International Day of Democracy: statement by the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Anders Knape, made a statement on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, the 15th of September.

In his statement, the President underlined the need to defend democracy and to “ensure that democratic principles are respected at all levels of governance”, which has to be carried out through the “partnership between the different levels of governance and with the citizens in our States”.

“This is the objective defended by the Congress through the European Charter of Local Self-Government and its Additional Protocol on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority, which advocates the establishment of consultation procedures, local referendums or petitions, access to public documents, or even mechanisms allowing citizens to address local authorities.”
Mr. Knape concluded that the Congress “will continue its efforts to unite all 47 member States around this essential treaty for local democracy”.

The International Day of Democracy is celebrated around the world on 15 September each year. It was established through a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in 2007, encouraging governments to strengthen and consolidate democracy.
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is a pan-European political assembly, holding a role to promote local and regional democracy, improve local and regional governance and strengthen authorities' self-government