Magistrska naloga obravnava in analizira odnose med županom kot najvišjim političnim funkcionarjem in direktorjem občinske uprave kot najvišjim javnim uslužbencem. V prvem delu sta predstavljeni zgodovina lokalne samouprave v Sloveniji in Ustava Republike Slovenije, ki je najvišji splošni pravni akt in lokalni samoupravi posveča svoje poglavje. Načela, ki vodijo lokalno samoupravo in so pomembna za uspešno delovanje in razvoj lokalne samouprave, so načelo avtonomije, načelo subsidiarnosti in načelo regionalizacije. Slovenske občine se vedno bolj vključujejo v skupne občinske uprave za opravljanje posameznih nalog, saj so občinske uprave v manjših občinah kadrovsko nedohranjene. Prav tako se občine vključujejo v združenja občin, saj lahko na ta način bolje zagotavljajo svoj skupni interes na področju lokalne samouprave. Občine med seboj sodelujejo tudi na podlagi sporazumov o pobratenju, ki ima pozitivne učinke na lokalno samoupravo in lokalno okolje, saj gre za stik z mednarodnimi partnerji, izmenjavo izkušenj in pridobitev različnih novih znanj. V nadaljevanju naloge so predstavljene ravni lokalne samouprave v sosednjih državah Republiki Hrvaški in Republiki Avstriji. V drugem, raziskovalnem delu naloge je prikazana primerjava lokalnih skupnosti v dveh izbranih evropskih državah. Na podlagi intervjujev je bila izvedena primerjava odnosov med oblastjo v lokalni samoupravi in politiko. V intervjujih so sodelovali župani in direktorji občinskih uprav manjših slovenskih, hrvaških in avstrijskih občin. V nalogi so predstavljena tudi mnenja županov in direktorjev občinskih uprav o njihovih odnosih v občinah. ; This research work discusses and analyses the relationship between the mayor, as the highest political official and the director of municipal administration as senior civil servant. The first section presents the history of local government in Slovenia and the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, which is the highest general legal act and the local government has its own chapter in the Constitution. Principles that lead local government and are important for a successful operation and development of local self-government is the principle of autonomy, the principle of subsidiarity and the principle of regionalization. Slovenian municipalities are increasingly involved in Joint Municipal Administration to perform specific tasks, as the municipal administration in small municipalities are understaffed. In addition, the municipalities integrate themselves in the Association of Municipalities to ensure their common interests better in the field of local self-government. Municipalities cooperate with each other based on agreements of town, which has a positive impact on local government and the local environment, because of the contact with international partners, exchange of experience and the acquisition of various new skills. In the following part of the work levels of local government in the neighbouring countries, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Austria are presented. The second part of the research work, a comparison of local communities in the two selected European countries, is presented. A comparison was made about relations between the authorities and the local government policy based on interviews. In the interviews, the mayors and directors of municipal administrations of small Slovenian, Croatian and Austrian municipalities participated. The thesis also shows the opinions of mayors and the directors of municipal administrations of their relations in the municipalities.
After explaining the difference between the notions of self-government & local autonomy, the applicability of both to the description of the political-administrative status of the Slovene city of Ljubljana in the 19th-century Austrian Empire is examined. The Austrian March Constitution of 1849, its abolishment by the emperor Franz Joseph in 1851, the municipalities law of 1849 & 1862, & December Constitution of 1867 are some of the legal acts examined in the outline of the chronology of the self-government & autonomy of Ljubljana as a provincial capital in the Austrian Empire. The powers & prerogatives contained in the city's municipal statues are discussed, considering the relationship & power sharing between the state & municipalities in the Austrian Empire & the Austria-Hungary dual monarchy. The study of the Ljubljana archive sources concludes that prior to 1895, the city's municipal council powers to issue normative legislation were limited, & an increased norm-giving activity resulted only from the need to rebuild the city after the 1895 earthquake. The council's municipal autonomy was largely responsible for regulating all reconstruction activities, including the organization & modernization of transport, electrification, & other infrastructure. Adapted from the source document.
