The Congress held the second part of its 40th Session from 15 to 17 June 2021. On June 15 the session was held remotely, due to the current COVID-19 health crisis. The members of the Armenian delegation in Congress and the head of the Armenian delegation, the president of the Union of Communities of Armenia Emin Yeritsyan took part in the congress session remotely.

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”.

Resource: https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/-/local-self-government-in-armenia-positive-developments-but-still-room-for-progress-regarding-the-powers-the-consultation-and-the-financial-resources-o