October 2026

 

In October 2026, local self-government across European countries came into focus as a result of a number of important decisions, reforms and debates. European cities and communities defended their role in shaping the EU’s cohesion policy, called for greater financial autonomy and demanded a fairer distribution of public resources. Meanwhile, discussions continued in various countries on the consolidation of administrative and territorial units, changes to intergovernmental transfer systems and strengthening the capacity of local authorities.

We have selected key European decisions and initiatives for representatives of Ukraine’s local self-government bodies to demonstrate how other countries are responding to challenges shared by local communities, what instruments they are using to strengthen local democracy and financial capacity, and which approaches could prove useful for the development of local self-government in Ukraine.

 

European Parliament calls for a stronger role for cities in EU cohesion policy

On 20 October 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution entitled ‘Cohesion Policy: The Driving Force in Implementing the EU Agenda for Cities’. The document was supported by 601 MEPs, with 20 voting against and 36 abstaining. The resolution emphasises that cities and functional urban areas should play a full role in shaping European Union policy, rather than being limited to implementing decisions taken at the level of European institutions.

MEPs called for greater involvement of local and regional authorities in defining investment priorities, developing cohesion policy programmes and preparing national and regional partnership plans for 2028–2034. In the view of the parliamentarians, this approach should take account of the actual needs of individual territories, since local authorities are best placed to understand the challenges facing their communities and residents. The document also pays particular attention to funding for urban development, affordable housing, employment and local public services.

The adoption of the resolution comes ahead of the preparation of the EU’s new multiannual budget for 2028–2034 and is therefore significant for the future architecture of European funding. For municipalities, it sends a signal that they need to engage more actively in dialogue with national governments and European institutions, make the case for their investment needs and seek to ensure that local priorities are taken into account when funding programmes are developed. This is particularly important for smaller towns and communities, which often have limited human and financial resources for preparing large-scale projects.

At the same time, the resolution is political rather than legally binding in nature. It does not establish new rules for the allocation of funds or guarantee municipalities direct access to funding. Its provisions set out the European Parliament’s position on the future of cohesion policy and may be taken into account in the subsequent preparation of EU budgetary and programme decisions.

 

Moldovan Government presents a concept for reorganising second-tier local administration

On 1 October 2026, the Moldovan Government presented a concept for reorganising second-tier administration (equivalent to the district level in Ukraine). It envisages replacing the country's 32 districts with three regions: Northern, Central and Southern. The creation of the second-tier municipality of Taraclia is also proposed. Chișinău and Bălți will retain their status, while the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia will maintain its special status.

The reform is intended to streamline the second-tier administrative structure, establish more compact regional teams and reduce the duplication of functions. Some of the districts' responsibilities are expected to be transferred to the level of mayoralties, where appropriate, while strengthening the financial and staffing capacity of local administrations.

One of the key proposals is to establish a minimum population threshold of 3,000 residents for each mayoralty, which could encourage the consolidation of smaller communities. Under the Government's proposal, mayoralties should receive more resources, benefit from better staffing and have greater opportunities to implement infrastructure projects and organise local services more effectively.

The Government also reported that the budgets of the 32 districts in 2025 amounted to approximately 9 billion lei, around 77% of which was associated with education funding. The concept envisages that the relevant financial resources should be transferred alongside the functions to the authorities that will subsequently be responsible for delivering the services.

This is a government concept for a future reform, rather than an administrative reorganisation that has already been implemented.

 

Romania prepares administrative reform: smaller communities may merge to improve the efficiency of local self-government

In October 2026, Romania moved towards the practical preparation of an administrative reform involving the voluntary merger of smaller local communities and stronger intermunicipal cooperation.

The reform builds on discussions that have been ongoing in the country for several years. Previous legislative changes created opportunities for cooperation between neighbouring communities and the pooling of administrative resources. However, these mechanisms have been used to a limited extent in practice. The country's territorial structure has remained largely unchanged for a long time, while proposals to consolidate smaller communities have repeatedly encountered political and local obstacles.

On 21 October 2026, the Romanian Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration issued Order No. 1334/2026 establishing a working group to implement the START programme, ‘Administrative Reform: Voluntary Merger and Consolidation’. The document provides for the establishment of a central working group within the Ministry, as well as corresponding subgroups in each county. These are to include, among others, county council presidents, prefects and representatives of associations of communes. Mayors and experts may also be involved in the work.

The Government programme envisages giving priority to 429 administrative and territorial units with populations of fewer than 1,500. At the first stage, communities will be encouraged to merge voluntarily, with incentives including support for investment projects, financial benefits and guarantees that local service delivery points will be retained.

According to Development Minister Alexandru Stoica, the voluntary phase is expected to continue until 1 March 2027. After that, the Government plans to move to the next stage, which may involve compulsory consolidation of communities that do not agree to merge voluntarily. The new administrative configuration is expected to be introduced before the 2028 local elections.

At the same time, as of the end of October, the initiative concerns preparations for the mechanism and government plans, rather than mergers that have already been completed.

For Romanian local self-government, this initiative represents an attempt to address excessive administrative fragmentation, whereby smaller communities have limited financial and human resources to fully exercise their powers. Consolidation or the shared use of administrative resources could potentially strengthen communities' ability to attract investment, implement infrastructure projects and provide better-quality public services. However, key issues remain, including the voluntary nature of the process, residents' participation in decision-making, access to services in remote settlements and the preservation of local identity.

 

Bulgarian municipalities call for greater financial autonomy

Financial decentralisation and the expansion of local authorities' budgetary capacity were among the central topics at the annual meeting of Bulgarian municipalities, held on 11–13 October 2026 at the Albena resort.

