Download or read book The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities - Texts adopted - 17th Session - 13 to 15 October 2009 written by COUNCIL OF EUROPE and published by Council of Europe. This book was released on 2010-06-16 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication brings together the texts adopted by the Standing Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. The Congress, a consultative body of the Council of Europe, is made up of two chambers: one representing local authorities, the other the regions. Its aim is to reinforce democratic structures at local and regional level, and in particular to help the newly-emerging democracies in central and eastern Europe. The Congress adopts three different types of texts: recommendations, opinions and resolutions. Recommendations are proposals to the Committee of Ministers, and their application is left up to each member government. Sometimes they are also addressed to other international organisations. Opinions usually refer to questions to the Congress from the Committee of Ministers or the Parliamentary Assembly. The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly consult the Congress on questions which are likely to affect the competence and the basic interests of the local and regional authorities which the Congress represents. Resolutions reflect the decisions that the Congress is authorised to take, or make recommendations to local and/or regional authorities and their associations.