The Regional Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations will participate, on behalf of the President of the Government, in the 30th session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to take place this week.
 
Rodrigo Oliveira, as alternate member of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, will take part in the works of the plenary session of the Congress Tuesday, March 22. On the following day, he will participate in the session "Ethics and Transparency at Local and Regional level" at the meeting of the Chamber of Regions.                                                                                          
 
The meeting of this important body of the Council of Europe, whose opening session will be chaired by its President, Jean-Claude Frecon, includes the discussion of the reports "Ethics and transparency at the local level and regional:  An assessment of the situation in Europe" and" Facing the challenge of creating intercultural societies at local level." The session also features the presentation of a toolbox for the organisation of intercultural and inter-religious activities.
 
The meeting of the Chamber of Regions will discuss the report "Autonomy and borders in a changing Europe." There will also be a debate on the "Evolution of Regionalisation in the Member States of the Council of Europe."
 
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe was established in 1994 as a consultative body of the Council of Europe; the latter is the oldest European international organisation in operation. It was established in 1949 and currently has 47 Member States from the so-called "greater Europe" and comprises other bodies and important institutions,  such as the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights.
 
The Congress will be attended by 648 political representatives of regions and cities from all Member States of the Council of Europe. The Portuguese delegation that will participate in this pan-European assembly is made up of seven members and the same number of alternate members, who will represent Portuguese Autonomous Regions and municipalities.
 
The defence of Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law and the promotion of the awareness of European identity are some of the goals of the Council of Europe. The main mission of this body is to monitor, analyse and promote the values and democratic systems of government as well as the levels of local and regional decentralisation in its Member States.