The Slovenian constitution guarantees local self-government to all inhabitants and local self-government can be executed in municipalities and other local communities. Although municipalities are foundational units of local self-government, they experience some very basic problems since the re-establishment in the middle of 1990s; those problems are closely connected with inadequate exercise of subsidiarity and connection principles from in 1996 ratified European charter of local self-government. Slovenia has larger number of undersized municipalities that report problems with normative overload and their administrative incapacity. According to the findings of empirical study presented in the paper, the latter is often the case in municipalities smaller than 5000 inhabitants. The authors are also analysing inadequately defined scope of municipal jurisdiction; Slovenian municipalities are currently responsible for local affairs that affect only municipal inhabitants, and that narrow scope of jurisdiction is in many cases causing problems in managing the municipality, especially in cases of smaller municipalities.
A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Republic of Austria with an emphasis on its decentralization & territorial division/composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official language, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) the government structure: the division between the legislature, the executive branch, & the office of president; the composition, election/appointment, & functions/powers of each, (3) regional & local governments, (4) division into states, counties, & communes, & (5) local government structure (the state & county assembly, the municipal council, & the office of mayor). Adapted from the source document.
A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Republic of Slovenia with an emphasis on its decentralized characteristics & territorial division/composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official language(s), & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) the government structure: the composition, election/appointment, & functions/powers of the legislative & executive branches & the office of presidency, (3) regional & local governments, (4) division into counties & communes, & (5) local government structure (the supervisory committee, the municipal council, & the office of mayor). Adapted from the source document.
A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Czech Republic with an emphasis on its decentralization & territorial division/composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official language, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) the government structure: the composition, election/appointment, & functions/powers of the legislative & executive branches; the term, election, & powers of the president, (3) regional & local self-government, (4) division into counties, townships, & communes, & (5) local government structure (the county assembly & commissioner, municipal council, & the office of mayor). Adapted from the source document.
A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Greek Republic with an emphasis on its decentralized nature & territorial division/composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official language, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) the government structure: the division between the legislature (a unicameral parliament), the executive branch, & the judiciary; the composition, election/appointment, & functions/powers of each; the term, election, & powers of the president, (3) regional & local governments, (4) division into regions, departments, & communes, & (5) local government structure (regional council, general secretary of the region, municipal council, & the office of mayor). Adapted from the source document.
The Slovenian constitution guarantees local self-government to all inhabitants and local self-government can be executed in municipalities and other local communities. Although municipalities are foundational units of local self-government, they experience some very basic problems since the re-establishment in the middle of 1990s; those problems are closely connected with inadequate exercise of subsidiarity and connection principles from in 1996 ratified European charter of local self-government. Slovenia has larger number of undersized municipalities that report problems with normative overload and their administrative incapacity. According to the findings of empirical study presented in the paper, the latter is often the case in municipalities smaller than 5000 inhabitants. The authors are also analysing inadequately defined scope of municipal jurisdiction; Slovenian municipalities are currently responsible for local affairs that affect only municipal inhabitants, and that narrow scope of jurisdiction is in many cases causing problems in managing the municipality, especially in cases of smaller municipalities.
A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Republic of Cyprus with an emphasis on its decentralized characteristics & territorial division/composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official languages, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) the government structure: the division between the legislature, the executive branch, & the judiciary; the composition, election/appointment, & functions/powers of each; the term, election, & powers of the president, (3) regional & local governments, (4) division into departments (Greek & Turkish & their UN supervision) & communes, & (5) local government structure (the municipal council, the office of mayor, & administrative committees). Adapted from the source document.
A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Kingdom of Belgium with an emphasis on its decentralization & territorial composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official languages, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) government structure: the election/appointment & functions/powers of the legislative & executive branches & the monarch's representative role, (3) the representation of the French, Flemish, & German regions in the parliament, (4) the state's sources of income; tax structure & type, (5) regional & local governments, (7) division into provinces & communes, (8) local government structure (the provincial government, municipal council, & the office of mayor), (9) sources of income for local governments. Adapted from the source document.
A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Republic of Bulgaria with an emphasis on its decentralization & territorial division/composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official language, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) the government structure: the division between the legislature (a unicameral parliament), the executive branch, & the judiciary; the composition, election/appointment, & functions/powers of each; the election & powers of the president, (3) self-government on regional & local levels, (4) division into provinces & communes, & (5) local government structure (the provincial government, municipal council, & the office of mayor). Adapted from the source document.
