The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a unitary country with only one level of territorial decentralisation - the communes are the only decentralised territorial authorities and play an essential role in local political, economic, social and cultural life. They must constantly adapt to the challenges of modern society, whether demographic, social, economic, ecological or territorial.
Thus, the exercise of public power, while taking into account the principle of subsidiarity, is becoming increasingly important.
The municipal law, the founding text of local democracy, regulates four essential aspects of local entities:
- The functioning of the political bodies, their missions and the decision-making procedures;
- The organisation of the municipal administration;
- The relationship between the local level and the state authorities - the supervision of municipal management;
- The budget and municipal accounting.
The municipal law dates from 1988 and although in-depth reflections on the legal framework applicable to communes and assimilated entities have been carried out since the beginning of the 2000s, an in-depth reform, although necessary, has not taken place. Indeed, only occasional modifications have been made since the law came into force.
This is why the government, formed in December 2018, has committed itself through the coalition agreement to reform the municipal law in order to adapt it to the needs of our time. Particular objectives are the modernisation of the supervision of the municipalities, developing the advisory function of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the partnerships between the State and the municipalities, administrative simplification, the functioning of the political bodies and finally citizen participation.
All the news related to the reform of the municipal law are available on the website dedicated to this reform: www.gemengereform.lu