Photo: ipn images/Elena Covalenco
As Logos Press previously reported, a few hours ago, Government Secretary-General Alexei Buza noted that the process of voluntary consolidation of municipal administrations will conclude on July 31, and starting in August, the government will begin the regulatory consolidation of local administrations.
In this regard, he urged local elected officials to use the time remaining until the end of July to make decisions in the best interests of their communities.
There is no mention of a “deadline” in the legislation
CALM believes that setting July 31 as the deadline for “voluntary” consolidation is illegal. This constitutes an abuse of power against local democracy.
In a joint statement, members of the organization condemn “the transformation of the voluntary merger process into a campaign of voluntary self-liquidation.”
They emphasize that the arbitrary setting of July 31, 2026, as a deadline for making decisions on amalgamation is not provided for in national legislation. No law (including Law No. 225/2023 or Government Decree No. 925/2023) sets a deadline for voluntary consolidation.
Official government documents stipulate that an assessment of the reform will be conducted at the end of 2026. The “deadline” is a political construct and an overreach of authority by the central government.
“Financial blackmail and emptypromises”
CALM members refer to the financial incentives as blackmail and point out that these promises are made without guarantees. Mayors are promised development funds, but there are no legal mechanisms to guarantee these investments in the long term or in the event of a change in government.
Moreover, making continued access to national programs (such as “European Village”) contingent on agreeing to merge constitutes unconstitutional discrimination, according to the organization’s members.
At the same time, calculations show that the promised amounts are insufficient compared to the actual costs of infrastructure (roads, water supply, and sewer systems). For example, 8 million lei per settlement in a merged cluster does not even cover the cost of a single kilometer of road.
While only two mergers were registered last year, the number of initiated procedures has recently risen to more than 760 localities (85% of the country’s municipalities) due to warnings of a mandatory merger in 2027. And this rush undermines the voluntary nature of the reform, the organization emphasizes.
CALM once again reaffirms its firm opposition to any form of forced or unfairly imposed amalgamation and calls for a return to a genuine, predictable dialogue based on respect for the European Charter of Local Self-Government.
