Despite positive developments in local self-government in Armenia, the powers of the municipalities have not been extended, their role in delivering public services remains limited, and local authorities are not provided with sufficient funding, says the monitoring report adopted today by the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, which also provides recommendations to the Armenian government on improving the situation.
The report based on a country visit in May 2019 welcomes that Armenia has ratified all the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It also welcomes the consolidation of communities and the legislative initiatives by the government regarding local referendums, public hearings and financial assistance to municipalities.
Despite these good developments, the powers and duties of the municipalities have not been extended to allow them to manage a substantial share of public affairs under their own responsibility. The municipalities have a limited role in delivering public services, which runs counter to the principle of subsidiarity.
Besides, there is no legally guaranteed consultation procedure between the central government and municipalities, local authorities are not involved in an appropriate manner in the decision-making process concerning their finances, and local communities are not consulted on the changes to their boundaries.
“We were informed that during the recent amalgamation process some local authorities and residents learned about their communities’ mergers from the press,” said Gunn Marit Helgesen (Norway, EPP/CCE ), one of the rapporteurs who presented the report, noting that efficient and wide communication on the territorial reform “was still missing in Armenia”.
“For the reform to be successful, it is important to give some incentives to the merged communities. They need to receive more powers and, consequently, money to perform them,” Helgesen stressed.
Bryony Rudkin (United Kingdom, SOC/G/PD), the co-rapporteur, echoed this concern. “Local authorities continue to lack financial resources to fulfil their own tasks,” she said. “In addition, the state doesn’t provide communities with matching resources when it delegates competences. As a result, many small communities either simply cannot fulfil delegated tasks or can’t deliver good quality services”.
Rudkin highlighted other issues, such as poor work conditions of municipal employees in local government offices and unjustified state intervention in local tasks: administrative supervision of local government decisions goes beyond legality control and various state authorities have overlapping supervisory powers.
The Congress recommended that the Armenian government should accompany the delegation of tasks by matching financial resources and ensure that local authorities have access to adequate financial resources on their own; further decentralise competences to increase the share of public affairs which are regulated and managed by local authorities and guarantee in law the right of local authorities to be consulted on matters that concern them directly, the Congress recommends. Besides, “own” competences of municipalities should be revised and clarified, state supervision limited to the control of legality, and working conditions of municipal employees improved.
The rapporteurs characterised as “welcomed steps” the information about some new legislative initiatives prepared by the government in the area of local referendum, public hearings, and financial assistance to municipalities. “We trust that all the political changes and reform efforts have opened new perspectives and opportunities for democratic transformation in Armenia to make a positive impact on local democracy and we look forward to pursue the already longstanding cooperation we have with Armenian authorities,” Bryony Rudkin concluded.
- Monitoring of the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Armenia
- Speaking notes of Gunn Marit Helgesen
- Speaking notes of Bryony Rudkin