CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE CONGRESS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Dear Members of the Congress, I have the great honor to present to you my candidature for the position of the Secretary General of the Congress at the next Plenary session in October. This a great opportunity for me to further contribute to the cause of local democracy, which has been mine for all my life and in which I firmly believe, as many of you are already fully aware.
#IstandwithUkraine 🇺🇦
With more then 25 years of experience in supporting local democracy in Europe and beyond, I can contribute to empower the Congress, in cooperation and together with its members and political leadership and staff, for making it stronger, more relevant, and strategic. In these difficult times for democracy and for Europe, we can’t miss this opportunity for which I feel a responsibility. My career brings me to the Congress, and this is here where I can really bring an added value.
See the full video
Presentation of my candidature to the Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives, at the Council of Europe, on the 13th of September 2022. Time for getting to know each other and focus on the Congress’ priorities.
See here the video and the photogallery
Manifesto for a stronger, more relevant and more strategic Congress
Stronger
I would like to work for valorising its Assembly and its members and giving them the opportunity to develop policies and programmes within the Council of Europe and the national level, focusing on monitoring and follow up activities.Stronger by empowering its ways of functioning and liaising with other institutions at the Council of Europe, national and other European institutions read more
More relevant
Local Democracy is the basis of Democracy and not a lower dimension of it ! The Congress is not the smaller “chamber” of the political institutions of the Council of Europe. On the contrary, its work paves the way for good governance, human rights and rule of law approach lived first hand by citizens.
It is necessary to further identify and valorise our strong added value as a unique local democracy assembly, representing a large Europe. focused on values, principles and rules and highlighting our expertise and potential. The Council of Europe has now an immense role in helping us to navigate through those turbulent times while democracy, human rights and rule of law are our pillars.
More strategic
We should create opportunities of strong and operational partnership within the Council of Europe, but also at the European Union and global level as well as focusing on cooperation with association of local authorities and other types of stakeholders (public and private, civil society organizations and international organizations).
Acting alone is not an option. Struggles in resources (human and financial) are ahead of us but without ambition and vision, we won’t be able to secure further funding for the crucial work of the Congress.
Key achievements : supporting good local governance through local and regional democracy in Europe
Management
Strategic networking
Examples of key projects
Strategic advocacy and political achievements
Training and strategic recommendations
