Congress of the Council of Europe Congress of the Council of Europe The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRA) is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-seven member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, improve local and regional governance and strengthen authorities' self-government, according to the principles laid down in the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It is made up of two chambers, the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions and holds its plenary sessions twice a year at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, where its permanent
Congress of the Council of Europe is the effective monitoring of the situation of local and regional democracy in member states by assessing the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. Through this process of monitoring, the Congress contributes, at territorial level, to the main objectives of the Council of Europe, which are to advance democracy and human rights on the continent. Monitoring is also part of an ongoing political dialogue with the different levels of governance in the State concerned. The Congress undertakes: • regular general country-by-country monitoring missions; • the examination of a particular aspect of the Charter; • fact-finding missions to look