Act on the incorporation of the Bernese municipality of Clavaleyres into the Canton of Fribourg and its merger with the municipality of Morat (LFCla) - Subject Matter (CLAZG)

1. This law regulates the incorporation of the Bernese municipality of Clavaleyres by the Canton of Fribourg (change of cantonal territory) within the context of its merger (fusion) with the municipality of Murten.

1. The merger procedure (Art. 6-15) is initiated first.

2. The assimilation procedure (Art. 19-22) is initiated as soon as the decision of the Grand Council to approve the intermunicipal merger agreement, which has been accepted by both municipalities, comes into force.

3. The assimilation and the merger become effective on the condition that the competent authorities and the eligible voters at the municipal, cantonal, and federal levels have given their binding approval to all the submitted proposals.

4. The governments of the two cantons shall determine the date of the simultaneous entry into force of the assimilation and the merger following the federal approval of the territorial change. The municipality of Murten must be heard in advance.

1. Insofar as the procedures concern the municipality of Murten, they are governed by this law and subsidiarily by Freiburg law, including communal provisions.

2. Insofar as the procedures concern the residential municipality of Clavaleyres, they are governed by Bernese law and subsidiarily by the law of the Canton of Freiburg.

3. The effects of the incorporation and the merger are governed by this law and subsidiarily by inter-cantonal and Freiburg law, including communal provisions.

1. The voting questions at the municipal and cantonal levels are uniform in both cantons. The content of the voting information is to be unified as much as possible.

2. The senior official of the Lake District ensures the proper conduct of the municipal vote in the municipality of Murten and coordinates with the competent Bernese authority.

1. The State Council is responsible for cooperation with the Canton of Bern; the powers of the Grand Council and the exercise of political rights are reserved.

1. The Municipality of Murten shall prepare an intermunicipal merger agreement with the residential municipality of Clavaleyres.

2. The content of the merger agreement is fundamentally governed by the law of the Canton of Fribourg. The agreement shall be submitted to the Canton of Bern for review prior to the vote.

3. The municipal vote in the Municipality of Murten shall take place simultaneously with that in the residential municipality of Clavaleyres. If the municipalities cannot agree on a date, it shall be set by mutual agreement of the governments of the two cantons.

1. The electoral district of Clavaleyres shall send its own representative to the General Council of the new municipality for the duration of the transitional arrangement as per the inter-municipal merger agreement.

2. If the merger takes place during the legislative period, Article 136 Paragraph 3 of the Law on Municipalities (GG) of September 25, 1980, shall be applied accordingly, and the existing General Council shall be supplemented by the representative pursuant to Paragraph 1.

3. The procedure for determining the representation is concluded with their swearing-in and the immediately subsequent assumption of office.

1. The electoral district of Clavaleyres shall send a representative to the municipal council of the new municipality for the duration of the transitional arrangement according to the intermunicipal merger agreement. Article 9 paragraph 4 remains reserved.

2. The procedure for determining the representation is concluded with their swearing-in and their immediate assumption of office.

1. The Clavaleyres electoral district sends its own representative to the municipal council of the new municipality; Article 10 remains reserved.

2. If there are too few candidates or elected persons in the Clavaleyres electoral district who are willing to accept their election, paragraph 4 shall apply.

3. If the merger takes place during the legislative period, Article 135 paragraph 3 of the Basic Law (GG) shall be applied accordingly, and the representation may be determined among the members of the municipal council of Clavaleyres and take a seat in the municipal council of the new municipality without elections until the end of the current legislative period. If no member is willing to join the new municipal council, an electoral procedure shall be initiated.

4. If it is not possible to have an independent representation as per paragraph 1 or 3, the inter-municipal merger agreement may, in deviation from Article 135a GG, provide that a municipal council committee in the sense of Article 13 is established.

1. If at the time of entry into force pursuant to Article 2 para. 4, the municipality of Clavaleyres and at least one other municipality from the canton of Fribourg are involved in the inter-municipal merger agreement with the municipality of Murten, then the agreement may provide, in deviation from Article 9, that multiple municipalities shall merge to jointly have entitlement to at least one seat on the municipal council. For the duration of the transitional arrangement, these municipalities shall form an electoral district together.

