A round table in Strasbourg to celebrate the 50th anniversary of local democracy in Europe. This has been proposed, on May 30th 2007, by the Council of Europe (CoE) as part of the plenary session of the Congress. January 12th 1957 marked the start of the first session of the European Conference of the Local and Regional Powers of Europe, in Strasbourg, with the French Jacques Chaban Delmas as president. Over the years, the Conference has developed, and in 1994 it changed its name to Congress of local and regional powers of the Council of Europe, the main purpose of which is to strengthen local and regional democracy. The round table, according to the CoE, will review the walk covered since 1957 and the current state of the regional and local democracy in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, as well as beyond the European frontiers. The round table will be attended by Walter Schmied, deputy president of the Parliamentary Assembly and president of the Environment and Agriculture Commission, Neris Germanas, theme coordinator of the Committee of the Ministers for local and regional cooperation, António Paiva, president of the Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, and Heinrich Hoffschulte, deputy president of the Council of Municipalities and Regions of Europe.
