a tool for developing local self-government“.

In October 2013, Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress, paid an official visit to Albania aimed at establishing further contacts with representatives of the newly appointed Albanian Government. Denis Huber, Head of the Co-operation, Administration and External Relations Department, made an opening speech in a national conference on 17 October 2013 in Tirana, organised by the State Ministry of Local Government to launch an administrative and territorial reform in Albania.

An informal Common Platform of dialogue including representatives of the four associations (including their presidents), political affiliations, levels of government and types of LGU was established in October 2013 after negotiations held among the leaders of the two political coalitions. Four meetings of the platform were organised between October and June but it was possible to hold substantial discussions on only two occasions, as in the other two cases the meetings were obstructed or boycotted by part of the members. The political clash between majority and opposition over the Territorial Administrative Reform (the Parliament approved it on 31 July 2014 without the support of the opposition and rejected on 1 September 2014 the President’s veto on the law) monopolised the political agenda and made it extremely difficult to find common ground among the members of the Common Platform. At the end of July, in order to break the stalemate, the Secretary General of the Congress sent a letter to the presidents of the four associations of local authorities requiring them to provide a formal confirmation of their commitment to the process of dialogue and to propose further common action. This is considered a pre-condition for the Congress’s further involvement in the political mediation process. as of 2 September, no answer has been received from the associations.

Central authorities asked the Council of Europe/Congress for assistance to set up a Consultative Council to consult local and regional authorities on policies concerning decentralisation and local governance, and to draft specific sections of the National Cross-cutting Strategy for Decentralisation and Local Governance. The Congress has contracted two consultants from the Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government (David Melua and Edlir Vokopola) to draft two papers: a study presenting European models of institutional communication between central and local authorities, and a policy proposal defining the consultation model which is most suitable to the Albanian situation. Both papers have been submitted to the government and consultations should soon be held with local authorities associations and stakeholders.

As in the case of Armenia, the Congress participated in a peer-review exercise on territorial administrative reform in Albania in November 2013 where peers from European governments who have conducted a similar reform exchanged information and gave friendly advice.

The 2nd Steering Committee meeting took place in Tirana on 12 March 2014 in a positive spirit: it assessed progress to date and approved the new strategic directions and the Yearly Plan of Operations for 2014. The Steering Committee approved the new Action Plan including the new project component focusing on the setting up of the Consultative Council. The project budget has been revised accordingly.

Michel O’Brien, Ireland (L, SOC), Vice-President of the Congress and members Tatiana Badan, Moldova (L, ILDG), Helen Eadie, United Kingdom (R, SOC), Mikhel Jukhami, Estonia (L, EPP), Matej Gomboši, Slovenia (L, EPP) and Erwin Mohr, Austria (L, EPP/CCE) participated in several meetings of this project.

Armenia

On 16 September 2013 the Council of Europe signed an agreement with the Government of Denmark for the implementation of the project “Support for the consolidation of local democracy in Armenia”, which is included in the Action Plan for Armenia 2012-2014 and comprises three lines of action:

-       Line of Action I on the support for local government reform, proposed by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform of the Council of Europe*;

-       Line of Action II on the strengthening of the capacities of local communities, which proposes activities on public ethics, human resource management and the implementation of best practices, proposed by the Council of Europe Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform*;

-       Line of Action III on the strengthening of the leadership capacities of local elected representatives, proposed by the Congress.

The project component implemented by the Congress aims at increasing local elected representatives’ knowledge of good practices in the field of local democracy and at strengthening their capacities so they can engage in a constructive dialogue amongst themselves, with national authorities and with citizens, so as to ultimately improve local political governance in the country, nurture confidence and trust in local authorities and allow for successful implementation of the local government reform.

Through a peer-to-peer approach involving members of the Congress and local authorities from Europe, Armenian local elected representatives share best practice and increase their knowledge of standards of local self-governance. A number of issues are addressed, including the role and responsibilities of local elected representatives, elected representatives versus local officials, citizen participation, ethics in politics and decision making, management and communication skills.

The methodology is based on the principle of ownership, and involves the creation of a working group composed by about 25 local elected representatives, politically and geographically balanced, representing urban and rural communities, including representatives of the pilot communities which are involved in administrative-territorial reform. A special effort is made to engage locally elected women. Besides the regular meetings of this working group, the project will organise regional workshops, a large national event, and pilot activities on citizen participation.

