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Bergmann: A man for NRW – re-election as Council of Europe representative!
Günther Bergmann, CDU politician from Kleve, represents North Rhine-Westphalia again at the Council of Europe. Election supported by CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP.
Bergmann: A man for NRW – re-election as Council of Europe representative!
Günther Bergmann, the CDU member of the state parliament from the Kleve district, will continue to act as North Rhine-Westphalia's representative in the Council of Europe's Congress of Municipalities and Regions. This decision was recently welcomed by the CDU, SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens and FDP factions. Bergmann will therefore represent the interests of his home region in Strasbourg for the years 2026 to 2031. He has been involved in this body since 2017, which represents the voice of over 200,000 regional and local authorities from 46 Member States. This is reported by RP Online.
The Congress plays a crucial role in the Council of Europe, which promotes democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights. This was founded in 1994 and serves as an advisory body that prepares important reports and recommendations on local and regional politics. Bergmann emphasizes that his expertise in these areas is strengthened by his constituency's border location with the Netherlands.
The Congress and its structure
The congress, which consists of 306 elected delegates, will address topics of great importance for municipalities and regions in Europe. Care is taken to ensure that the representation of local and regional bodies is balanced. Germany has a permanent place with 18 full members and just as many deputies, half of them from municipalities and federal states. Sören Schumacher from the Hamburg Citizens' Council is responsible for management, while the German Association of Cities is in charge of management. The Congress is divided into two chambers: the Chamber of Municipalities, chaired by Dr. Bernd Vöhringer from Sindelfingen, and the Chamber of Regions, led by Harald Sonderegger from Vorarlberg, Austria. Information on this can be found at RGRE.
The tasks of the Congress are far-reaching. In addition to monitoring compliance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, it also carries out election observations and highlights current issues in its working groups dealing with monitoring, governance and other important matters.
Background to the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe, founded on May 5, 1949, is the first purely European organization and advocates democracy and human rights. Its more than 200 internationally binding agreements, including the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950, form the basis for international law in Europe. It has 46 member states and is based in Strasbourg, where the Committee of Ministers meets every year.
The work of the Council of Europe and its Congress, as well as the mutual relations with institutions of the European Union, are complex. While the EU imposes constitutional obligations, the Council of Europe is above all a forum for exchange and cooperation between countries. The Federal Agency for Civic Education provides information on this at BPB.
With its extensive tasks and solid representation by politicians like Günther Bergmann, the congress remains an important part of the political landscape in Europe. It will be exciting to see how his work will impact the presentation and representation of regional concerns in the coming legislative period.