TERRITORIAL CONSOLIDATION REFORMS IN EUROPE Edited by Pawel Swianiewicz Territorial Consolidation Reforms in Europe edited by Paweł Swianiewicz Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative Open Society Institute–Budapest Address Október 6 utca 12 H–1051 Budapest, Hungary Mailing address P.O. Box 519 H–1357 Budapest, Hungary Telephone (36-1) 882-3104 Fax (36-1) 882-3105 E-mail [email protected] Web Site http://lgi.osi.hu/ First published in 2010 by the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative, Open Society Institute–Budapest © OSI/LGI, 2010 TM and Copyright © 2010 Open Society Institute All rights reserved. ISBN: 978 963 9719 16 3 OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE The publication of these country reports has been funded by the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative of the Open Society Institute–Budapest. The judgments expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of LGI. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Copies of the book can be ordered by e-mail or post from LGI. Managing Editor: Tom Bass Cover photo: © Panos l Martin Roemers Printed in Budapest, Hungary, 2010 Design & Layout: Judit Kovács • Createch Ltd. Table of Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................ v List of Contributors ........................................................................................... vii List of Figures and Tables ................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Territorial Fragmentation As a Problem, Consolidation As a Solution? ......... 1 Paweł Swianiewicz Territorial Consolidation Reforms in ‘Old’ EU Member States .................. 25 Chapter 2 Structural Reform in Denmark: Central Reform Processes in a Decentralized Environment in 2007 ............. 27 Karsten Vrangsbaek Chapter 3 Uncompleted Greek Territorial Consolidation: Two Waves of Reforms ........ 45 Nikos Hlepas Chapter 4 Territorial Local Level Reforms in East German Länder: Phases, Patterns, and Dynamics ................................................................... 75 Hellmut Wollmann Chapter 5 English Local Government: Neither Local Nor Government ........................ 95 Colin Copus Territorial Consolidation Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe ............ 127 Chapter 6 Conceptualizing Territorial Reorganization Policy Interventions in the Republic of Macedonia ...................................................................... 129 Veli Kreci and Bekim Ymeri Chapter 7 Local Government Reform in Georgia ......................................................... 159 David Melua iii Chapter 8 Shadows in a Cave: Georgian Consolidation Reform Seen from a Distance .... 189 Students’ Research Club Spatium Less Than Consolidation Reform, More Than the Status Quo ................... 217 Chapter 9 The Voluntary Union of Municipalites: Bottom-up Territorial Consolidation in the Czech Republic? ....................... 219 Michal Illner Chapter 10 Territorial Consolidation and Intercommunal Cooperation at the Local Level in the Slovak Republic ..................................................... 237 Daniel Klimovský Chapter 11 Hungarian Public Service Reform: Multipurpose Microregional Associations ..................................................... 255 Edit Somlyodyne Pfeil Chapter 12 The Evolution of Ukraine’s Administrative and Territorial Structure: Trends, Issues, and Risks .............................................................................. 265 Kateryna Maynzyuk and Yuriy Dzhygyr Chapter 13 Territorial Consolidation of Municipalities in Armenia ................................ 279 David Tumanyan Territorial Consolidation—Related Issues ..................................................... 283 Chapter 14 Intermunicipal Cooperation: A Viable Alternative to Territorial Amalgamation? ........................................ 285 Robert Hertzog Chapter 15 Municipal Size, Economy, and Democracy .................................................. 309 Kurt Houlberg Index .................................................................................................................. 333 iv Foreword In November 2008, the Local Government and Public Services Reform Initiative (LGI) a program of the Open Society Institute in Budapest supported a major international conference on “Lessons from Territorial Consolidation Reforms—The European Experi- ence.” The conference addressed the issue of territorial organization and local governance. More specifically, it covered how the dynamics of fragmentation and consolidation in Europe shaped different models of governance. The topic is of crucial importance as territorial and subsequent administrative reforms greatly impact relations between central and local level governance, service provision, efficiency and effective use of resources, and local democracy. The present publication is a selection of the best studies presented at the confer- ence in 2008. The logic of the conference was to first address and assess reforms in the “old” EU member states (Denmark, Greece, East Germany, and the United Kingdom) and to then look into the reforms in Eastern Europe. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, old Europe’s reforms were driven by the premise of economic, fiscal, and management efficiency—meaning that larger local government units were better providers of local services. With the launch of the transitional period in Eastern Europe, a tendency of frag- mentation occurred in many countries, perhaps a natural outcome of the stronger need for democracy and more specifically local democracy. However, in many countries such as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovakia, and Ukraine, issues of costs and efficiency of services have risen to the surface and pushed the consolidation debate to a new level. The issue remains a very conten- tious one as consolidation impacts the access of citizens in the smallest units to their basic rights and services. Thus, as the title in the introductory chapter rightly points out, consolidation may not always be the right solution to fragmentation. The solutions are country-specific and recipes from outside may be hard to implement, but the lessons from some implemented reforms may be well-assessed and the mistakes avoided. This, we thought, was our goal. In particular, part three of this volume, Less than Consolidation Reform, More Than Status Quo, looks at Armenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine where a variety of intermunicipal structures and associations of small municipalities were de- bated. These cases are a response to the need to provide efficient services and yet keep local democracy intact. The success or failures of these may still remain to be seen. The final two chapters discuss intermunicipal cooperation and the issue of municipal size, economy, and democracy in a more general, theoretical way. v We hope that the current publication will be one of the few systemic views on the consolidation versus fragmentation issues and that it will be a timely contribution to the field. We hope the book will be useful to academics, policymakers, students, and development practitioners from Europe and beyond. LGI and OSI would like to extend its warmest thanks to the major engine behind this tremendous endeavor, Pawel Swianiewicz, Professor and Head of the Department of Local Development and Policy, University of Warsaw and Chair of the European Urban Research Association. Pawel, your energy, dedication, and commitment have fed the inspiration that moved the process going—many thanks! We would also like to thank the University of Warsaw Students’ Research Club “Spatium”—a group of enthusiastic students who have all the energy to tackle many local governance issues and who have made the conference a logistical success and a pleasant event. Special acknowledgment to Paweł Dąbrowski, Anna Górska, Paulina Jurgiel, Aleksandra Kępczyńska, Joanna Kru- kowska, Adam Mielczarek, Ewa Myśliwiec, Marcin Olejnik, Ilona Pohlmann, Weronika Skomorowska, Kinga Stańczuk, Joanna Stryjewska, and Karol Trammer for their excel- lent research on Georgian territorial reforms, and for the persistence and courage and continue the research in the Caucasus despite the recent conflict in Georgia. Numerous thanks to all our contributors who had the will to attend the conference, the courage to think aloud and their patience with the editorial process. Last but not least, thanks to Gabriela Matei and Roberto Fasino at the Council of Europe who made everything possible for our cooperation to manifest itself in this event and publication. Last but not least, we would like to thank the University of Warsaw for offering their hospitality to host us on the beautiful premises of their campus. Irina Faion Senior Program Manager Local Government and Public Services Reform Initiative Open Society Institute Budapest, Hungary vi List of Contributors Colin Copus is a Professor at the Local Governance Research Unit at De Montfort University, Leicester and chief editor of Local Government Studies. His academic spe- cialisms are local party politics, local political decision-making and leadership, and the changing