Local and Regional Scope of Affairs

Abstract

Obrađene su germanska, francuska i engleska tradicija u određivanju lokalnih poslova. Istaknuto je značenje načela subsidijarnosti koje traži da se svaki javni posao obavlja na onoj najnižoj razini koja ga je u stanju kvalitetno obaviti. Lokalni se samoupravni poslovi mogu odrediti pomoću dvije oprečne pravne tehnike – općom klauzulom ili enumeracijom. U samoupravnom se djelokrugu može razlikovati minimalni, obligatorni, naloženi djelokrug od fakultativnog djelokruga. Pored poslova iz vlastitog, samoupravnog djelokruga lokalne samoupravne jedinice mogu obavljati i prenesene poslove državne uprave (preneseni djelokrug). Navode se tipični lokalni poslovi. U Hrvatskoj je ustavnim i zakonskim promjenama iz 2000.–2001. usvojeno načelo subsidijarnosti te je značajno proširen lokalni samoupravni djelokrug. Izlažu se prijedlozi za nastavak decentralizacije, kao i liste lokalnih poslova koje bi lokalne jedinice mogle preuzeti odmah te u narednom desetogodišnjem periodu.ion of local institutions throughout Europe. One of the crucial issues regulated by the Charter is local affairs. The Charter is based on German tradition. French and English tradition in determining local scope of affairs are also analysed in this study. Subsidiarity principle is correlated with widening local scope of affairs. It demands that each public affair is designated to the lowest level in territorial administrative system able to perform it in an appropriate manner. Local self-government scope of affairs may be regulated by two opposite legal technics – by general clause and by enumeration of local affairs. Local self-government units may also execute state administrative affairs which are delegated to them (delegated affairs). Self-government scope and delegated affairs are substantially different in legal terms. Furthermore, there is a difference between minimal, compulsory self-government scope of affairs, and the optional one. The enumeration of common, typical local activities is presented. The cooperation of local units is stressed as one of the methods for overcoming weak local potentials for performing local activities. Croatian legal regulation of local self-government scope before and after the year 2000 differs. Subsidiarity principle was accepted and local scope was substantially widened by constitutional and legal changes in the years 2000 and 2001. Several propositions for the continuation of the decentralisation process are presented in the study. They refer to: subsidiarity and solidarity principles, the difference between compulsory and optional self-government scope of affairs, autonomy in performing local responsibilities, list of typical local and regional activities, delegated scope of affairs, the role of the territorial self-government below local level, cooperation of local units, and state assistance to local units. Activities that could be taken over by different cathegories of local units in Croatia in the short term and in the following ten-year period are also listed in the paper