Recovery of Local and Regional Authorities in Financial Difficulties

Book excerpt: Local authorities in financial difficulty present a number of challenges for the central government, such as determining how deserving cases can be distinguished from unworthy ones or cases of abuse, whether financial aid or other assistance should be given, and how central government can help local authorities avoid getting into financial trouble. This report by the Steering Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) considers these issues in terms of Council of Europe member states. It contains a number of case studies of central assistance to local authorities and seeks to analyse why local authorities are in financial difficulty and how the problem is being dealt with in practice.