Each of the smallest States of the Council of Europe – Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco and San Marino – has ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government which is legally binding on them. While monitoring of the Charter’s implementation takes account of diverse national contexts, no significant size-related obstacles fundamentally differentiate these States from others in terms of the need to comply with their obligations. The Congress must ensure that no double standards are applied in the Charter’s interpretation, including in relation to the smallest States.
These are the key messages of the resolution and recommendation adopted by the Congress on 28 October 2026 at its 51st plenary session in Strasbourg. The report presented by Marjorie Crovetto (Monaco, NR) points out that Liechtenstein was the first to ratify the European Charter of Local Self-Government, in 1988. Malta ratified it in 1993, followed by Andorra, Monaco and San Marino in 2011 and in 2013 respectively. Legally, the Charter is binding on all States parties: they may not invoke provisions of their internal law to justify non-compliance with it. Furthermore, the Charter allows an “à la carte” system in the acceptance of its core principles at the time of ratification. This ensures adaptation to evolving circumstances.
The Congress highlighted the geographical, historical, economic and social diversity of the signatory states but underlined that the Charter makes no distinction between countries based on their territorial size, as it was conceived to guarantee local self-government in all countries that have at least one level of local governance, distinct from the national government. All five of Europe’s smallest States have at least one level of local authority. In Liechtenstein the local government includes eleven municipalities (Gemeinden). The local government sector in Malta comprises 68 local governments (Kunsilli Lokali) and six regions (Kunsilli Reġjonali). Andorra consists of seven Parishes (Parròquies). Monaco has only one municipality (Commune de Monaco), which covers the entire 2km² surface area of the State. The Republic of San Marino is divided into nine administrative sub-units, called Townships or Castles (Castelli).
The Congress noted that in most of the smallest States the level of local self-government was relatively satisfactory and continued to improve as a result of recent reform processes, and that some of the non-ratified provisions of the Charter were often de facto respected. The countries were encouraged to ratify those provisions by lifting their reservations, as well as to ratify the Additional Protocol to the Charter on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority, where they had not yet done so.
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