<TITLE: Local Government Finance in Poland (and Other European Countries)
ACADEMIC DOMAIN: economics and administration
DISCIPLINE: economics
EVENT TYPE: lecture discussion
FILE ID: ULECD120
NOTES: continued in ULEC190

RECORDING DURATION: 60 min 00 sec

RECORDING DATE: 11.4.2007

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 10

NUMBER OF SPEAKERS: 5

S1: NATIVE-SPEAKER STATUS: Polish; ACADEMIC ROLE: senior staff; GENDER: female; AGE: 31-50

S2: NATIVE-SPEAKER STATUS: Polish; ACADEMIC ROLE: masters student; GENDER: female; AGE: 17-23

S3: NATIVE-SPEAKER STATUS: French; ACADEMIC ROLE: masters student; GENDER: male; AGE: 17-23

S4: NATIVE-SPEAKER STATUS: Italian; ACADEMIC ROLE: masters student; GENDER: male; AGE: 17-23

S5: NATIVE-SPEAKER STATUS: Polish; ACADEMIC ROLE: undergraduate; GENDER: male; AGE: 17-23

SS: several simultaneous speakers>


<S1> so who prepared sweden , oh yes please tell us something about sweden </S1>
<S2> from this place or [(xx)] </S2>
<S1> [about] no it's from from your place you sitting </S1>
<S2> i think i can send this table because it can be useful <S1> [yes okay] </S1> [if somebody (xx)] today </S2>
<S1> you doesn't need to look at it [very nice] </S1>
<S2> [@@] no but i have the others @here@ <S1> @okay@ </S1> erm mhm about sweden the municipalities of sweden represent the local level of sel- self-government in sweden the current 290 municipalities form subdi- divisions to the 21 countries of sweden called <FOREIGN> län[län] </FOREIGN> </S2>
<S1> [uh-huh] so they had how many levels of er er er local authorities </S1>
<S2> they have regional local and national </S2>
<S1> okay mhm-hm <S2> [and] </S2> [so] two tiers of local [governments mhm-hm] </S1>
<S2> [yeah exactly] erm two countries are officially called regions it's skåne and västra gotland <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [and] there are controversial proposals to divide the rest of sweden into large regions replacing the current countries er the these countries were established in 17th century er superseding the provinces of sweden to intro- er introduce a modern administration the present local government act came into force on first january 1992 erm few words about devolution pro- process <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [er] in the middle of the 20th century several muci- municipal reform were implemented whi- which successfully and drastically reduced their numbers er the last municipal reforms were between 1971 till 74 er they removed the remaining differences in government and privilege between cities and countryside and this last reform er decreased erm the number er from 1000 till around 300 <S1> mhm-hm </S1> erm [structural organs] </S2>
<S1> [the number of] the number of erm </S1>
<S2> municipalities </S2>
<S1> all municipalities or er only mhm the the lowe- l- mhm [lower] </S1>
<S2> [the] lower er level of them </S2>
<S1> 300 yes </S1>
<S2> yeah from 1000 and it's from last [(xx)] </S2>
<S1> [mhm-hm and how] many regions there are </S1>
<S2> er now there are these erm 300 municipalities and 21 countries </S2>
<S1> mhm-hm counties i'm sorry mhm counties </S1>
<S2> erm structural organs at the local level there is municipal council and decision-making body which revise taxes and elect numbe- members of municipal committee and it's headed er by chairman called the mayor [er this is] </S2>
<S1> [mhm-hm what about] the council how er how the members of the council are erm elected chosen is it f- er through the elections er mhm <S2> [(ele-)] </S2> [direct] elections or </S1>
<S2> in the municipal executive committee the [the] </S2>
<S1> [council] council not ec- er er executive organ but a [council] </S1>
<S2> [yeah] there are er i would say [direct elections yes] </S2>
<S1> [elections mhm-hm] </S1>
<S2> but this er second part the municipal executive erm er committee is the erm is chaired by leader of the [party er which has won the elections] </S2>
<S1> [mayor yeah of the party which won the elections] alright so <S2> [and the] </S2> [in the] er sorry in er mhm local government there are you have to remember two kinds of er bodies two ki- two kind of organs in each country er at local er government there are er there should be an organ which we call delibera- deliberative or er statutory organ yes which is er usually called council and the council li- it is like a local parliament isn't it er and it er a co- a council erm is made from the members which comes from the elections yes and the numbers of the members of the council that's the problem er yes because it varies between the country er very er er lots of difference about the there are lots of difference about the numbers of the councils for example in poland there are always a discussion we always discuss about the numbers of the councils local government councils that and we always says