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Local elected officials: proposals to fill the ethical “gray areas”

2020-02-26T17:45:29.894Z



Publicity of donations received, asset declarations, and further extension of the non-cumulation of mandates: to fill the " gray areas of local democracy ", the Observatory of Public Ethics (OEP) unveiled its white paper on Wednesday at the municipal approach.

" Legislation is insufficient "

If only 70 elected officials are prosecuted or condemned for breaches of probity each year, "the legislation is insufficient to avoid a certain number of abuses ", according to the president of the OEP and ex-deputy PS René Dosière.

" There is an urgent need to establish a culture of transparency at the local level ", also believes researcher Jean-François Kerléo.

Among the Observatory's 28 proposals, developed in collaboration with the online media Mediacités, include the publication of donations of more than 150 euros received by members of the executives of large local authorities, or donations of more than 500 euros for candidates for municipal elections.

Other measures: the publication of asset declarations by local elected officials, and the obligation to make asset and interest declarations for elected officials from municipalities with more than 3,500 inhabitants, rather than 20,000 currently.

The white paper also recommends the creation of ethics officers for local elected officials.

Read also: The Public Service Ethics Commission, a long-overlooked body with a troubled recent past…

The OEP also wants to “ energize democracy through citizen involvement ”, according to jurist Aurore Granero, with the establishment of local citizen initiative referendums, and the right to question local elected officials. It also pushes for the creation of citizen juries which would decide with the municipal councils of the attribution of the subsidies to the local associations.

The Observatory also suggests taking into account the functions in intermunicipal associations in the rules of non-cumulation of mandates, to avoid that an elected official is at the same time mayor, president of an intermunicipal association and regional adviser.

The white paper finally proposes to align the ceiling for the cumulation of allowances for local elected representatives with the amount of parliamentary allowance (5,715 euros net monthly), against 8,434 euros net currently. It is not a question of “ throwing the stigma ” but a “ framework is awaited ” by the elected officials themselves, argues Laurianne Rossi, LREM MP and vice-president of the Observatory.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-26

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