2. If the merger occurs during the legislative period, Article 135 para. 3 of the Constitution shall apply mutatis mutandis, and the members of the municipal councils of the merging municipalities may enter the new municipal council without elections.

1. The procedures for the appointment of the Clavaleyres constituency representatives to the General Council (Art. 7 para. 1 and 2) and to the Municipal Council (Art. 9 para. 1 and 3 and Art. 10) will commence following the entry into force as per Article 2 para. 4.

2. The procedures according to paragraph 1 do not postpone, notably, any elections that might be held in other constituencies, the composition of the new municipal bodies, the oaths, commencements of office, and the obligations to disclose conflicts of interest.

1. The General Council and the Municipal Council shall provisionally constitute themselves following the entry into force in accordance with Article 2 paragraph 4. The final constitution shall occur after the assumption of office by the representatives of the Clavaleyres electoral district (Art. 7 para. 3 and Art. 8 para. 2) or following the decision of the supervising authority (Art. 13 para. 1).

2. Until the final constitution, particularly the legislation on the exercise of political rights and the legislation on municipalities shall apply accordingly.

3. The resolutions of the provisionally constituted municipal bodies shall generally remain valid even after the final constitution. Article 20 of the GG concerning the reconsideration of treated matters remains reserved.

1. If the senior official determines that the electoral district of Clavaleyres cannot send its own representation to the municipal council in accordance with Article 9 paragraphs 1 or 3, a merger commission will be established in accordance with Article 67 paragraph 1 GG. The commission supports the implementation of the incorporation and merger of Clavaleyres.

2. The municipal council shall, if possible, appoint several persons residing in the Clavaleyres district to the merger commission. A representative designated from within the administrative staff of the former local municipality of Clavaleyres may also participate in the meetings.

3. The senior official of the See district and the Bern-Mittelland governor's office may participate in the commission meetings in an advisory capacity.

1. The representations of the electoral district of Clavaleyres elected after the enactment pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 4 in the municipal bodies and, if applicable, the representation of the locality of Clavaleyres in the merger commission (Articles 7-10 and Article 13) shall hold office from the swearing-in, or if applicable, from the assumption of office, until the end of the new legislative period according to paragraph 3. Article 137 of the Basic Law on the extension of the transitional arrangement and Article 46a of the Law of 6 April 2001 concerning the exercise of political rights, which regulates municipal electoral districts, are reserved.

2. The legislative period for the municipality of Murten that has been ongoing since 1 January 2016 is extended until 31 December 2021, irrespective of the effective date according to Article 2, paragraph 4. The elected municipal bodies remain in office until this time.

3. The new legislative period commences on 1 January 2022. The Murten electoral district shall determine its representations in advance, which will assume their office in the municipal bodies at the beginning of the new legislative period.

1. The State Council shall provide financial assistance for the merger of the municipality of Clavaleyres with the municipality of Murten. Articles 11 and 13 of the Act of December 9, 2010, on the Promotion of Municipal Mergers shall apply mutatis mutandis to the determination of the possible maximum amount.

2. If, at the time of the entry into force pursuant to Article 2 paragraph 4, at least one other municipality from the Canton of Fribourg or a third municipality merges with the municipality of Murten in addition to the municipality of Clavaleyres, the legal provisions concerning the promotion of municipal mergers shall apply to all affected municipalities.

1. If at least one third-party municipality of Freiburg merges with the new municipality on January 1, 2022, the elections in the third-party municipality will be postponed according to the conditions of Article 136c GG. The municipal bodies elected for the current legislative period shall remain in office until December 31, 2021.

1. The number of seats allocated to the electoral district of Clavaleyres according to the intercommunal merger agreement shall remain in effect until the end of the new legislative period. The provisions of Article 14, paragraph 1, regarding the extension of the transitional arrangement and concerning the municipal electoral districts remain reserved.

2. The number of seats allocated to the electoral district of Murten and the electoral district of the third municipality from January 1, 2022, in the municipal bodies shall be determined based on the proportion of the population numbers of these former municipalities. The third municipality is entitled to at least one seat per municipal body.