that it's too many of them and there i- there is a second party at er local government er erm level er executive party there must be some executive administrative or a body or a man just a man like mayor or a committee some executive mechanism for example in UK it's very interesting that y- there are any executive organ any mayor or er mhm president of the city there are the- not a se- there are er we can't find there a executive executive organ we can't we find the- there executive administrative only administrative department they put er er the mhm local law into force but er at the res- er er in the rest of the er er european country there are always erm er separate executive organ like mayor or er executive committee yes er but usually i- in big city it is one person like in poland mayor or a president of the city which which is er also chosen through the election yes and he he and er he's he or she is er possessing quite good quite large power er to execute er po- executive power yes in the city okay so in sweden we have the separate executive committee yes as an executive organ <S2> erm </S2> yes what does er what are the activity of local government in sweden [responsibilities what do they do] </S1>
<S2> [erm i- er i will have] about this (a bit) later <S1>  okay [mhm-hm] </S1> [okay] yeah yeah erm and there are also commissions which are usually specific responsibility like police education environment and and social [services] </S2>
<S1> [commissions] okay </S1>
<S2> er at regional level there are two special regions like i said skåne and västra gotland which have regional council whose members are elected elected by direct universal suffrage for seven years' term and regional executive commission which has general responsibility for all region activities erm er at this level there are beside these two special region there are country council er called <FOREIGN>  landstings </FOREIGN> <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [er] which is divided into country council assembly and country executive committee and also there are other commissions also connected <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [with] special activities , at national level there's [the parliament] </S2>
<S1> [so you was] telling about these two separate autonomous regions yes [skåne and] </S1>
<S2> [yeah about these two they have] they have their own le- regional councils <S1> mhm-hm </S1> but th- there are only two of these separate region they have very large autonomy so they have another [structure] <S1> [mhm-hm] mhm-hm mhm-hm </S1> erm otherwise it's it's similar like on local level [and there is] </S2>
<S1> [mhm-hm would] you have er s- sorry because you mentioned about these erm separate autonomy regions which has er er almost a separate regime political regime in the country yes and they are al- usually an islands </S1>
<S2> [yeah they're they're] </S2>
<S1> [yes are they] an islands i [think yes they are] </S1>
<S2> [er the] gotland is island </S2>
<S1> yes and we er have such regions i think in france yes <S3> yeah </S3> what are these er regions separate erm autonomy regions in france </S1>
<S3> there [are] </S3>
<S1> [er d-] i think departments yes </S1>
<S3> there are overseas departments </S3>
<S1> overseas departments </S1>
<S3> and there are also overseas territories <S1> yes </S1> which have more er independence which have their own erm council <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [and] (xx) their territory [and er] </S3>
<S1> [why] why there are in france these separate [department] </S1>
<S3> [because they] are our former colonies <S1> yes </S1> and former territories </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm can you mention a name of of [it] </S1>
<S3> [they] are guyane guyana <S1> [yeah] </S1> [guadeloupe] martinique <S1> [yeah] </S1> [réunion] they are the four overseas </S3>
<S1> [overseas departments yes french t-] </S1>
<S3> [departments and overseas territories] maybe polynesia or <S1> mhm-hm  </S1> saint pierre and miquelon </S3>
<S1> [mhm-hm that's right mhm-hm mhm-hm] </S1>
<S3> [close to canada and so and] also corsica </S3>
<S1> corsica [and er of course in total] </S1>
<S3> [(wallis and futuna islands)] </S3>
<S1> in total we have er fr- in france we have er 100 departments yes <S3>  yeah </S3> and this is the er inte- intermediate the middle tier of of of the struct- er of the structure of local government yes do we have er separate er regions or er intermediate in slove- in er slovenia now i think <S4> no </S4> it is strictly yes unitary state er mhm the structure of local government is is unitary er okay and anything else about the </S1>
<S2> mhm-hm [in general] </S2>
<S1> [about sweden] </S1>
