Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG1: Local Government Author(s) Judit Siket University of Szeged Szeged Hungary Title The Essence of Local Public Affairs: What can be Considered as Local? Following Contemporary Local Self-government Changes in Hungary File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Judit Siket Abstract The European Charter of Local Self-Government shall be regarded the European standard of local self-government and local democracy. The unique international binding treaty of the Council of Europe established a local self-government model governed by general clause and defined the common concept of local public affairs. According to the Article 3 of the Charter, local self-government denotes the right and the ability of local authorities, within the limits of the law, to regulate and manage a substantial share of public affairs under their own responsibility and in the interests of the local population. Effective management of local public affairs needs the emergence of the principle of subsidiarity, and autonomy in the field of local responsibilities’ compliance requires guaranteed sufficient sources. This study is an attempt to identify principally (1) the significance of substantial share of public affairs, furthermore (2) the imminent substance of local self-governments’ regulation and managing scope in the field of local public affairs and (3) abilities to regulate and manage of local public affairs. It lists and examines generally a range of factors as to classify the substantial part of public affairs as local, like (1) the scope of regulation, (2) requirements according to the service delivery, (3) power of service pricing, (4) organizational constraints, etc. The Hungarian local self-government system based on the concept of general competences, with a broad scope of responsibilities including that all public affairs could be performed by local self-governments; therefore the Hungarian model corresponded to the common European values of self-governance. The Article 31.1 of Hungarian Fundamental Law focuses on local public affairs, stipulates that “in Hungary local governments shall be established to administer public affairs and exercise public power at a local level”. Public affairs constitute providing local residents with public utilities, locally exercising public power through self-government and creating the organizational, personnel and financial conditions for these. In Hungary the State plays more and more increasing role in the realization of common goals, the strengthening of the State’s role is traceable in the field of local governments’ responsibilities also. These tendencies could be considered as a very strong recentralisation process of powers, which has led to the considerable reduction of competences previously dedicated to local self-governments. The main goal of the article is to analyse the challenges in the implementation of local public policies, to reveal the scope of local public affairs and to describe the new cooperative relations between local self-governments’ and State’s central and territorial bodies. The paper aims to demonstrate the specific socialization process from theoretical and legal aspects.
