Local self-government structure in the EU member states in 2011

Municipal reform is currently an ongoing process which has already taken place in several EU member states and resulted in a differentiated structure of these units. Local self-government units have legitimately elected representatives whose action influences the day-to-day life of local residents.

From the perspective of comparative analysis, it is important to understand the size structure of local self-government units which has an enormous impact on the functioning of the self-government and it is a key factor in terms of the amount of funding available in these units. The dynamics of integration and disintegration changes are relatively strong as confirmed by the results of our analysis where in almost every EU member state the number of these units has changed more or less significantly in the last decade (2001–2011).