<S2> er in general swe- er municipalities and erm country councils and regions have great deal of freedom to organise their activities erm their responsibilities are regulated partly in the local government act and partly in laws and statutes and er specific (xx) specified s- er areas like social services act or education act <S1> mhm-hm </S1> they are very <S1> [yes] </S1> [specific] erm about subdivision in sweden municipalities may further be divided into the er (xx) of such divisions are at the discretion of the munip- municipality er the municipalities are also divided into total of 200 fif- er 2512 er parish <S1> [parishes] </S1> [they] parishes <S1> mhm-hm </S1> they have traditionally er been used erm as a division (xx) of the church of of sweden </S2>
<S1> mhm-hm [like in UK like in england yes] </S1>
<S2> [er but still they yeah exactly] but still they exist and they are erm they have importance for the census and and for erm elections [yes] <S1> [mhm-hm] mhm-hm </S1> erm activities [er] </S2>
<S1> [but] it is a voluntary er er tier of local government they <S2> yeah yeah </S2> they ca- they can make a parish if the local community would like to and usually parishes like in UK they do care about what er about very very local activity like parks [yes like erm] </S1>
<S2> [yeah they're like] very small communes </S2>
<S1> yes like er er local concerts or local er play yards yes er er solving solving the mhm er neighbours' er mhm quarrelling and so on yes mhm-hm </S1>
<S2> erm few words about activities <S1> yes </S1> er according to law the municipalities are responsible responsible for social service care (xx) (doctors) er child care pre-school the public school system of children structure and building issues health environmental issue erm rescue service water order safety but al- mhm this is erm enumerative lists so all others activities are voluntary <S1> mhm-hm </S1> and er voluntary can be power energy leisure activities culture housing [(et cetera) they are not (on the)] </S2>
<S1> [mhm-hm and you're talking] about the m- munici- [er communes the lower le- tier activity yes] </S1>
<S2> [yeah yeah exactly (the com-) yeah] erm when we erm er talk about er other levels it's quite similar but there are erm few differences but but erm in general these kind of activities like social care er child care <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [and er] education are er obligations <S1> mhm-hm </S1> but the other like culture are [are mhm voluntary] </S2>
<S1> [mhm-hm what does] the county do </S1>
<S2> sorry </S2>
<S1> a county the second tier </S1>
<S2> er i have only here these are straight from the act but i haven't got this straight of from the act about er the next one but as far as i w- saw it yesterday they were quite similar th- there are some differences but also in the local level er these which are obligated they are enum- en- enumeratively <S1> [mhm-hm mhm-hm] </S1> [counted so] so all others are are voluntary </S2>
<S1> alright er does er did sweden er ratify the charter european charter of local government </S1>
<S2> yeah exactly [and] </S2>
<S1> [when] it was </S1>
<S2> it was in 1989 exactly 29th of august </S2>
<S1> mhm-hm and when er sweden join es- EU </S1>
<S2> in 1995 </S2>
<S1> mhm-hm okay alright then er sweden we w- erm that's quite quite nice p- pre- preparation er so sweden then on the list er er mhm y- as you can remember the tables i er gave you yesterday er er after sweden we find there's er france <S3> yeah </S3> yes as a country who has got a quite big public finance sector and at the beginning can you explain why in fra- why france has got a such a large public finance sector because er that's the very interesting question because france as we know doesn't follow er the social welfare er strictly social welfare er er mhm state model doesn't it so why how do you think </S1>
<S3> maybe [it's a-] </S3>
<S1> [why] france is in this group </S1>
<S3> because maybe after second world war world war two erm (xx) <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [and] you said it yesterday with john maynard keynes' theory got er <S1> [yeah] </S1> [enormous] influence </S3>
<S1> although key- er john maynard keynes was er english fi- er ec- [economist mhm-hm but it influenced france also] </S1>
<S3> [yeah but theory of yeah theory] (xx) and (xx) and give more more independence to you <S1> yeah </S1> to to local areas [so er] </S3>
<S1> [yeah the] er yeah er and of course it's derives from the mhm er er from the way of er pri- privati- privatisation in this country isn't it we find there quite a lot of public companies a large number of public companies and they make this er er public sector er er large in in in france er and of course we we may say that the social services in france is quite er quite er er large er and they er cost quite a lot of public expenditures and of course it is also er er the reason is the er in france er mhm the reason of the p- large public finance sector is also derives er from the er diversity of nationalities yes in this [country] </S1>
