GOLD Report I - UCLG

163V. ConclusionThis panoramic presentation of decentralizationand local democracy in the Europeancountries has shown how local self-governmenthas become the general rule, whateverthe diversity of institutions throughwhich it manifests itself. In this respect, thereare greater similarities between states atthe local government level than at the regionallevel, which does not exist in all countriesin institutional form and displays agreat variety where it does.However, similarities can be observed atthe level of values and tendencies, ratherthan between systems. The principles oflocal self-government at present in Europeform a corpus to which all states adhere.One seeks to rationalize territorial divisionsand their scale to make them adequateto their functions. Local governmentresponsibilities can no longer be devisedwith regard to a local public interest, butmore and more to their participation in