The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has started 37th Session, in Strasbourg, France. From 29 to 31 October 2019 Armenian delegation head by the president of Union of Communities of Armenia Emin Yeritsyan is taking part in Congress session. 37th Session is entitled “Mayors safeguarding democracy”.

On the occasion of the 37th Session, the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of regions elected vice-presidents. Emin Yeritsyan (Armenia, EPP/CCE), Councillor of the Community of Parakar and president of the Armenian delegation to the Congress, was elected vice-president of the Chamber of Local Authorities.

The Session’s debates will focus on smart cities and cybersecurity, the working conditions of local elected representatives, the fair distribution of taxes in transfrontier areas, the use of languages by local and regional authorities and the protection of internally displaced persons, as well as on the regional dimension in the future of Europe and on the Venice Principles on the protection and promotion of the ombudsman institution. Members will also consider the revision of the "Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-making process" prepared by a joint working group composed of members of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe and the Congress.

As part of its monitoring activities, the Congress will consider for adoption two reports on local and regional democracy in the Russian Federation and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a report on the observation of local elections in Turkey (31 March 2019), including the repeat mayoral election in Istanbul on 23 June 2019.