The National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria called for a review of the system for financing local communities to give local authorities more of their own revenue and greater freedom to determine development priorities. In particular, the Association insists that a share of personal income tax revenue should remain directly in municipal budgets.

It had previously proposed gradually allocating up to 20% of personal income tax revenue to local authorities, alongside a fiscal equalisation mechanism to support municipalities with a smaller tax base.

Other proposals put forward by the Association include ending the practice of assigning new powers and responsibilities to municipalities without providing the corresponding financial resources, as well as improving the system of government transfers.

In the view of local authority representatives, the current funding model limits communities' ability to plan long-term investments, maintain local infrastructure and provide adequate services to residents. Increasing their own-source revenue would make municipalities less dependent on decisions taken by the central government and strengthen their responsibility for local development.

At the same time, the proposed changes remain under discussion as part of the financial decentralisation reform and have not yet been adopted as legislative decisions.

 

Slovakia holds nationwide local and regional elections

On 24 October 2026, Slovakia held nationwide combined elections to local and regional self-government bodies. On 25 October, the State Commission for Elections and Control of the Financing of Political Parties confirmed the final election results.

Voters simultaneously elected heads and representatives of municipal and regional authorities. The elections covered 2,926 municipalities, towns and city districts across the country.

The main outcome was that all eight incumbent heads of self-governing regions retained their positions. Candidates backed by the pro-European parliamentary opposition retained control of four regions, representatives of the governing coalition parties held on to two regions, and the remaining two continued to be led by independent regional heads.

At the same time, several major cities saw changes in leadership, highlighting differences between political trends at regional and municipal levels.

One of the most notable results was the victory of Milan Majerský, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Movement, in the election for the Prešov Self-Governing Region. He secured more than 48% of the vote, defeating the candidate from the far-right Republic party, who received 35%.

According to opinion poll data cited in media reports, Republic ranks third in popularity among the country's political forces.

The vote took place against the backdrop of domestic political debates in Slovakia and disagreements over the foreign policy of Prime Minister Robert Fico's government. The results of the local and regional elections also attracted attention in the context of the parliamentary elections scheduled for next year.

Slovakia, a country with a population of approximately 5.4 million, is a member of the European Union and NATO.

 

Thirteen Finnish cities call for reform of the municipal government funding system

On 6 October 2026, the leaders of 13 Finnish cities called for an urgent review of the system of government transfers to municipalities.

The joint position was supported by Jyväskylä, Kemi, Kouvola, Kuopio, Lappeenranta, Mikkeli, Oulu, Pori, Rovaniemi, Seinäjoki, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa.

The cities believe that the current funding model distributes resources unfairly, as it still relies to a considerable extent on social welfare and healthcare expenditure figures from 2021–2022. This was an atypical period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, deficits in hospital districts and substantial investment in hospital infrastructure.

Following the reform, responsibility for social and healthcare services was transferred to the wellbeing services counties. However, adjustments linked to previous expenditure levels continue to affect the amount of government funding allocated to municipalities.

Municipal representatives stress that the current system makes long-term budget planning more difficult and may undermine cities' ability to provide high-quality basic services.

They are calling for the abolition of negative adjustments linked to historical social welfare and healthcare expenditure and for the reform of government funding to be resumed.

An earlier attempt to comprehensively update the system was prepared during the current government's term, but the process was halted at the end of 2025. The cities are now proposing that the reform be made a priority for the next government.

 

Estonian municipalities oppose delays to local government funding reform

On 20 October 2026, the board of the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities decided not to sign the final protocol of negotiations with the state on the 2027 budget and the 2027–2030 budget strategy.

The reason was the delay in implementing a previously agreed reform of local government funding, which envisaged incorporating more than €120 million in government subsidies into the municipalities' revenue base.

The funds were intended to support general education, extracurricular activities, social welfare and the maintenance of local roads.

The draft legislation had passed the approval stages and was submitted to the Government on 28 September, but consideration had not yet begun.

Municipal representatives stated that the delay was making local budget planning more difficult and hindering efforts to strengthen the financial autonomy of local communities.

The reform is particularly important for local self-government bodies because it would change the mechanism for allocating government funds and provide municipalities with greater predictability in financing essential services.

 

Local government associations oppose cuts to community funding in France's 2027 budget

On 14 October 2026, leading French local government associations issued a joint statement criticising the draft national budget for 2027.

According to their estimates, the measures proposed by the Government could reduce the resources available to local and regional authorities by at least €7.5 billion.

The statement was signed by the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), France urbaine, Intercommunalités de France, the Assembly of French Departments and the Regions of France Association.

They called for the budget proposals to be reconsidered and for consultations to be held with the Government and Parliament.

The Association of Rural Mayors of France (AMRF) did not join the statement, arguing that the overall assessment did not sufficiently account for the differences between urban and rural communities.

The proposed measures include new contributions from local authorities towards reducing the budget deficit, restrictions on VAT compensation, cuts to certain investment resources and higher pension contributions.

In the associations' view, these measures could limit funding for municipal services, maintenance and infrastructure projects.

The Government explains that the changes are necessary to involve local authorities in reducing the public deficit, while also providing additional support to certain categories of communities through solidarity grants and investment programmes.

At the time the statement was issued, the draft budget law was still under consideration by Parliament, meaning that the proposed measures had not yet been finally approved.

The outcome of the budget debates will determine the financial capacity of local communities in 2027, particularly in terms of providing local services, maintaining infrastructure and implementing investment projects.

 

The events of October demonstrate that financial capacity, an effective allocation of powers and the genuine participation of local communities in shaping public policy remain key conditions for effective local self-government in Europe. At the same time, many initiatives are still at the discussion or preparation stage, and their impact on local communities will become clearer in the coming months.