In a monitoring report on the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, debated today, the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities encouraged the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to continue implementing their reform agenda to strengthen local democracy.
The rapporteurs, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström (Austria, L, SOC/G/PD) and Urs Janett (Switzerland, R, ILDG), noted with satisfaction the progress made in implementing the previous Congress Recommendation 436 (2019), including improved collaboration between the central government and local authorities, the adoption of measures to enhance fiscal decentralisation, better conditions of office for elected officials and more balanced and proportional administrative supervision. Furthermore, the rapporteurs welcomed the government´s commitment to territorial reforms aimed at overcoming the fragmentation of local government, including through the Public Administration Reform Strategy for 2023-2030, and local authorities access to more extensive funding for investments in infrastructure through the local investment fund.
However, the rapporteurs raised several matters of concern regarding the structural and functional weaknesses of local self-government. These include overlapping and unclear competences, and the limited discretion of local authorities to address matters of local importance. Additionally, local authorities continue to face limited financial autonomy, a lack of appropriate delimitation of municipal land, and an excessive reporting burden due to the involvement of multiple oversight bodies, compounded by a shortage of administrative and legal personnel. Formal rules on the consultation of local authorities are needed.
In its recommendation, the Congress called on the authorities to advance decentralisation and to continue addressing territorial fragmentation, in order to improve local governments' ability to perform their duties effectively. It recommended that the Republic of Moldova revise and clarify the system of local competences, strengthen the normative framework for consultation, ensure the allocation of adequate financial resources to local authorities, enhance their fiscal capacity, grant local authorities more discretion in adapting the exercise of their tasks to local conditions and increase their managerial capacity. Furthermore, simplifying and standardising reporting requirements would reduce the bureaucratic burden on local authorities. The Congress also recommended that the Republic of Moldova sign and ratify the Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority.
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The Republic of Moldova ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1997. Countries that have ratified the Charter are bound by its provisions. The Charter requires compliance with a minimum number of rights, which form the European foundation of local self-government. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities ensures that these principles are respected through its monitoring activities.
Contact: Jaime Rodriguez, Media Department
Mediabox interview with Urs Janett and Gudrun Mosler-Törnström
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49th Session
Agenda – Web file – Photos
