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Ref. CG-PR027 (2017)

Iceland ratifies the Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority

Strasbourg, 24 May 2017 - The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe welcomes Iceland’s ratification of the Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority, on 22 May 2017. This is a positive and prompt response of the Icelandic authorities to Recommendation 402, which the Congress adopted during its 32^nd session on 30 March 2017, following a monitoring visit to Iceland, from 21 to 23 June 2016.

This ratification is important to ensuring citizen participation and the proper functioning of the participatory instruments recently introduced in Iceland with the new Local Government Act 138/2011. “With the ratification, Iceland sets a strong example for promoting local self-government and confirms its practical commitment to improving participatory democracy at local level,” stated Congress President, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström.

Adopted in November 2009, the Additional Protocol supplements the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the first international binding treaty which guarantees the rights of local authorities and their elected representatives and serves as a reference text for the work of the Congress.

The Protocol will enter into force for Iceland on 1 September 2017.

Iceland ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government on 25 March 1991 and its Additional Protocol on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority on 22 May 2017. Countries which have ratified the Charter are bound by its provisions. The Charter imposes compliance with a minimum number of rights, which are the European bedrock of local self-government. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe ensures respect for these principles.

§  Recommendation 402 (2017) on Local Democracy in Iceland

§  Report CPL32 (2017) 06 on Local Democracy in Iceland

§  The Congress and Iceland

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Planning, Coordination and institutional Communication Unit

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The Congress has two chambers, the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions. It brings together 324 full and 324 substitute members representing more than 200 000 European territorial communities.

President of the Congress: Gudrun Mosler-Törnström (Austria, SOC), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities: Anders Knape (Sweden, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Regions: Gunn Marit Helgesen (Norway, EPP-CCE)

Political Groups: Socialist Group (SOC), Group of the European People’s Party (EPP/CCE), Independent and Liberal Democrat Group (ILDG), European Conservatives & Reformists Group  (ECR)