The project started on 1 October 2013 and will last until 30 September 2016 (September 2015 for Line of Action III). The total budget is € 1 785 000, including € 575 000 for the Congress activities and staff in charge of their implementation. The staff responsible for the implementation of Line of Action III is composed of one project manager and one part-time assistant (shared among all Lines of Action) based in Yerevan, plus one part-time coordinator based in Strasbourg. The team has been in place since January 2014.

Congress Vice-President John Warmisham, United Kingdom (L, SOC) and Secretary General Andreas Kiefer met on 11 October 2013 with Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, who expressed his support to the activities implemented by the Congress as part of the CoE Action Plan for Armenia. The meeting of the Steering Committee of the Armenia Action Plan (chaired by Armen Gevorgyan) took place on 12 December 2013 in Yerevan.

As in the case of Albania, the Congress participated in a peer-review exercise in November 2013 to help the Armenian Government develop the pilot process for the territorial administrative reform.

On 5 February 2014 the project was officially launched in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, and the first Steering Committee meeting took place.

Following the adoption of a Congress monitoring report on the state of local democracy in Armenia in March 2014, the EU Committee of the Regions and the Congress jointly organised a hearing in Brussels on 5 June with the aim of discussing the perspectives of implementing local democracy in Armenia. Knud Andersen, Denmark (L, ILDG) presented the conclusion of the report. Lusine Avetyan (L, EPP) and Emin Yeritsyan (L, EPP), both members of the Armenian Delegation to the Congress, presented an assessment and suggestions for future reforms in their country.

Three leadership workshops for a selected group of twenty mayors have been organised as part of a two-year leadership development programme. The topics of the three workshops were: “Be the mayor: role and responsibilities”, “Governing by leadership”, and “Effective communication”. Congress members Matej Gomboši, Slovenia (L, EPP), Barbara Toce, Italia (L, SOC) and Artan Shkembi, Albania (L, SOC) took part in these workshops.

Further to a request of the Armenia Municipal Councillors Association (AMCA), member of the project Steering Committee, the seminar “Councillors: everyday actors of democracy” was designed and delivered on 10 July 2014. The main topics of the seminar were the functions of the key municipal institutions/structures, duties and powers of municipal councillors, social responsibility and accountability, code of conduct, constructive opposition, communication with stakeholders, and relationship with citizens.

In parallel, the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) approved the implementation of a project aimed at strengthening the Association of Armenian Communities (AAC) to become an effective organisation and an active advocator of the interests of Armenian local authorities. Negotiations are currently taking place among SDC, the Congress, and the Association for the contract to be signed. The implementation of the project will start in October 2014.

Azerbaijan

The Council of Europe Action Plan for Azerbaijan 2014-2016 was launched on 20 May 2014 on the occasion of the visit of the Council of Europe Secretary General to Baku. The Congress suggests contributing to the development of a vision for enhancing local democracy in compliance with its Recommendation 326(2012), thus complementing the proposal drafted by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform*. For the Congress it consists of undertaking a political dialogue in view of the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendation and reinforcing leadership capacities of local elected representatives.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Council of Europe has prepared an Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2014-2016 which is currently under consultation by the BiH authorities. The Action Plan includes a project on local democracy presented jointly by the Congress and the Centre of Expertise* to further strengthen democracy and good governance at local level in the country. Some activities are planned in order to support the drawing up of a roadmap for the implementation of the Congress’ recommendations that should be discussed during post-monitoring meetings. The first meeting took place on 10-11 December 2013 in Sarajevo with the participation of Congress rapporteurs Beat Hirs, Switzerland (L, ILDG) and Jean-Marie Belliard, France (R, EPP), and Jean-Philippe Bozouls, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Local Authorities.

Georgia

The Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2013-2015 was launched on 6 February 2014 on the occasion of the visit of the Council of Europe Secretary General to Tbilisi. The Georgian Government agreed to include local governance as one of the priority areas as it is currently undertaking a major local government reform.

The proposed three-year-long project takes into account Congress Recommendation 334(2013) on local and regional democracy in Georgia and includes several components: support to the reform and in particular to the process of consultation with local authorities and strengthening of the capacity of local elected representatives as leaders for change. The project also includes a component on citizen participation. The idea of organising a round table with the Georgian Parliament, Government and local authorities in the next months as part of the proposal included in the Action Plan has been discussed with David Usuphashvili, President of the Georgian Parliament, during its meeting with the Congress President on 1 October 2013. Tengiz Shergelashvili, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, attended the Monitoring Committee meeting on 19 February 2014 as part of the post-monitoring process. The rapporteurs’ opinion on the law on local self-government will be discussed in a further post-monitoring meeting to take place in autumn 2014.

