Jaume Bartumeu Cassany: “It was high time for Andorra to sign the European Charter of Local Self-Government”

Jaume Bartumeu Cassany, here on Wednesday 27 October 2010 to sign the European Charter of Local Self-Government on Andorra’s behalf as its Head of Government, recalled that while local democracy was highly developed in Andorra, it was no less affected by economic jrecession and major reforms.

Interview – 27 October 2010

Question: Hitherto your country has been one of the last three Council of Europe member states not to have signed the Charter. Were there any particular reasons in Andorra’s case?

Jaume Bartumeu Cassany: The present government took office in June this year, after a change of parliamentary majority. Our predecessors, who had been in power for 14 years, were less in favour of the signature than ourselves. On my own account, I think Andorra had delayed only too long in signing the Charter. It should nevertheless be remembered that because of the country’s size, we only have representatives in the Chamber of Local Authorities and not the Chamber of Regions, a situation that also accounts for the difficulty which some small countries may have with the Charter.

Question: Will your signature have definite implications for local democracy in Andorra?

Jaume Bartumeu Cassany: The signature is all the more self-evident in that Andorra already complies with the Charter’s main principles and it is compatible with our constitution. We are a little troubled, though, by the paragraph on the access of local elected representatives to capital markets, given that we do not have a national market of this kind. Otherwise, the most important thing for us is that our refusing to sign put us rather in the bad books of the Council of Europe, and it was high time to end this situation and keep step with Europe.

Question: Andorra has 7 municipalities, or parishes, on an area of 468 square kilometres. Has this peculiar situation any effects on the organisation of its local democracy?

Jaume Bartumeu Cassany: Local democracy is very much alive in Andorra, and our municipalities have far wider powers than their French and Spanish neighbours. For instance, they can issue proposals for legislation and they perform an important role in public taxation and finance. We attach great importance to respect for subsidiarity, and our local elected representatives are in very close touch with the citizens.

Question: Now that it has signed the Charter, has Andorra a “model” or solutions for local democracy to offer other European countries?

Jaume Bartumeu Cassany: We shall not presume to speak of a model, because the government and the local authorities are currently debating a major revision of their powers. Economic recession has left its mark there, and we have realised for example that the very many sports or cultural facilities set up by all municipalities, sometimes very close to each other, have become extremely costly at the present time. We should have given far higher priority to intermunicipal arrangements, and furthermore we are now working on this theme.