Comments on local and regional self-goverment in Croatia

Razmatra se razvoj teritorijalne organizacije u Hrvatskoj od 1886. do 1992. te od 1992. do 2009. Komentiraju se tvrdnje o prevelikom broju općina, gradova i županija, kao i podaci o broju zaposlenih. Analizira se pravna regulacija lokalne samouprave u Ustavu, temeljnom Zakonu o lokalnoj i područnoj (regionalnoj) samoupravi te nizu drugih zakona. Ističu se nedostaci te regulacije kao jedan od temeljnih pokazatelja, a možda i uzroka nedovoljne decentralizacije. Ocjeni o prevelikom broju jedinica suprotstavlja se niz argumenata prema kojima je najprije potrebno odrediti daleko širi lokalni samoupravni djelokrug, osigurati dovoljne vlastite izvore sredstava za obavljanje poslova za svoje građane, usmjeriti lokalne jedinice na međusobnu fleksibilniju suradnju, pozabaviti se etičkim standardima te stvoriti druge uvjete za normalno funkcioniranje lokalne i regionalne samouprave. Tek nakon toga moglo bi se utvrditi koje jedinice eventualno ne udovoljavaju temeljnim uvjetima opstanka. Daje se niz prijedloga za unapređenje regulacije i općenito uvjeta funkcioniranja teritorijalne samouprave. Tek njihovim ostvarenjem reducirao bi se vrlo visok stupanj centralizacije i birokratizacije hrvatske države, a na korist građana i gospodarstva.The author deals with the development of territorial organisation in Croatia between 1886 and 1992 and between 1992 and 2009. He comments on the claims that there are too many municipalities, towns and counties, and proceeds with the opinion about the employment records. The paper contains an analysis of legal regulation of local self-government in the Constitution, the Law on Local and Regional Self-Government, and a number of other laws. It stresses the flaws of these pieces of legislation as one of the basic indicators and possible causes of insufficient decentralisation. The author opposes the opinion that there are too many local self-government units by enumerating several arguments according to which it is first necessary to determine a much wider self- government scope, to ensure sufficient local financial sources to perform services for the citizens, to direct local units to more flexible inter-municipal cooperation, to deal with ethical standards, and to create other conditions for normal functioning of local and regional self-government. Only after that comprehensive task has been completed, it will be possible to determine which units do not meet basic conditions for survival. The paper contains a number of suggestions for legal framework improvements and improvements with regard to the functioning of territorial selfgovernment. If these suggestions were realised, it would be possible to reduce the high level of centralisation and bureaucratisation of Croatia, to the benefit of its citizens and its econom