“I am not disappointed because it is the position of the prime minister and we have to respect it. However, it doesn’t prevent us, as the National Association of Municipalities, from believing that having a highly centralized country means mechanisms of centralization should be safeguarded, and regionalization ought to be discussed in our country,” stated Pedro Pimpão to journalists following the closing session of the XXVII Congress of the ANMP, which took place this weekend in Viana do Castelo.
The president of the Pombal City Council (Leiria district) mentioned that the ANMP does not hold any “dogma on this matter.”
“The prime minister has a position, and we have a position that does not coincide, but we respect it,” noted the social-democratic mayor.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced that “this will not be the legislature in which regionalization will be a priority.”
“This government, in this legislature, believes it is necessary to deepen the ongoing decentralization. It needs to be evaluated and pushed further in its intermunicipal dimension. However, this will not be the legislature where regionalization will be a priority,” stated Montenegro during the closing session of the ANMP congress.
When pressed by journalists about possible disappointment with the shelving of regionalization, Pimpão remarked that the ANMP has been “very clear,” arguing it is necessary to “deepen the decentralization of competencies.”
“What we want is for the competencies we currently have to be evaluated, the effective cost of those competencies to be updated, so we can together deepen the processes of decentralization of competencies, enhancing municipalism. Therefore, we are satisfied with this objective,” he emphasized.
The ANMP argued, in a resolution approved at the congress, that regionalization is vital to end a “unequal and unbalanced” country by aligning national interests with those of various territories.
In the document, the ANMP states that a national regional development policy “should be coordinated with all territorial agents so that, in decision-making processes, the interests of the country align with the diverse interests of its various territories and regions.”
“Only administrative regions can fulfill this role, effectively and efficiently ensuring the necessary coordination of cross-cutting policies,” municipalities claim in the document Autonomy and Decentralization.
Pimpão expressed satisfaction with Montenegro’s announcement of “a set of initiatives” that the ANMP has long advocated for, “notably the strengthening of financial resources available to municipalities to meet their responsibilities.”
“The most important area for us is linked to the utilization of competencies. And what the prime minister just said is that he will deepen this decentralization process,” he indicated.
Pimpão also noted Montenegro’s reference to revising the Local Finance Law, Public Procurement, and the “simplification of construction licensing processes.”
The Government will propose changes to public procurement law and simplify construction licensing processes, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced today at the closing of a congress that gathered mayors from across the country.
