The Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 46 Council of Europe member states are gathering in Chișinău on 15 May 2026 for their annual Ministerial session to decide on the Council of Europe's policy objectives at a particularly crucial time for Europe and its citizens and to discuss the New Democratic Pact for Europe.
As a contribution towards the Pact, the Congress is today publishing the key takeaways from an international conference on "Multilevel Governance Approaches to Reinforce Democratic Resilience and Build Public Trust", organised under the Republic of Moldova's Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe held in Chișinău on 29 April 2026.
Promoting local democracy and good democratic governance under the motto "For a Europe of Peace and Resilience" has been a key priority for the Moldovan Presidency. The conference provided a platform for participants from across Europe to share experience of how effective multilevel governance reforms can strengthen democratic resilience, improve public service delivery and rebuild citizens' trust in democratic institutions.
Presenting Finland's 2023 reform establishing wellbeing service counties, Congress member Christa Carpelan (Finland, EPP/CCE) stressed the importance of communication and co-operation between levels of governance, underlining that "the success of governance reforms is not about administrative structures themselves, but about whether public services work better in citizens' everyday lives." The recent Territorial Administrative reform in Armenia served to demonstrate that consolidated communities can deliver economies of scale in service delivery. The Local Democracy Taskforce in Ireland was presented as a positive example of multistakeholder engagement in the elaboration of reform proposals.
Final_Conclusions_mlg_Conference_Chisinau
Report and Conclusions Multilevel Governance Conference Malta
