Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority (CETS No.207)

Open for signature by the member States signatories to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, in Utrecht, on 16 November 2009.

Entry into force: 1 June 2012.

Summary of the treaty

The Additional Protocol adds a new dimension to the European Charter (ETS No. 122) by providing an international legal guarantee of the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority. The right to participate in the affairs of a local authority denotes the right to seek to determine or to influence the exercise of a local authority's powers and responsibilities. Parties to this protocol are required to take legal and other measures to facilitate the exercise of and give effect to this right. The Protocol also requires measures be taken which are necessary to ensure that the ethical integrity and transparency of the exercise of local authorities’ powers and responsibilities are not jeopardised by the exercise of the right to participate.

Formerly known as the 'European Treaty Series'.