Members of Moroccan associations of territorial authorities had an exchange of views with Congress members on decentralisation in Morocco and in Europe on 23 June. Discussing the questions formulated by the Moroccan Partner for Local Democracy Delegation to the Congress, they shared their experience after six years of implementing the regionalisation reform in Morocco. They also discussed methods used by local and regional authorities and national associations for effective collaboration and interactions with central authorities. Emphasis was placed on the need for own financing of local and regional authorities, clarity in the allocation of competencies, strengthening the status of elected representatives and dialogue with the central government.
Congress members Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE), Karl-Heinz Lambertz (Belgium, SOC/V/DP), Xavier Cadoret (France, SOC/V/DP) and Marc Cools (Belgium, ILDG) exchanged with their peers in Morocco on the good practices, challenges and lessons learned during their respective mandates in the implementation of decentralisation. M. Vöhringer, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, stressed the importance of strengthening co-operation and dialogue between the different levels of government, including in times of crisis. A proposal for enhanced dialogue was put forward by Mohamed Boudra, President of the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Communal Councils (AMPCC), to organise an annual forum of associations in order to discuss decentralisation and make the annual assessment of its implementation.
This exchange serves as a basis for accompanying the development of the legislative framework on the institutional architecture of decentralisation in Morocco. This support is carried out by the Congress' co-operation project at the request of the Moroccan Delegation having the status of Partner for Local Democracy.
This activity is organised within the framework of the Council of Europe's Neighborhood Partnership with Morocco (2018-2021) and the South-Med Partnership programme adopted by the Congress in 2017, the aim of which is to support territorial reforms and strengthen decentralised governance in the beneficiary neighboring countries.
