The Congress of the Local and Regional Powers of Europe, established at the Council of Europe, has a new chairman: he is the Italian Giovanni Di Stasi, who succeeds the Austrian Herwig van Staa. The Congress plays an important role since it represents some 200,000 local, provincial and regional authorities in the 45 member countries of the Council of Europe. The new chairman, who will remain in office for two years, is 54 years old; a graduate in language studies from the University of Bari, he was an Italian MP for two legislatures, then President of the Molise Region and has already chaired the Chamber of the Regions of the Congress. “The main issues of politics are not always tackled as the public would like – said Di Stasi in his inaugural address to the Congress because politics are often distant from the electorate. The activities of the Council of Europe, by contrast, and especially that of the Congress, are close to people’s aspirations. That’s why there’s a need for closer liaison between local authorities and central governments”. According to Di Stasi, “the local and regional authorities must assume their own responsibilities on all the burning issues that are being raised in the world at the present time, especially concerning peace. To contribute to the solution of this problem, they must for example seek interlocutors among American mayors”.
