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
Statute of the Council of Europe Statute of the Council of Europe The Statute of the Council of Europe (also known as the Treaty of London (1949)) is a treaty that was signed on 5 May 1949, which created the Council of Europe. The original signatories were Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom. A state formally joins the Council of Europe by ratifying the Statute. As of 2013, it has been ratified or acceded to by 47 European states. All European states have ratified the Statute with the exception of Belarus and Vatican City (the Holy See). The treaty was