Marc Cools has been elected President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. In his opening speech Marc underlined the role of local elected politicians in building and reinforcing democracy on the European Continent.

His priorities as president will be to:

- Strengthen the position of the Congress as the political chamber of the Council of Europe and develop synergies with all the components of the Council of Europe, and particularly with the European Court of Human Rights

- Ensure that the Congress is the centre of Council of Europe initiatives oriented towards local democracy and obtain sufficient funding for its activities

- Broaden and reinforce the participation of young delegates in the work of the Congress

-Energize and empower the Committee Bureaus and simplify working procedures

Marc Cools particularly addressed the need to stand together with Ukraine to support all efforts that will be undertaken, once the war is over, to rebuild a strong local democracy. Meanwhile he called on working together to make the Register of Damage for Ukraine operational as soon as possible.