1. The provisions of the merger agreement with the third municipality may deviate from the total number of seats on municipal bodies as stipulated in the inter-municipal merger agreement. The differing total numbers shall be effective from January 1, 2022.

2. The provisions of the merger agreement with the third municipality may deviate from the number of seats for the Murten electoral district in municipal bodies as specified in the inter-municipal merger agreement. The differing number of seats for the Murten electoral district shall be effective from January 1, 2022.

1. The incorporation of the municipality of Clavaleyres into the Canton of Fribourg is governed by an inter-cantonal agreement (boundary change concordat) and an inter-cantonal execution agreement. The concordat and the execution agreement take into consideration the intermunicipal merger agreement adopted by the municipalities.

2. The concordat establishes the boundary change and regulates the general principles of the municipal transfer of Clavaleyres from one canton to another. It grants the Council of State the power to negotiate an inter-cantonal execution agreement with the Canton of Bern concerning the subordinate modalities.

3. The municipality of Murten must be consulted beforehand.

1. The State Council negotiates and signs the territorial change concordat. The Grand Council decides on the approval in the form of a law concerning accession to the concordat.

2. With the accession law, the Grand Council accepts the change of the cantonal territory. It submits the law to a popular vote.

3. The popular votes take place in both cantons on the same day. The date of the vote is determined by the two governments.

1. The State Council has the authority to approve accession to the inter-cantonal implementation agreement. It may provide for additional inter-cantonal and cantonal implementing provisions.

2. The State Council may delegate its competences pursuant to Articles 5 para. 2 and 3 and 66 of the Act of October 16, 2001, concerning the Organization of the State Council and the Administration.

1. The governments ensure that the territorial change agreement adopted by both cantons is submitted to the Confederation for approval.

1. This law formally validates the following procedural steps

a) Resolution of the municipal assembly of the municipality of Clavaleyres on November 28, 2013, regarding a merger with the municipality of Murten;

b) Resolution of the municipal council of the municipality of Murten on April 30, 2014, regarding the initiation of merger negotiations with the municipality of Clavaleyres;

c) Drafting, signing, and presentation of the inter-municipal merger agreement to the residents within the perimeter of the merging municipalities;

d) Municipal vote in the municipality of Clavaleyres on the inter-municipal merger agreement, subject to the resolution for its approval (Art. 2 Para. 2);

e) Municipal vote in the municipality of Murten on the inter-municipal merger agreement, subject to the resolution for its approval (Art. 2 Para. 2).

1. The State Council is entrusted with the execution of this law. It is responsible for the implementation of the assimilation and merger.

2. The authorities of Fribourg independently carry out the implementation work and involve the Bernese authorities therein. The powers of higher bodies of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches remain preserved; paragraph 3 remains reserved.

3. The State Council is authorized to decide on the formal and editorial adjustments in the legislative decrees of the Grand Council that are necessary as a result of the assimilation and merger. The veto right of the Grand Council remains reserved.

1. The forms of inter-municipal cooperation, such as statutes, agreements, or contracts, are to be adapted in accordance with the provisions of the superior law.

2. The new municipality shall standardize the bylaws of the merged municipalities within two years of the effective date according to Article 2, Paragraph 4. The previous bylaws shall remain in force until they are standardized.

1. The Grand Council grants the State Council the authority to repeal this law and, if applicable, the accession law and to terminate the territorial change concordat, provided that one of the following instances has occurred

a) One or both municipalities have rejected the merger.

b) One or both cantons have rejected the territorial change concordat.

c) The Confederation has denied the approval of the territorial change.

d) The change of canton has been executed, and the merger has been implemented.

2. The veto right of the Grand Council is reserved.

3. The State Council is responsible for the termination of the inter-cantonal implementation agreement and the repeal of further implementing provisions, particularly if a case according to paragraph 1 letters b-d has occurred.

4. Article 19 paragraph 3 regarding the prior consultation is applicable.

1. This law is subject to the legislative referendum. It is not subject to the financial referendum.

2. The State Council determines the entry into force of this law.