News about Territorial reform

Most of the issues related to the voluntary merger of mayoralties and more broadly to local government reform concern the Ministry of Finance, as the central problem remains the system of financial resource allocation.

Mayors are once again calling for broad consultation on the concept of local government reform recently published by the government. Their proposals and concerns regarding its implementation were aired on a domestic TV channel.

The local government reform launched by the authorities is not well thought out and due to haste may become a problem in the process of Moldova’s accession to the EU, said Balti Mayor Alexandru Petcov.

The figure of 3,000 inhabitants per administrative center, proposed as a minimum threshold within the framework of the local self-government reform, has no scientific justification. This opinion was expressed by expert Viorel Rusu during the public discussion “Administrative-territorial reform in Moldova. Concept”.

Local self-government reform continues to be the top topic in Moldova. In general, mayors realize its necessity, but point out serious risks and lack of guarantees for communities, believing that it should be carried out gradually and through real consultations.

The process of merging the mayoralties does not affect the status of Chisinau. This clarification was made by Alexei Buzu, Secretary General of the Government. The statement was made in response to the assumptions of the mayor of Chisinau, Ion Ceban, about possible changes in the boundaries of the municipality, voiced yesterday during a meeting of municipal services.

The implementation of projects within the framework of European Territorial Cooperation Groups (ETCGs) will be possible only with the approval of the government. Local authorities will not be able to make such decisions on their own. This was stated by the vice-chairman of the parliamentary commission for public administration and regional development, Larisa Volokh.

So far, 376 decisions on the merger of mayoralties have been taken at the local level, said Alexei Buzu, secretary-general of the government, in connection with the parliamentary approval of a law that simplifies the process of voluntary merger.

Against the background of the forthcoming reform of local self-government in Moldova, a public discussion on this topic is unfolding. According to some experts, population size is a controversial criterion for the forthcoming local government reform.

The draft law on amendments to some normative acts (“improving the mechanism of voluntary unification of administrative and territorial units”) has been adopted in the second reading. Earlier, the opposition appealed to the Venice Commission to examine the draft law. Without waiting for a response, the majority faction put the draft to a vote and eventually adopted it itself.

The process of voluntary merger of mayoralties cannot be completed by December. The experience of already completed mergers has shown that the whole procedure takes more than a year. This is the opinion of Făleşti mayor Aliaksandr Severin.

The reform concept developed by CALM will be presented in the coming days. According to the organization, broad discussions will be organized after the document is agreed upon with the mayors.

The reform of the local public administration can be realized in two stages. This opinion was expressed by PAS deputy Vasile Gradinaru. According to him, the liquidation of districts is a justified measure, but their complete abolition is limited by constitutional aspects.

The financial incentives offered by the government to implement administrative-territorial reform are necessary, but not sufficient. Equally important is the impact it will have on local autonomy and community representation.

District chairpersons understand the need for local governance reform, but their views on the administrative structure proposed by the authorities differ.

As part of the administrative-territorial reform, the authorities promise to revise the distribution of VAT and personal income tax.

Administrative-territorial reform should be streamlined as part of a large-scale fiscal decentralization reform, economists at the Expert-Grup think tank recommend.

Parliament passed the first reading of a draft law on amendments to some normative acts (“improving the mechanism of voluntary unification of administrative-territorial units”). It will allow decisions on the unification of mayoralties to be made by a simple majority of votes of local councilors instead of two-thirds as it is now.

On April 8, the government presented the concept of local self-government reform. The administrative-territorial reform planned by the authorities is criticized both by independent analysts and opposition politicians, as well as by many mayors – both its concept and methods of implementation.

At least 3,000 people should live in a village, and the government plans to keep 10 out of 32 districts. At the same time, the package of financial incentives for the unification of mayoralties will amount to 6,491 billion lei.