Speaker: Territorial-administrative reform must ensure services are as close to people as possible

The territorial-administrative reform must start from ensuring that services are as close to people as possible. Speaker Igor Grosu made the statement, saying that the authorities are expected to present the best solution for the implementation of the reform by early 2027.

Igor Grosu noted that the administrative reform was discussed in all the meetings he attended during the election campaign. According to him, the reform is inevitable, although it may seem unpopular.


‘I said in Parliament, we are there not only to receive thanks and praises, but to show that we are statesmen, and statesmen must also take on some unpopular policies. This is inevitable. Discussions about the reform were omnipresent throughout the election campaign, in all the meetings I had, there was not a meeting where I was not asked about the territorial-administrative reform, whether we are talking about villages, districts, district councils, this was constantly asked, and it was asked by mayors, councilors, citizens,’ the speaker said at the 'In Context' TV show.


The official specified that the authorities are expected to come up with a solution regarding the administrative reform by the beginning of 2027.


‘Now we have a limited time frame. It is 2027, which is the year of local elections; we have the timeframe until the beginning of 2027 to come up with an assumed political decision, to present the best solution, the most suitable variant, because there are different options,’ the official clarified.


According to him, useful experience in this regard was accumulated through the launch of the voluntary amalgamation process of localities; however, this is not sufficient.


‘We have good experience with voluntary amalgamation. The essence is good. We have what to learn from it, but it will take a very long time if we go only on this variant. There must be a mixed method for certain large localities, to give this discretion to the small ones, to act differently,’ Grosu opined.


An important aspect of implementing the reform is also that the eligibility criteria and access to European funds for communities in our country are much more demanding than those applied so far, and they start from the complexity of the project and the minimum population number that a locality must have.


‘The most unbeatable argument you cannot avoid: in the ‘European Village’ programs, we told local authorities - let's treat them as a readiness exercise, learning how to write projects, how to prepare to absorb and attract resources. The eligibility criteria and access to European funds for our communities are much more demanding, and they start from the complexity of the project and the minimum population number that a locality must have. So these are things we must aim for. They are not developed only for the Republic of Moldova. The Baltic States went through this; Poland went through this. We must go through this as well, inevitably,’ the speaker said.


Igor Grosu also added that the essence of the reform will be shaped following extensive debates, with the involvement of all interested actors, to identify the most appropriate solution.


‘We need to have these political decisions, honest debates, calmly, without speculations, as was with the school reform. Yes, the reform must start from the fact that services need to be as close to people as possible; this reform should not lead to distancing services, we need to ensure access roads, to make it easier to travel, services to be as much digitized as possible, so that you don't have to go to the district, as we say, or to a distant center, to obtain a document,’ Igor Grosu concluded.


The territorial-administrative reform involves reorganizing localities into larger administrative units (amalgamation), capable of managing more competences and financial resources. At the same time, districts are to be replaced by 8-10 regions with extended attributions and direct access to funds.

The changes are to be carried out gradually – through voluntary mergers, pilot projects, and subsequently, mandatory reorganizations.