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Political Life

GOUVY TOWN HALL

Bovigny, 59

6671 GOUVY

Opening times:

8.00 - 12.30 Mondays to Fridays and 13.00 - 16.00 (17.00 on Tuesdays and closed Thursday afternoons)

9.00 - 12.00 Saturdays (Population)

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PLACE OF THE MUNICIPALITY

Wallonia has 262 communes, of which 9 are situated in the German-speaking region.

Responsibilities – Political bodies - Administration

Responsibilities

Municipalities have a double role. On the one hand, they are subordinate local authorities: they are responsible for enforcing certain decisions made by other authorities. On the other hand, they are autonomous political authorities, with their own decision-making power: they are free to take initiatives provided that the subject is not excluded from their responsibilities by the constitution, the law or decrees.

Municipalities carry out a series of mandatory duties which are identical for each Walloon municipality, and optional duties which are specific to each municipality. Municipalities are supervised by the Region.

Municipalities' mandatory duties include: organizing and jointly financing the CPAS, organizing primary education in the municipality, keeping registers of births, marriages and deaths, monitoring the unemployed, making up deficits in church councils (and similar institutions for Jewish, Protestant and Anglican worship), establishing electoral registers, maintaining order, and maintaining the municipal highways.

All the municipalities' other activities are optional, especially in terms of education apart from at primary level, housing, tourism, promotion of economic activity, cultural activities…

Political bodies

Each municipality has a meeting of elected representatives, the Municipal Council, and an executive, the College of Aldermen.

The Municipal Council is made up of a number of directly elected representatives which varies according to the number of inhabitants of the municipality. Municipal elections are held every six years, on the second Sunday of October.

The municipality is governed by the College of Aldermen. The College is not responsible to the Municipal Council.

The mayor is now appointed by the Walloon Government. The mayor chairs the Municipal Council, with voting rights, as well as the College. As well as responsibilities similar to those of an alderman, he has specific responsibilities, especially in terms of security and maintaining order.

Municipalities are governed by the New Municipal Law.

Local government

Municipalities carry out their duties through the local government. Each municipality organizes its local government in a different way.

Source: CRISP