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
Council of Europe former head of the Azerbaijan representation at the Council of Europe, has stated that Azerbaijan's delegation at the Council had 25 million dollars available to "bribe members of the delegations and Pace generally". Since 2014, Russia's voting rights have been suspended by the Council due to Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. In response, Russia has started to withhold its annual membership dues in the amount of 33 million euros, placing the institution under financial strain. Russia claims that its suspension by the Council is unfair and demands the restoration of voting rights. European Council secretary-general Thorbjørn Jagland organized a