Republic of Moldova

The Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2013-2016 was launched in Chisinau on 14 March 2014 by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The chapter on local democracy and decentralisation includes an action line on strengthening local democracy and governance drawn up by the Congress in close collaboration with the association of local authorities (the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova - CALM). It covers the following activities: establishing a post-monitoring dialogue in order to implement Recommendation 322(2012) which includes the issue of the distribution of powers and responsibilities between the centre and the regions; strengthening local political governance; increasing local elected representatives’ capacities as drivers for change; promoting a dialogue with central and local authorities and consolidating the CALM as a major interlocutor between central and local authorities. Discussions with the Moldovan authorities took place in Chisinau on the occasion of the Monitoring Committee meeting on 3 July 2014.

Russia

Local democracy is one of the priorities in the co-operation document for the Russian Federation which has been under preparation for some time. The Congress intends to contribute to a project which has been developed by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform*. The project's main objectives are to improve the quality of local governance, to increase efficiency and effectiveness of local administration, to promote sustainable policies and to improve citizens' access to services, as well as their involvement in public decisions.

Co-operation activities with the Russian Federation are on stand-by due to the political context and to the decision of the Bureau of the Congress of  24 March 2014 to “hold in Russia only meetings dedicated to the search for a political solution to the annexation of the Crimea by the Russian Federation with a view to maintaining a political dialogue”.

Ukraine

The new government appointed on 27 February declared local self-government and decentralisation as one of their priorities. A concept paper on decentralisation was adopted on 1 April 2014.

Negotiations are underway between the Council of Europe and the new government of Ukraine to adopt an Action Plan for 2015-2017 adapted to the current situation. Local democracy and decentralisation are expected to be among the priorities. In the meantime, the Committee of Ministers adopted in April 2014 a “Cooperation with Ukraine – Immediate Measures Package” document to fill the gap and carry out activities between the Action Plan 2011-2014 and the new Action Plan to be adopted.

The Danish authorities had expressed their willingness to support the continuity of the actions led by the Council of Europe in the field of local democracy in Ukraine. A programme has been set up, with funding of a total of 600 000 € for the period April 2014-May 2015, and included in the revised Action Plan.

Supported by the “Immediate Measures Package” (IMP), a Congress delegation observed pre-term local elections on 25 May 2014. A high level visit was organised from 17 to 18 July as a follow-up to the Congress declaration adopted on 25 March 2014 and stating that “The Congress [was] ready to discuss with the new authorities the implementation of these recommendations. It [was] particularly willing to send a delegation to Ukraine, including the region of Crimea, to examine the situation in the country”. The President of the Congress, the President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, the President of the Chamber of Regions, the presidents of all political groups, and the Rapporteur on Ukraine visited Kyiv and Odessa. The delegation met with representatives of the government and of the Ukrainian Parliament, with the Mayor of Kyiv, and with representatives of the Tatar community of Crimea. On 18 July, the delegation travelled to Odessa and held a series of exchanges with the Mayor of Odessa, representatives of the Regional Council of Odessa, as well as with members of the Ukrainian delegation to the Congress and other elected representatives. The delegation had been able to get a complete picture of the current situation in Ukraine and of the major difficulties the country is going through.

A series of seminars for young local leaders are planned in different parts of Ukraine with the objective of raising the awareness of young community leaders to local and regional democracy principles, who can potentially stand for future local elections or play a role in the electoral process. The training aims at spreading a culture of local democracy and local political governance in the country and inspiring young local leaders to engage in local democracy to make a change.

The first seminar took place from 15 to 17 July in Truskavets (Lviv region) with the participation of Nataliya Romanova, President of the Chamber of Regions of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, who also chaired the participants’ Selection Panel; and Congress members Mairi Evans, United Kingdom (L, NR), Sabine Van Dooren, Belgium (L, ILDG), and Svitlana Bohatyrchuk-Kryvko, Ukraine (L, ECR). The seminar brought together 20 young participants, leaders of NGOs and youth wings of political parties as well as recently elected mayors, councillors or candidates and media representatives. They discussed local governance issues, further decentralisation and local democracy development in Ukraine, and supported the importance of the principle of subsidiarity. Moreover, the seminar was the occasion for Nataliya Romanova and Denis Huber, Head of the Department of Co-operation, Administration and External Relations of the Congress Secretariat, to meet with Mr Oleg Berezyuk, Acting Deputy Mayor of Lviv, on 16 July 2014. They discussed the current political situation, the challenges Ukraine is facing, and how the country can come out of  this crisis stronger.

