Financial Autonomy of the Local Self-governments in the Countries of the Visegrad Group in the Context of the European Charter of Local Self-government
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4335/20.4.1143-1169(2022)Keywords:
European Charter of Local Self-Government, financial autonomy, local self-government, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czech RepublicAbstract
The authors of the paper aim to provide a comparative insight into the financial autonomy of local self-governments in four Central European countries: Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. The topic is presented through the relevant provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the only legally binding multilateral treaty in Europe addressing local self-governance. As all the four examined states are parties to the document, the authors used the outputs of its monitoring process to analyze the situation under all the relevant provisions of the Charter, paragraph by paragraph. Considering that certain provisions of the Charter enjoy a superior position compared to the others (core provisions), the authors formulated a hypothesis according to which, in the area of financial autonomy, these core provisions are the most problematic ones in terms of their successful implementation. Using analytical, statistical, and comparative methods, the authors concluded that the hypothesis was confirmed, as most shortcomings were identified in the fields covered by these provisions, meaning that besides the lack of sufficient resources, the lack of ability to influence the amount of these resources is also often present in the studied countries.
References
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Hoffmann, I. (2018) Challenges of the Implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in the Hungarian Legislation, Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 16(4), pp. 929-938, https://doi.org/10.4335/16.4.929-938(2018).
Hoffmann, I. (2021) Local Self-Government in Hungary, In: Brezovnik, B., Hoffmann, I. & Kostrubiec, J. (eds.) Local Self-Government in Europe (Maribor: Institute for Local Self-Government Maribor), pp. 207-243.
Hungarian Central Statistical Office (2022) Területi atlasz – Települések, available at: https://www.ksh.hu/teruletiatlasz_telepulesek (June 21, 2022).
Kecső, G. (2013) A helyi önkormányzatok gazdálkodásának reformja és az adósságrendezési eljárás módosításai, Új Magyar Közigazgatás, 6(7-8), pp. 26-37.
Klimovský, D. & Nemec, J. (2021) Local Self-Government in Slovakia, In: Brezovnik, B., Hoffmann, I. & Kostrubiec, J. (eds.) Local Self-Government in Europe (Maribor: Institute for Local Self-Government Maribor), pp. 355-382.
Kubincová, S. (2018) Local Taxes and Fees in the Slovak Republic in the Context of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, ASEJ Scientific Journal of Bielsko-Biala School of Finance and Law, 3(1), pp. 32-37.
Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic (2021) Hospodárenie obcí a vyšších územných celkov za rok 2020, available at: https://www.mfsr.sk/files/archiv/36/Vyhodnotenie.pdf (June 21, 2022).
Olbrycht, J. (2002) Report on Regional Democracy in Hungary, Report CPR(9)2, June 6, 2002, available at: https://rm.coe.int/report-on-regional-democracy-in-hungary-4-6-june-2002-/168071a7cb (June 21, 2022).
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Pařízková, I. (1998) Finance územních samosprávných celků (Brno: Masaryk university).
Polish Statistical Office (2022) Administrative division of Poland, available at: https://stat.gov.pl/en/regional-statistics/classification-of-territorial-units/administrative-division-of-poland/ (June 21, 2022).
Radvan, M. (2017) Article 9 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in the Czech Republic, Financial Law Review, 8(4), pp. 7-21, https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834FLR.17.011.9039.
Radvan, M., Mrkývka, P. & Schweigl, J. (2018) Challenges of the Implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Czech Legislation, Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 16(4), pp. 895-906, https://doi.org/10.4335/16.4.895-906(2018).
Radwanowicz-Wanczewska J. & Dąbek, D. (2018) Challenges of the Implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Polish Legislation, Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 16(4), pp. 971-982, https://doi.org/10.4335/16.4.971-982(2018).
Románová, A., Radvan, M. & Schweigl, J. (2019) Constitutional Aspects of Local Taxes in the Slovak Republic and in the Czech Republic, Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 17(3), pp. 591-616, https://doi.org/10.4335/17.3.591-616(2019).
Slovak Statistical Office (2022) Veľkostné skupiny obcí - SR, oblasti, kraje, okresy, mesto, vidiek, available at: http://statdat.statistics.sk/cognosext/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi?b_action=cognosViewer&ui.action=run&ui.object=storeID(%22i0C852CAA5451437C92774DB33EC08675%22)&ui.name=Ve%c4%bekostn%c3%a9%20skupiny%20obc%c3%ad%20-%20SR%2c%20oblasti%2c%20kraje%2c%20okresy%2c%20mesto%2c%20vidiek%20%5bom7023rr%5d&run.outputFormat=&run.prompt=true&cv.header=false&ui.backURL=%2fcognosext%2fcps4%2fportlets%2fcommon%2fclose.html (June 21, 2022).
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2012) Local and regional democracy in the Czech Republic, Recommendation 319 (2012), March 8, 2012, available at: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-the-czech-republic-rapporteurs-e-calot/168071a384 (June 21, 2022).
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2016) Local and regional democracy in the Slovak Republic, Recommendation 387 (2016), March 24, 2016, available at: https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168071a744 (June 21, 2022).
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2019) Local and regional democracy in Poland, Recommendation 431 (2019), April 2, 2019, available at: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-poland-congress-session-rapporteurs-da/168093c47e (June 21, 2022).
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2015) Local and regional democracy in Poland, Recommendation 373 (2015), March 26, 2015, available at: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-poland-rapporteurs-jos-wienen-netherla/16807199ac (June 21, 2022).
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2021) Monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Hungary, Recommendation 451 (2021), February 12, 2021, available at: https://rm.coe.int/monitoring-of-the-european-charter-of-self-government-in-hungary-monit/1680a170b1 (June 21, 2022).
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2013) Local and regional democracy in Hungary, Recommendation 341 (2013), October 31, 2013, available at: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-hungary-artur-torres-pereira-portugal-/168071a8da (June 21, 2022).
Torres Pereira, A. & Çukur, D. (2013) Local and regional democracy in Hungary, Report CG(25)7, October 31, 2013, available at: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-hungary-recommendation-artur-torres-pe/168071910d (June 21, 2022).
Torres Pereira, A. & Verbeek, L. (2016) Local and regional democracy in the Slovak Republic, Report CG30(2016)09, March 24, 2016, available at: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-the-slovak-republic-recommendation-exp/168071aa93 (June 21, 2022).
Wienen, J. & Hughes, C. (2015) Local and regional democracy in Poland, Report CG/2015(28)12, March 26, 2015, available at: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-poland-rapporteurs-jos-wienen-netherla/168071aa34 (June 21, 2022).
Wienen, J. (2020) A contemporary commentary by the Congress on the explanatory report to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, Report CG-FORUM(2020)02-05, December 7, 2020, available at: https://rm.coe.int/a-contemporary-commentary-by-the-congress-on-the-explanatory-report-to/16809cbf8c (June 21, 2022).
Published
2022-11-02
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