GOLD Report I - UCLG

EUROPE160United Cities and Local GovernmentsLocal governmentassociations areplaying a greaterrole in Europe, inparticular withrespect to the EU.Four mainfunctions may bedistinguished intheir activities,none of them beingexclusiveween national and local institutions, andbetween politicians of both levels.In the other countries, although multiplemandates are usually excluded, at least atthe level of executive roles, the practicenonetheless appears in several countries indiluted or indirect forms. In Germany forexample, municipal or district councillorsmay also be elected as members of theregional parliaments (Landtag); the regionalparliaments do in fact play an important rolein local administration and finances.The growing influence of national politicalparties in local elections –at least in countrieswith a system of political parties withwell-established local presence– worksboth ways, but more in favor of centralization.Political loyalties do lead to a certainhomogeneity in the playing out of issues,even if local candidates for office try to putforward issues specific to their constituencyor area. This has long been observedin the United Kingdom, especially sincethe Labour party established itself at thelocal level. But for the same reasons, localelections are often considered as a test forthe government in power, which meansthat national issues tend to predominateover local ones.It is harder to assess the role local politicsplay in the careers of politicians. Even inFrance these days, national political careersare more frequently consolidated by alocal mandate, a likelier option than gettinginto parliament after having becomeknown as a mayor. In the other countries,there are few examples of local politicalleaders who went on to the national level.At most, this applies to the mayors of a fewlarge cities.IV.5. The role of local governmentassociationsIt can safely be stated that local governmentassociations are playing a greaterrole in Europe, even though their importancevaries from country to country. Oneof the goals of local self-government buildingin Central and Eastern Europe was toestablish associations of local governmentscapable of representing their collectiveinterests to central government. Theseassociations in the Western Europeancountries provided crucial support for theirestablishment.The role of these associations in the Europeancountries can be evaluated by theirstatus and by the work they carry out.With respect to their status, legally theyare always associations governed by privatelaw. Even so, they are increasingly beinggiven official recognition, to a greater orlesser degree. In most countries there isjust one organization representing thelocal councils, or respectively the intermediatelevel local governments. This is thesituation in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, theNetherlands, Spain and Sweden where,since 2005, only one association has representedthe local and county councils. InAustria and Germany, certain differencesbetween cities and municipalities arereflected in the two different associationsthey have. Added to this is the associationrepresenting the districts (Landkreis). Austriafor its part is the only country wherethe role of the associations has been enshrinedin the constitution: article 115.3 stipulatesthat the Austrian Federation ofLocal Councils and the Austrian Federationof Towns are bound to represent the interestsof the local councils. A few otherconstitutions enshrine the right of localcouncils to form associations to representtheir interests (Bulgaria, Estonia and Hungary).In France and Hungary there hasbeen a definite increase in associations formingalong sectorial or partisan lines.From the functional perspective, four categoriesof associations can be distinguishedby what they do in practice. None of theseactivities is exclusive; on the contrary,most associations take over several jointly.However, the weight taken by one functioncompared with others allows distinctions to