Transformation of the municipal system

Abstract

Due to the lack of necessary competence, the European Union does not specify the targets of the municipal and public administrative jurisdiction. In addition, functional (urban) regions guaranteeing more flexible functioning are coming into prominence. This, however, does not mean that regional policy is not under adjustment constraints; however, it can formulate expectations with respect to the implementation of the required goals, which contributes to the adoption of mutual standards and practices. In Hungary, almost every settlement – even the smallest one – has a municipality of its own. Considering the member states of the European Union, our country is among those member states where the number of population per municipality is the lowest. This is why it is thought that financing problems of decentralized public administration levels – including the level of local governments – could be solved by the consolidation of certain municipalities. However, the viewpoint more essential than the economic consideration is that even the smallest municipalities play an important role in retaining localities and the population, and, on the other hand, European consolidations have not resulted in obvious effectiveness improvement or cost saving. Experience accumulated in the past twenty years since the beginning of the post-communist era has revealed that the local authority model does not meet modern challenges. The municipal system has not fulfilled expectations of effectiveness or those of power policy. The Hungarian state has remained centralized, although municipalities are autonomous entities under public law (Pálné Kovács, 2007). Keywords: public administration, rescaling, municipalities, provisional arrangement, secondary level