Local governments from Romania and Moldova create a joint Council

The Moldovan local authorities are getting closer to the European Union thanks to their cooperation with the Romanian peers. The Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova (CALM), the Association of Communes of Romania (ACoR) and the Association of Romanian Cities (AOR) have created a joint council of local authorities which aims to exchange experience between the town halls of the two countries, to strengthen local autonomy and to develop joint projects for the benefit of citizens from both states.

The first General Assembly of the Council of Local Authorities from Romania and the Republic of Moldova (CALRRM) was hosted in Chisinau (Moldova) on 20 May 20. It was attended by the Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean who emphasized that, « through collaboration, we increase the capacity of local public authorities in our country to provide quality public services and strengthen cooperation between the villages and cities of the Republic of Moldova and Romania, accelerating the transfer of experience, management of European funds and training programs ».

The main objective of the Joint Council, officially registered in Romania after rigorous registration procedures, is bilateral and international cooperation in order to promote local authorities of two countries, their associations as well as facilitating pre-accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union, including through advocacy measures, to promote reforms in the field local public administration and local democracy and access to European programs and funds.

The two associations from Romania have three members and three substitutes sitting at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). And all three associations from Romania and Moldova represent also an overwhelming part of the delegations of the respective countries to the Congress of local and regional authorities of the Council of Europe. Therefore, preconditions are created for much greater involvement and cooperation of CALRRM members within these important European structures, including from the point of view of the much greater institutional involvement of the Republic of Moldova in these European institutions.

The first to take the chairmanship of the association is Tatiana Badan, president of CALM who mentioned: « It is a very important event in the context of the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European
Union. The dream has come true. »

In absolute coincidence with Ms. Badan‘s message, Moldovan Prime Minister Recean mentioned that the event « is also a part of our European integration agenda. » « We have a lot to learn from the experience of countries that have already gone through the integration process, and that is what we count upon after this event », he said.