– How are local government systems formed in France? Is the structure of the French local government system consistent with that of the other European countries?
– The local government bodies are different administrative institutions than the local government state administration, which shall be responsible for the interest of a certain territory population. The local government has the right to make decisions, which are discussed in the council of elected representatives. The local governments consist of an assembly elected by the general vote and an executive body in it, which is elected by the assembly (mayor and deputy mayors, presidents of the general and county councils).
– How much is the budget of your community and how much do the separate clauses have?
– The recent budget of Haut du Senne is the following: income of Activities – 609 million Euro direct tax, rights of registration – 281 million, general subsidy – 267 million, inner tax on oil products – 90 million, tax on insurance contracts – 68 mln Euro, and electricity tax – 10.5 million Euro. Besides, we have also investments incomes with the following composition: lending – 240 million, VAT return fund – 28 mln, subsidy of collage furnishing – 7 million Euro.
– Does you system of local government carry the function of decentralizing the state power? How are the relations of the executive body and local government bodies regulated when local governments are governed by opposition powers?
– In France the first laws on decentralization were adopted on August 10, 1871, and April 5, 1884. At that time the overall responsibilities of communes were very limited. Defer’s law adopted on March 2 1982 is considered to be the first act on decentralization and provides a full availability for that purpose. In answer to Defer’s law, on January 7 and July 22 1983 new laws were adopted to distribute the responsibilities between the state and local government bodies and reorganize the structure of resources. These different laws on decentralization followed by general De Gole first attempt, which was failed later. The government of Jean-Pierre Rafaren made the issue of reforming the decentralization as the primary goal of his government in 2002-2004, specifically the constitutional law to provide decentralization was adopted on March 28 2003. This law includes the principle of financial self-governance and included the terms “county” and “decentralization” in the Constitution. It also defines the right of organizing local referendums and public vote on crucial issues of local significance. The local self-governance, general and county councils are elected by the public direct vote based on the general right for vote, and the executive bodies of these institutions are elected by the decision-makers inside it. In the 72nd article of the Constitution there is a definition on administrative self-governance: “In cases established by the law these bodies shall be easily adopted by the elected councils and have regulatory power for the implementation of their responsibilities.” One of the main benefits from decentralization is to comply the public policies with the needs of people as much as we can. Anyway it may result in new imbalances in the territory connected with imbalance of different elections of politicians and resources of local government. Some people think it is a risk and others think that it is an opportunity to use for the purpose of independence of activities on the local government level.
– According to your opinion, how much does the direct election of the mayor by the public vote support efficiency and accountability on part of the mayor?
– During all elections the connection between citizens and elected officials should be the same, especially the credibility to the goals and results announced in advance (pre-election programs and platforms). Ultimately sometimes one mandate is not enough to implement an entire project. Accordingly, this connection should be developed in order to clearly explain and elucidate the potential developments that may occur. This enables the elected official make sure that he will be re-elected, his pre-election programs will be implemented successfully and he will make the reforms for which has been elected.