About the activity

In a context of severe economic and social crisis, IMC initiatives can help local governments achieving economies of scale in the provision of services. Strengthening cooperation among Greek island municipalities is about increasing their efficiency, thus contributing to the delivery of good governance.

The Peer Review on distribution of competences between the State and local government organised by the Council of Europe in 2016 highlighted that intra-municipal cooperation and coordination remain challenging in many newly-amalgamated municipalities.

This activity was implemented from September 2017 to March 2018 and supported by the Regional Development Institute..

 Methodology

At the request of the Ministry of Interior, the Centre of Expertise provided technical assistance to the municipalities of Leros, Tilos, Kalymnos, Leipsoi, Agathonissi, Patmos, Astypalaia to boost their capacity to cooperate on areas of common interest.

From October 2017 to February 2018 a number of workshops were organised to identify possible areas of cooperation. Participating municipalities pointed out that the shortage of qualified personnel in local administrations and the considerable cuts on local budget following the economic crisis are particularly hindering the daily operations of local government in Greece, especially in those islands facing extra challenges posed by the migration crisis. Hence, the stakeholders agreed to set-up a network to start a structured inter-municipal cooperation to enhance their human resource capacity.

Inter-Municipal Cooperation Framework Agreement and Articles of Association were jointly developed by representatives of pilot municipalities and Council of Europe experts. These legal tools comply with Greek National legislation and Council of Europe principles and were approved by the Ministry of Interior. They are available in Greek language to enable any municipality in Greece to establish Inter-Municipal Cooperation schemes.

See the final report for further information.