In administrative history of the last six hundred years, different factors & influences had played their role in the formation of middle-level offices. The reason was in management. By dividing provinces into quarters, the provincial estates primarily wanted to protect their property from Turkish raids in the middle of the 15th century. In the middle of the 18th century, the provincial prince or national authority established kresije (state administrative units) that were a prolonged hand of the central state administration. It was supposed to control landowners, enforcement of rules & to protect serfs. By establishing kresije, the Kromeriz Constitution wanted to solve nationality problems in multilingual provinces. The district boards, established after 1868, were also a prolonged hand of the central authority & the result of the hundred-year development of the state administration. The history of middle-level offices shows interests of some groups or individuals that were in power during a certain period of time. Unlike other European countries where these offices were relatively autonomous, they were always a prolonged hand of the central state bodies or at least they served them in the Austrian Empire. The Registry Office plan reflects their competence that comprised all the matters of the population in a certain district from personal to municipal, military, education, ecclesiastical & taxation matters, the result of which was that the population identified itself with a district or quarter or kresija (state administrative unit). The middle-level government name was also one of the reasons for population identification. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.
Pravica državljanov, da sodelujejo pri opravljanju javnih zadev, je eno od tistih demokratičnih načel, ki bi moralo biti skupno vsem državam sodobnega sveta in je zapisana v uvodu Evropske listine o lokalni samoupravi (MELLS). To načelo lahko najneposredneje uresničujemo na lokalni ravni.Prenos pristojnosti, odgovornosti in finančnih virov iz države na organe lokalnih oblasti (lokalne skupnosti) je demokratičen proces (fiskalne) decentralizacije. MELLS je mednarodna pogodba, veljavna tudi v Sloveniji. Občine so v Sloveniji temeljne enote lokalne samouprave, torej predstavljajo tisto raven oblasti, ki je najbližje državljanom. Odgovorne so za zagotavljanje široke palete javnih dobrin in storitev. Z nalogo preverjamo skladnost veljavnega sistema financiranja lokalnih skupnosti (občin) v Sloveniji z osnovnimi usmeritvami iz teorije (fiskalne) decentralizacije ter z načeli MELLS. Pri tem proučujemo področje pokrivanja stroškov nalog občin, njihovo strukturo ter stopnjo medsebojne povezanosti med računsko dodeljenimi sredstvi v okviru mehanizma primerne porabe in zbranimi podatki o stroških po občinah. Na teh podlagah želimo ugotoviti, ali sistem financiranja lokalne samouprave, ki je v veljavi v Republiki Sloveniji, izpolnjuje načelo sorazmernosti virov sredstev z nalogami, ki jih lokalne skupnosti izvajajo. Glede na rezultate lahko ugotovimo, da so načela MELLS zadovoljivo vgrajena v pravni red države. Odstopanja pa ugotavljamo na finančnem področju, kjer načelo sorazmernosti ni ustrezno upoštevano. V obdobju 2010 do 2014 občine niso bile ustrezno financirane glede na njihove naloge. Povprečni stroški na prebivalca so v tem obdobju povprečno za 1,8 odstotka višji od virov na osnovi zakonsko določene primerne porabe. Občine so odvisne predvsem od dohodnine, kot deljenega davka, stopnja avtonomija glede lastnih davkov in njihovih stopenj je nizka. Odhodki občin so se v proučevanem obdobju v povprečju zmanjšali za 6 odstotkov, vendar pa skrbi, da je glavni vzrok tega zmanjšanja v znižanju investicijskih odhodkov za 17,2 odstotkov in investicijskih transferov za 21,8 odstotkov, tekoči odhodki so se znižali za 1odstotek, povišali pa so se transferni odhodki za 4,6 odstotka. Skupaj so se tekoči stroški, ki se upoštevajo pri izračunu povprečnine v razmerju 2014/2010 zvišali za 1 odstotek, sama povprečnina pa se je znižala za 2,5 odstotka. To dokazuje, da se je bistveno poslabšala naložbena sposobnost občin, kot najpomembnejši element izvajanja razvojnih nalog občine. Obseg dodeljene primerne porabe po občini pa se je v povprečju zmanjšal za 1,14 odstotka, in zaostajal za dejansko občinsko porabo. Skupna zadolženost občin je sprejemljiva in znaša 899,2 mio EUR, kar pomeni 2,41odstotka BDP, v skupnem dolgu države pa 2,8 odstotkov. Delež občinskih investicij v skupnem BDP je narastel na 2,4 odstotkov BDP. Občine so investicije financirale