Council of Europe clarifies report leakage on Albania

STRASBOURG, Sept. 25 – Following the appearance in the Albanian media of extracts of the preliminary draft report on local and regional democracy in Albania, the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities clarified Monday that any version of that document did not have legal or political value until its validation by the competent bodies of the Congress.The draft report and draft recommendation will be submitted for approval to the Institutional Committee at its meeting on 16 October 2006, after which it will be subject to amendments. It will be submitted for adoption to the Congress at the autumn session on 14 November 2006. Only the report and recommendation published after the session in November will be considered as valid.