- The Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Service and the President of the FEMP agree to promote legislative reforms at the local level and address the issues demanded by the municipality
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Function, Miquel Iceta, and the President of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and Mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, held today their first institutional meeting in which they addressed the main issues of interest to local entities.
The meeting is part of the contacts that the minister has initiated with the main interlocutors of the ministry, among them, the FEMP, the association of local entities of state level with greater implementation and that represents 7,324 local entities, more than 90%.
Push for legislative reforms for local authorities
During the meeting, different issues have been addressed, such as European funds or the promotion of important legislative reforms for local entities, announced by the minister last Thursday in his first appearance in the Committee on Territorial Policy and Public Function of the Congress.
Iceta advanced in Congress the reform of the Law of Rationalization and Sustainability of the Local Administration (LRSAL), which “limited the spending capacity of the municipalities, without introducing any structural reform in the legal system or the local finance and cut municipal competences.”
The minister also advanced the approval of the Basic Statute of the Municipality of Lesser Population “that we want to bring to the Courts as soon as possible”, within the framework of the Strategy Against the Demographic Challenge, to give the small municipalities more facilities to exercise their functions and “guarantee them the democratic quality and the provision of public services”.
FEMP, preferred ally
“The FEMP is for this Government the reference in the municipal area,” said the minister. Likewise, Iceta has highlighted the role of territorial administrations and, specifically, local entities, in promoting co-governance.
It should be remembered that, in addition to making progress in closer cooperation, on October 26, the FEMP participated for the first time in the Conference of Presidents, and for months it has been present at the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS), which has just met again this afternoon.
On the other hand, the minister and the president of the FEMP have accepted the invitation of the president of the Senate, Pilar Llop, to hold the next meeting of the National Commission of Local Administration (CNAL) in the Upper House.