In a recommendation adopted today, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe concluded that Icelandic municipalities lead globally in terms of female voting and representation, and welcomed the high level of fiscal autonomy in the country’s local self-government. However, despite previous Congress recommendations, Iceland did not incorporate local democracy and self-government principles into its law to ensure a clear division of responsibilities between central and local authorities.
These were the main conclusions of the third monitoring report on the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government since Iceland ratified it in 1991. The report was presented during the 47th session by Matthias Gysin (Switzerland, L, ILDG) and Gudrun Mosler-Törnström (Austria, L, SOC/G/PD).
The rapporteurs welcomed the increase in state grants to municipalities and noted the planned improvements to the consultation procedures on public finances and equalisation systems. However, they drew particular attention to insufficient financial resources for local authorities to effectively perform their tasks, and mostly single-purpose inter-municipal co-operation (IMC). They also noted that Reykjavik had not been granted a special status to address its specific needs as the capital city compared with other municipalities.
The Congress recommended that Iceland clarify the division of responsibilities, adopt legislation to give the Charter legal force, ensure adequate financial resources for local authorities, modernise the equalisation mechanism, further promote municipal mergers, improve IMC and grant Reykjavik a special status as the capital city and enhance consultation on financial matters.
MediaBox interview with Matthias Gysin and Gudrun Mosler-Törnström
***
