Raad van Europa vraagt regering Cyprus om méér macht over te dragen aan gemeenten en hervormingen in Moldavië (en)

Strasbourg, 09.11.2005 -

Cyprus

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe urged the government of the Republic of Cyprus today to step up talks on the gradual transfer of urban planning responsibilities to municipalities and to conclude an agreement with the Union of Municipalities on the transfer of powers and responsibilities.

In a recommendation adopted following the debate on the report on local democracy in Cyprus, presented by Ian Micaleff (Malta, EPP/CD) and Alan Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC), the Congress also called on the Cypriot government to remove the requirement of Council of Ministers agreement for annual municipal budgets and opt for capital funding based on local priorities. The members of the Congress also reiterated their calls for the Cypriot authorities to rescind article 174 (4) of the law on rural communities authorising the government to suspend elections, and to limit the control exercised over communities by district officers.

Finally, the Congress invited the government and local authorities to continue developing cooperation programmes between municipalities and between rural communities.

Moldova

The Congress examined other monitoring reports, including on local democracy in Moldova, prepared by Pascal Mangin (France, EPP/CD). The Congress members recommended that the Moldovan authorities complete implementation of new legislation in the sphere of local public administration, in line with the European Charter of Local Self-Government. They also recommended drawing a clear distinction between the responsibilities of local authorities and those of central government and reinforcing the financial autonomy of local authorities.

The Congress also invited the authorities to ensure that prosecutions against local elected representatives and officials were not used for political ends and to review the provisions of the Statute of Gagauzia where the dismissal of mayors was concerned.

The Congress members asked that the Moldovan authorities forward draft legislation concerning matters of local self-government, and the status of the city of Chisinau in particular, to the Council of Europe for opinion, and invited the authorities to conduct regular, open and official consultation of the institutional stakeholders concerned by any reform of relevance to local self-government issues.

Contact:

Dmitri Marchenkov, Head of the Communication Unit of the Congress

Tel: +333 88 41 38 44 ; Email: dmitri.marchenkov@coe.int