The following seminars will be organised in partnership with the Ukrainian School of Political Studies. One will be held in Chernihiv from 30 September to 2 October 2014; and a second in Odessa from 9 to 12 December 2014. A call for applications is currently open for the selection of participants. A number of these young leaders will also participate in the World Forum for Democracy in November 2014.

A leadership workshop “Mayors, leaders for change” designed for mayors elected on 25 May 2014 will be organised in Kyiv Oblast from 9 to 11 November 2014. Through a peer-to-peer approach including members of the Congress, newly elected mayors will take inspiration from colleagues in Ukraine and from other parts of Europe and share best practices on the way to exercise their authority and responsibility, and provide public services to the local community.

A post-monitoring procedure was launched on 22 May 2014. Deputy Minister Viacheslav Nehoda agreed on a post-monitoring programme which includes meetings to be held between end 2014 and beginning 2015. These activities are undertaken with the Danish funding.

Previously, Congress Recommendation 348(2013) was discussed on 11 November 2013 at a roundtable in Kyiv with the participation of Congress rapporteur Marc Cools, Belgium (L, IDLG), and all actors of the development of local democracy in Ukraine. In addition, it was presented and discussed with the international community in the framework of the co-operation with the Committee of Regions at a joint hearing on 18 November 2013 in Brussels with the participation of rapporteurs Marc Cools, Belgium (L, IDLG) and Pascal Mangin, France (R, EPP), as well as Nataliya Romanova, President of the Chamber of Regions.

Council of Europe activities for the development and consolidation of democratic stability

Belarus

The Congress has proposed activities to foster the development of local democracy in Belarus. This includes raising awareness on the European Charter of Local Self-Government among national authorities, local authorities and civil society in Belarus; sharing European experiences on the implementation of the Charter and providing an assessment of the compliance of Belarusian legislation and draft legislation with CoE standards in the field of local democracy.

Following the discussions with the Belarus authorities in the spring of 2013, Jean-Claude Frécon, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities and Nataliya Romanova, President of the Chamber of Regions, visited Minsk from 24 to 27 September 2013 in order to discuss further co-operation, in particular the preparation of a seminar on the European Charter of Local Self-Government. Meetings took place with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minsk City Council, the committee responsible for local government in the Upper House of Parliament, and with civil society representatives. This seminar, which should take place in 2014, was again discussed during a meeting held by Jean-Claude Frécon, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, with representatives of the government of Belarus during the session of the Congress in March 2014.

Kosovo[*]

The Congress has developed a project aimed at raising authorities’ and local elected representatives’ awareness of decentralisation issues and of the role of local elected representatives with the objective of strengthening democratic values and governance in Kosovo*. This project is part of the Council of Europe’s overview of co-operation activities in Kosovo*, which was discussed within the Committee of Ministers and between the Council of Europe and its main international partners.

The project would be implemented within the framework of the agreement reached on 19 April 2013 between Serbia and Kosovo* under the auspices of the European Union. On 6 May 2014 the Council of the European Union signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Kosovo*.The SAA between the European Union and Serbia came into force on 1 September 2013. Kosovo authorities and the international community, notably the European Commission, have shown a great interest in the involvement of the Council of Europe in the field of local democracy. Local elections were held on 3 November 2013, with re-runs on 17 November 2013 and on 1 December 2013. According to the EU these repeated local elections have been successful and are an important stage in Serbia’s and Kosovo’s road to the EU. Parliamentary elections were held on 8 June 2014. The Prime Minister’s party won the elections, however the opposition parties formed a coalition and therefore have a majority of seats in the Parliament. No agreement has been reached yet to appoint a new government and to elect the Parliament’s Chairman. The Council of Europe co-operation activities will be implemented in due course.


Co-operation with neighbouring regions of the Council of Europe

The Congress’ proposals are part of the Council of Europe’s policy towards neighbouring regions and are a response to requests received from the countries concerned.

Morocco

The Congress is continuing to co-operate with Moroccan authorities, particularly following the adoption at the beginning of July 2013 by the Parliament of the draft law defining principles of territorial delineation of local governments, which should be translated concretely into the country’s new territorial organisation.

The Congress has participated in this debate on advanced regionalisation by providing its expertise to the Consultative Commission on Regionalisation since its creation in 2010 and through a reinforced dialogue with Moroccan parliamentarians and local authorities, notably on the occasion of the PACE sessions in Strasbourg and during an exchange of views organised on 11 July 2012.