predvsem z lastnimi viri (55 odstotkov), s sredstvi EU (24 odstotkov) in z zadolževanjem (5 odstotkov), s sredstvi države pa 16 odstotkov investicij. Glede na določila iz nove finančne perspektive EU za obdobje 2014 - 2020 se bistveno zmanjšujejo možnosti in sredstva za sofinanciranje občinskih investicij, kar bo imelo posledice za zmanjšanje občinskih investicij. Če teh virov ne bo možno nadomestiti, lahko pričakujemo iz tega naslova negativni vpliv na BDP države in razvojnih razlik med občinami. V primerjavi z obdobjem 2007 do 2009 ugotovimo povečanje trenda negativnega razkoraka sredstev primerne porabe in stroškov za izvajanje nalog občin. To kaže na to, da je potrebno izboljšati obstoječi model financiranja. ; The right of citizens to participate in the conduct of public affairs is one of those democratic principles which should be common to all countries of the modern world. And this right is also enshrined in the introduction of the European Charter of Local Self-Government (MELLS). This principle can be most directly exercised at local level, through democratically elected local authorities. The transfer of powers, responsibilities and financial resources from the state to local authorities (local communities) is the democratic process of (fiscal) decentralization. The exercise of MELLS affect the financial relationships between the central and local authorities, since it is necessary to provide such funding of local communities that these will be effective and sufficiently independent in satisfying the public needs of the local population and increasing prosperity of society as a whole. Municipalities in Slovenia are basic units of local self-government. The thesis checks compliance of the current system of funding local communities (municipalities) in Slovenia with the basic guidelines of the theory of (fiscal) decentralization and the MELLS principles. The area of covering the costs of municipal tasks is being discussed, their structure and the degree of interconnection between the allocations in the framework of the mechanism of statutory spending and the data collected on the costs of the municipalities. Based on the results we can conclude that the MELLS principles are satisfactorily integrated into the legal system of the country. However, deviation is observed in the financial sector, where the principle of proportionality is not observed. In the period from 2010 to 2014 the municipalities had not been adequately funded according to their tasks. The average cost per capita in this period is by 1.8% more than the resources on the basis of statutory spending. Municipalities depend mainly on income tax and the rate of autonomy regarding their own taxes and their rates is low. In the observed period, expenditure of municipalities on average decreased by 6%, worrying is the fact that the main cause of the decrease is in the reduction of capital expenditures by -17.2% and capital transfers by - 21.8%, the current expenditure decreased by -1% while the transfer expenses increased by + 4.6%. Together, the running costs that are taken into account when calculating the lump sum in proportion 2014/2010 increased by + 1%, and the lump sum itself decreased by 2.5%. This demonstrates that the investment capacity of municipalities significantly worsened and this is the most important element of the implementation of the development tasks of the municipality. The volume of statutory spending of the municipality dropped by 1.14%, and lagged behind the actual municipal budget. The total indebtedness of municipalities is acceptable and amounts to 899.2 million euros which represents 2.41% of GDP, and 2.8% in the total debt of the country. The share of municipal investments in total GDP has increased to 2.4% of GDP. The municipalities financed the investments from its own resources (55%), EU funds (24%) and debt (5%), with funds from the state 16% investment. According to the provisions of the new EU financial perspective for 2014-2020, the opportunities and funding for co-financing municipal investments is significantly reducing, which will have implications on the reduction of municipal investments. If these resources will not be possible to replace, we can expect a negative impact on the country's GDP and developmental differences between municipalities. In comparison with the period 2007 to 2009, an increase in the trend of negative gap has been noticed between the statutory spending and the cost for carrying out the tasks of municipalities. This shows the need to improve the existing model of financing.