Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) is inherent in a decentralised administrative system and is defined as when two or more municipalities agree to work together on any of the tasks assigned to them in order to gain mutual benefits.

IMC can offer a means to counter excessive fragmentation of local government units and is a priority for central and local authorities in countries implementing a territorial and decentralisation reform – in particular the countries from the Eastern Partnership.

The basic legal framework in those countries allows for IMC, nevertheless a lot more could be done in order to achieve good level of cooperation and to ensure efficient delivery of quality services to citizens.

• See also IMC-PGG webpage