Moroccan authorities have requested Council of Europe support in the setting up of the Association of the Presidents of the Town Councils created on 27 May 2013. A joint proposal from the Congress and the Centre of Expertise on the local administration reform* was drawn up at the end of May 2013: the Congress’ contribution concerns local elected representatives’ awareness about good governance and their role and responsibility in a context of wider autonomy, and includes assistance to the development of the new association’s activities.

The principle of concrete co-operation was discussed on 3 October2013 atthe World Summit of UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments) in Rabat by Jean-Claude Frécon, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities and Jean-Philippe Bozouls, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Local Authorities, with Fouad Omari, President of the Association and Abdelouahed Ourzik, Governor, Director of legal affairs, of studies and of co-operation at the  Ministry of Home Affairs, Directorate general of local communities. The Congress representatives, including Marc Cools, Vice-President of the Congress and President of the Association of the City and the Municipalities of the Capital Region Brussels and Anders Knape, Vice-President of the Congress,  Deputy President of CEMR (Council of European Municipalities and Regions) and President of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR), also met Omar Azziman, Advisor to the King, who co-ordinated the Consultative Commission on Regionalisation’s work.

Further informal contacts between Moroccan mayors and Congress members took place during the 2013 Lisbon Forum (6-7 November 2013). They will continue in 2014, in particular in the context of the preparation of the Partner for Local Democracy Statute, currently being discussed by the Bureau of the Congress. A workshop on the role of women in political life was held in Tetouan on 28 March 2014 at the initiative of the North-South Centre.

Tunisia

Following the interest shown as of 2012 by Tunisian authorities in co-operating with the Council of Europe in the area of the reinforcement of local democracy during various meetings and contact visits by the President and members of the Congress, the preparation of a study on local and regional democracy in Tunisia has been undertaken.

The study includes an analysis of the situation of local and regional democracy in Tunisia and recommendations and a report on other intergovernmental organisations’ activities in Tunisia in this field. It is being drawn up with the participation of NéjI Baccouche, Professor of Law in the University of Sfax (Tunisia), and Christian Behrendt, Professor of Constitutional Law in the University of Liege (Belgium). It will be presented for comments to the new Tunisian authorities in due course.

Resulting from a fruitful co-operation between the Venice Commission, the Congress and the NCA concerning the drafting of the Tunisian Constitution, the Congress’ comments on Chapter VII of the final draft concerning local powers – comments formulated by Christian Behrendt, Professor at the University of Liege, Belgium – have been included within the official text of the Venice Commission, released on 17 July 2013[†] and taken into account in the final version of the new Constitution.

Following the promulgation of the new Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia, the Congress Bureau adopted a Declaration on 10 February 2014 welcoming the important step which this Constitution represents for the development of democracy in the country. Congress President, Herwig van Staa, also recalled that the Congress is ready to contribute to the effective implementation of local government, which is now based on the principle of decentralisation as well as of financial and administrative independence.

Local and regional democracy is enshrined in the text of the Constitution, which provides that municipal and regional councils are elected through general, free, direct, fair and transparent elections. The mechanisms of participatory democracy and the principles of open governance have also been incorporated. The recognition of the principle of financial autonomy, the target of achieving equivalence “between local resources and local burdens”, as well as the State’s undertaking “to guarantee women’s representation in elected councils” have also been recognised.

The contacts with Tunisia will resume in this context. Marie-Madeleine Mialot-Muller, member of the Congress, took part in a workshop organised by the North–South Centre of the Council of Europe in Tunis on 17 March on women’s participation in politics and was able to reinitiate contacts on this occasion.

Other information documents presented to the Bureau of the Congress:

CG/BUR(26)11, CG/BUR(25)29, CG/BUR(25)13, CG/BUR(25)5, CG/BUR(24)45, CG/BUR(24)29, CG/BUR(24)23, CG/BUR(24)10, CGBUR(23)48, CGBUR(23)36, CG/BUR(23)18, CG/BUR(23)17, CG/BUR(22)47, CG/BUR(22)30, CG/BUR(22)4, CG/BUR(21)36, CG/BUR(21)12, and CG/BUR(21)4.



* The Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform is a Unit of the Directorate General Democracy of the Council of Europe Secretariat General

[*] All reference to Kosovo, whether in the territory, institutions or population in this text, shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo*.

[†] CG/BUR(24)30