It is one of the priorities of the INGO Conference to enable national and local NGOs to benefit more from the Council of Europe's achievements and to contribute themselves to its work.

[2] At the 3rd Summit of Head of States and governments of the Council of Europe in May 2005 in Warsaw, for the first time, the president of the INGO Conference is invited to take the floor in one's official capacity.

With one exception: The members of the Standing Committee have their travel costs reimbursed by the Council of Europe for the four ordinary annual sessions of the Conference.

It ensures that the participatory system functions adequately and so helps to strengthen the political say of the civil society at the Council of Europe.

The Conference of INGOs meets in Strasbourg three to four times a year during the ordinary sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

A good practice of this "quadrilogue" is to be found in the Forum for the Future of Democracy, governed by the Council of Europe's quadripartite stakeholders.

In addition to this collective work, national and international NGOs are cooperating individually as experts with the different organs and directorates general of the Council of Europe.

On this basis, it is convinced that additional steps should be taken with a view to an enhanced co-operation aimed at further developing citizen participation and dialogue with civil society".

[4] This memorandum was established mainly to strengthen the position of national and local NGOs, which in their great majority do not have any link with the Council of Europe.

Thus, it established the Expert Council on NGO Law which mainly monitors the implementation of the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the legal status of non-governmental organisations in Europe (CM/Rec (2007)14).

In October 2009 it adopted the Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making Process, recognised by the Committee of Ministers "as a reference document for the Council of Europe, and as a basis for a possible further development of the framework for the empowerment of citizens to be involved in conducting public affairs in European countries" (Declaration CM 21 October 2009).

Furthermore, since 2006 the INGO Conference organises Regional NGO Congresses designed for NGOs from Central and Eastern European countries.