While the territorial reform is in the closing phase of the final
variants from the government, which will be presented two days later in
the Parliamentary Commission, Daniel Popescu, Head of the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform of the Council of Europe, explained for Top Channel what effect it will have.
Popescu has more than 20 years of experience with all European countries that have underwent this process. 17 of these years he has worked as a member of the Council of Europe. Popescu declared that the first benefits are the economic ones.
“The reform comes with a series of advantages. The first and most important of them is related to the scale economy, which means that there will be bigger unifications and lower costs per unit, including the administration ones. The number of citizens who will receive service will be bigger, and the quality of offered services will grow, since the bigger units may have bigger access and a more qualified staff”, Popescu declared.
What is the model that Albania needs to follow? Popescu says that it is up to Albania, since different countries have followed different models.
Some countries have have realized the reform very fast, within one or two years, including the map, the legal changes and the establishing of new structures in action. Countries like Lithuania, Latvia and Greece have acted this way.
Other countries have adopted a process with two phases, the first one including the incentive for voluntary unification, and the second including the reform of legislative changes. This has happened in Finland and Denmark, but it is a process that takes more time.
Is the territorial reform complete if it affects only the first level and not districts and regions?
“In ideal conditions, we need three elements for making a reform this big. We need: 1) A territorial reform of the first level, 2) Clear decision-making regarding districts, and 3) More decentralization that is related to the competences of new units. These could be realized one after another. The local government reform is a process that never ends. France, 32 years after the decentralization reform, is discussing a regional reform. These are things that always need to be reviewed, based on the number of units, competences and sizes”, Popescu declared.
Since the opposition is refusing to be part of the process, can the territorial reform be done with only one side of the Parliament?
“This decision belongs to the Albanian society. Technically, I would say yes. It can be done, if they have the citizens’ support. But the Committee f Ministers at the Council of Europe has recommended that this process should be all inclusive. It means that the opposition should be involved, together with citizens. We encourage everyone to be part of it, in order to avoid problems that might derive from the lack of discussions or monitoring”, Popescu declared.
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