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One of the European Charter of Local Self-Government’s principal distinguishing features is the process of monitoring of state performance under the Charter by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. This chapter discusses the institutions and procedures of that monitoring process (including the preparation of formal monitoring reports and recommendations), as well as the treatment of the Charter by the domestic courts of member states (whether in the monist or dualist tradition).

An important question in relation to the European Charter of Local Self-Government is how to measure the treaty’s actual impact on the law and practice of local government in Europe. This chapter offers a response, distinguishing principally between that group of states (broadly in Western Europe and including the United Kingdom) which became signatories to the Charter from 1985 and, on the other hand, those states of Central and Eastern Europe who undertook major political and constitutional transformations from the early 1990s and came late to the Council of Europe and the Charter. The Charter became an important dimension in applications for membership of the European Union.

This chapter provides a textual analysis of the European Charter of Local Self-Government’s provisions, article by article and includes the Charter’s complete text and of its Explanatory Report, along with discussion of how each article has been further interpreted in the subsequent process of monitoring by the Council of Europe. The chapter also includes discussion of the Charter’s one Additional Protocol (2009) (on public participation).

The impact of the European Charter of Local Self-Government can also be assessed by reference to its attributes as a remarkable treaty in its own right, especially its enforcement mechanisms discussed in chapter 4; its influence on steps taken to seek to guarantee regional autonomy (as opposed to local autonomy); and its influence on other “local charters” worldwide.

This chapter provides an introduction to the European Charter of Local Self-Government (its purpose and content), the Council of Europe, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, and to the book’s contents as a whole.

The chapter explores the history of the European Charter of Local Self-Government’s emergence as a Council of Europe treaty. It includes discussion of Seelisberg Declaration (1950) and the (Versailles) European Charter of Municipalities (1953).

The monitoring procedures (including, in particular, the resulting reports and recommendations) discussed in chapter 4 have produced a rich ‘jurisprudence’ which, along with that produced by judicial interpretation, is discussed in chapter 5. A particular focus is on what is identified as a tendency for the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to ‘overreach’ by extending their monitoring beyond the scope of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, as more strictly defined.

This final chapter traces the European Charter of Local Self-Government’s trajectory over its thirty years. It was born in times of post-War European enthusiasm for co-operation between states; benefited greatly from its relevance to the post-1989 transformation of Central and Eastern Europe and to the process of admission to European Union membership; but now faces a more uncertain future (along with the Council of Europe) in the newer configuration of Europe and increasing stresses and strains between states.