The Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance of the Council of Europe supported Slovakia in its plans to reform the local government system though the implementation of two projects, co-funded by the Council of Europe and DG REFORM of the European Commission. The projects aimed to provide recommendations for improving the Slovak regulatory framework and to strengthen capacities of public authorities to deliver high-quality services to the citizens, according to Council of Europe standards.

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ELoGE Study Visit: exchanges between the Slovak and Italian municipalities

Regular evaluation of the municipal administration’s performance is necessary for ensuring good democratic governance at the local level and designing evidence-based improvement policies for the municipality. The Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance provides the possibility for such measurement through implementation of its tool European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) by interested local authorities. 
 
Selected municipalities in Slovakia have already implemented the tool twice, in 2021 and 2022, and are looking into options for continuing the ELoGE programme in the future. To this end and with a view to improving the next results of evaluations, from 17-21 April 2023 a group of Slovak mayors and representatives of the ELoGE awarded municipalities, the ELoGE accredited organisation - Dobry Uradnik, and a representative of the Ministry of Interior – visited Italy to exchange with their counterparts.
 
The study visit included a four day long workshop, facilitated by Council of Europe experts, and a series of meetings with ELoGE municipalities from the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the accredited organisation AICCRE FVG (L'Associazione italiana per il Consiglio dei Comuni e delle Regioni d'Europa - Federazione Friuli Venezia Giulia). During the discussions, participants from both countries shared their experience in implementing the ELoGE programme and the lessons learnt. In addition, the Slovak and Italian authorities discussed possible cooperation and common project ideas, notably through some of the Council of Europe tools such as the Cross-border Cooperation toolkit and the City-to-City Cooperation toolkit. The participants also learned about different funding opportunities for their potential common projects.
 
Following the study visit, the conclusions from the discussions will feed into the preparation of a peer-to-peer guide on the implementation of ELoGE which will be disseminated among the participants to facilitate future implementation of the programme both in Slovakia and elsewhere in Europe.
 
The activity was organised by the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance, in the framework of the Council of Europe – EU joint project “Delivering Good Governance in Slovakia – II phase”.

Trieste and Udine, Italy 17-21 April 2023
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Completed projects in Slovakia

Delivering Good Governance in Slovakia – II phase (2020-2023)

The Slovak system of public administration, composed of the central level, de-concentrated state administration units in the form of self-governing regions, and local governments, faces challenges in its proper functioning.

The 2016 Report of the Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe expressed concerns over the weakness of the current system of communication and co-operation between the regional and the local level, both independently connected only to the central level, which results in a frequent overlapping of responsibilities. It also notes the difficult financial situation in some local authorities due to the weak financing in the domain of investment costs, notably public services and infrastructures; and the present status of the capital city of Bratislava which does not enable a unified decision-making at city level.

The European Union (EU) in its 2019 Country Report - Slovakia also noted insufficient cooperation between the national, regional and local levels and the high fragmentation of the municipalities that creates high overheads and harms the effectiveness of the local government. Thus, the financing capacities of municipalities were often restricted to providing basic public services and infrastructure, thereby diverting resources from social services, education, land planning and construction permits.

Some of the reported challenges have been addressed through the Council of Europe’s project “Delivering Good Governance in Slovakia” while others have been tackled via an additional technical assistance project of the Council of Europe.

At the request of the Government of the Slovak Republic, the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance implemented the follow up project “Delivering Good Governance in Slovakia – II phase”, co-funded by the European Commission via the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM). It should build up on the results of the previous project and provide suggestions for supporting the planned reform in compliance with European standards in the area of good democratic governance. In particular, the project will contribute through:

1. Provision of Recommendations to the Slovak authorities for improving the framework related to separate types of local government units, through preparation of legal and policy advice on:

  • strengthening of the status of cities and municipalities;
  • the competences, powers, finances and the coordinating role of the regional level of self-government in Slovakia;
  • the status of the Capital City Bratislava and the City Košice; and
  • strengthening the financial independence of local and regional governments and enhancing their financial management capacities.

2. Supporting the regional and local authorities in improving the delivery of public services to their citizens, by implementing the following Council of Europe capacity-building tools:

  • Strategic Municipal Planning - to assist in setting out the aims and objectives of the city/region for the medium-term future, including the aspect of citizen participation.
  • Public Ethics Benchmarking - to help the authorities assess corruption risks, improve public ethics morals according to the Council of Europe standards and develop ethical infrastructure at local and national level.
  • Local finance benchmarking - to ensure best use of available resources at central and/or local level.
  • Preparation of programs and other materials as a follow up to the National Training Strategy (NTS) delivered under the 1st phase of the project.
  • European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) - to increase knowledge of the selected municipalities/regions on the principles of good democratic governance by implementing a second round of ELoGE.

Delivering Good Governance in Slovakia (2019-2021)

The Slovak Republic has a high fragmentation of government at municipal level which, according to the EU’s Country Report Slovakia 2019, creates high overheads and harms the effectiveness of local government. The weak capacities of its often-overburdened municipalities hinder the performance of the local self-government to deliver good quality services to its citizens. According to the 2016 Report of the Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, “the weakness of the current system of communication and cooperation between the regional and the local level, both independently connected only to the central level, results in a frequent overlapping of responsibilities”. In this relation Slovakia is recommended to simplify the legal, regulatory and administrative organisation of small municipalities and to reinforce the technical capacity and the managerial abilities of the human resources of the local and regional authorities.

At the request of the Slovak Government, the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance is implementing the project “Delivering Good Governance in Slovakia”. The project is co-funded by the European Commission via the Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS) and had two main objectives:

1. Providing legal and policy advice in the following areas:

  • Drafting a Strategy to Strengthen Local Governance.
  • Enhancing and strengthening the cooperation between the local, regional, and central authorities.
  • Territorial consolidation / amalgamation though the organisation of a Peer Review.
  • Improvement of the structure, competences, and financing of local governments.

2. Providing capacity-building support based on Council of Europe toolkits, in particular by:

  • Conducting an in-depth Training and Capacity Needs Analysis (TNA) at the local level in Slovakia, on the basis of which a comprehensive National Training and Capacity-Building Strategy (NTS) for public/local authorities will be prepared.
  • Preparation of tools and procedures for monitoring and evaluating training programmes as an essential tool for examining content, implementation and impact of any public policy and intervention, thereby enabling the understanding of their quality, significance and usefulness.
  • Building institutional leadership skills of mayors and senior local officials, through the Leadership Academy Programme which will include sessions on different topics relevant for the promotion of good governance at the local level.
  • Promoting the Council of Europe’s Twelve Principles of Good Democratic Governance, through benchmarking and implementation of European Label of Governance Excellence.