Category: Legal framework

The Project on civic engagement in local governance „MĂ IMPLIC” presents the first edition of a mapping of gaps, conflicts, and constraints in the legal and regulatory framework which prevent the provision of good quality and affordable communal services by the local public authorities in the Republic of Moldova.

This analysis of shortcomings in the legal and regulatory framework in the field of communal services is the result of a mapping exercise performed based on documentary analysis and review (strategies, laws, decisions, studies, articles, etc.) followed by interviews and discussions with relevant stakeholders (mayors and other representatives of the local government, service operators, Association Moldova Apă Canal, experts in the given field, central public authorities). In this first edition, only (1) water supply, sanitation, and (2) solid waste management were analyzed. Other communal services will be added in later editions.

The analysis aims to provide a comprehensive overview of problems in the legal and regulatory framework in a format that allows identifying priorities for solutions. Such solutions shall be discussed in a policy dialogue format between central government institutions that set the conditions and local government which has to implement them. The tool can also serve as an inter-institutional monitoring tool, showing the evolution over time of various aspects of communal service’s legal and regulatory framework. Moreover, this type of monitoring could incentivize government institutions to take action to improve the situation in the field of communal services. On the other hand, it could help to identify areas for improvement to be supported by the development partners through technical assistance, financial resources for investments, etc. For these purposes, the analysis will be repeated in regular intervals and the findings will be updated to the actual status, turning a snapshot analysis into a barometer-like monitoring tool.

The project of civic involvement in local government “MĂ IMPLIC” presented today, April 29, 2021, the results of the barometer of the main gaps, contradictions and constraints existing in the normative framework related to communal services.

The event had several objectives:

• Presentation of the scope, of the applied methodology, as well as of the practical value of the mapping instrument (barometer);
• Presentation of the main findings of the mapping exercise carried out for two categories of communal services: (1) water supply and sewerage and (2) solid waste management;
• Initiating the policy dialogue between central and local public authorities on the gaps and disagreements identified in the normative framework related to communal services.

The findings were presented by the project experts: Ion Beschieru (expert in Public Administration and National Reforms), Dorin Andros (expert in Regional Development and Public Services), Iordanca-Rodica Iordanov (Executive Director of EcoContact).

The event was attended by representatives of central and local public authorities, representatives of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova, experts in the field of LPA, of communal services and other related fields, representatives of development partners. During the event, the participants actively participated in discussions, exchanged opinions, and agreed to subsequently organize additional technical meetings on specific topics.

Discussions focused on the five dimensions included in the barometer, which comprise the most important aspects of the creation, organization, operation, control and monitoring of communal services, namely:

1) Legal and institutional framework
2) Norms, standards and performance indicators
3) Financing and tariffs
4) Property management
5) Inter-communal cooperation