The Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova requests the withdrawal of the project to amend the Voluntary Amalgamation Methodology, arguing that the centralization of funds contradicts the Constitution and affects local autonomy. The organization asserts that the new project changes the rules for already amalgamated UATs, transfers the decision on resources to the central level, and creates risks of dependency and politicization, IPN reports.

According to CALM, the project envisages changing the way funds for infrastructure and support of local budgets are managed. The resources are expected to be allocated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, through the Regional Development Agencies, based on submitted, evaluated, and approved projects. In one of the variants, the ADR would become the contracting authority instead of the administrative-territorial unit.

The organization argues that the change in rules affects the ATUs that have already decided on amalgamation based on the existing mechanism. Thus, CALM invokes the principle of non-retroactivity and maintains that local authorities had a legitimate expectation regarding the use of resources allocated to the amalgamation process.

In its opinion, CALM also draws attention to the criterion regarding relevant experience in project implementation. According to the organization, this condition could particularly disadvantage small and rural UATs. The organization also considers problematic the possibility for ADR to unilaterally terminate contracts and request the return of funds, in the absence of a clear dispute procedure.

In this context, CALM requests the State Chancellery and MIDR to withdraw the project in its current form and to reformulate it in accordance with the principles of the rule of law and local autonomy.