<S3> [(xx)] system for equality especially concerning er postal services [and er] </S3>
<S1> [yeah railway] yes okay so what we have erm er structure of local government in france what are what is the structure <S3> so [(xx)] </S3> [er first] of all we ma- we must s- say how many inhabitants how many population has got this country </S1>
<S3> 62 million </S3>
<S1> millions and sweden how many population has got this country </S1>
<S2> i think <S1> [eight] </S1> [about] nine nine million </S2>
<S1> eight millions yes er okay </S1>
<S3> so historical perspective er (xx) departments were created in 1789 the year of the french revolution with the first 80 departments and these [departments] </S3>
<S1> [departments] er sorry was made by the napoleon yes that was the napole- napoleon idea <S3> yeah </S3> to divide a [country into] </S1>
<S3> [divide with] an equal area for each department er by the way in 1789 communes became the base the first level of local authority and there may i mention that er there is also a trick what why there are so many communes 36,000 communes it's <S1> [36,000] </S1> [because] thousands of communes it's because erm central governments are s- always being afraid of making big er local areas that would er produce a counter-revolution so the motto was to split all these communes to er better poor and poorer [one ones and] </S3>
<S1> [mhm-hm keep] them poor and small [mhm-hm] <S3> [yeah] erm </S3> but it's very interesting why french er france er keep it @all the time@ they they keeping this er very unrealistic and very unpractical number of communes 36,000 isn't it it's er er there there we we find in france er communes with er only 100 @inhabitants@ isn't it so it's er of course the- they must er er join and er they they erm create you will <S3> [(xx)] </S3> [tell us i- later] i think they create er the the fourth level of local government er joint communes er level because they are very weak too weak to pr- to create a a local government of course but they love tradition they love history and they're very proud of i- of it and i suppose they will keep this very unpractical number 36,000 communes erm and this is the number er er almost which almost er er which which is almost the whole number of local governments in in whole europe isn't it mhm-hm okay <S3> [so in] </S3> [that's very] good explanation </S1>
<S3> in 1946 former overseas governments had the status of overseas departments and the development of transport gave to paris er central (xx) of all (areas) and in 1950 (xx) settlement and in 1955 (xx) regional development was put in force in 1963 a (land) settlement delegation is created in order to balance companies' actions among departments <S1> mhm-hm </S1> and s- 1964 21 regions are created and the paris region <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [is] reorganised into eight departments <S1> mhm-hm </S1> because paris region er has erm 11 million of inhabitants that's why it was it has been reorganised <S1> mhm-hm </S1> er in [1970] </S3>
<S1> [and how] these er er what was the genesis of regions in france how do you think w- they were created in [19- yes] </S1>
<S3> [they were in] they were created in 19- <S1> [si-] </S1> [erm] mhm 64 </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm and what was the re- reason </S1>
<S3> [the reason is to make bigger] </S3>
<S1> [th- that they pr- they created] the third tier </S1>
<S3> it's it's to have a bigger local area because department were </S3>
<S1> too small </S1>
<S3> too [small yeah] </S3>
<S1> [to carry to carry] er to carry what </S1>
<S3> to carry (xx) erm social and health health services <S1> mhm-hm </S1> it was it was was also [administrative (xx)] </S3>
<S1> [what what are] the responsibilities of regions [in france] </S1>
<S3> [erm] they are mostly responsible of programmes innovations </S3>
<S1> uh-huh <S3> [and] </S3> [uh-huh] you see yes and for <S3> and mhm </S3> decentralisa- of redistributing of european union money european union funds that's that's france is a very good example for the country which created regional er tier of local governments strictly for the u- EU er funds' purpose yes er that's the er regionalisation er tendency in europe which started from the 18s er years yes , mhm-hm </S1>
<S3> in 1970 a quite big improvement is made towards devolution in eliminating prefect approbation on commune budgets </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm yes this it is still like that unfortunately yes </S1>
<S3> and in 1972 juridi- juridicial personality and budget autonomy are given to regions , and in 1980 municipal councils and general councils are allowed to directly vote local tax rates <S1> mhm-hm </S1> so main (xx) of devolution were in 1982 83 through law and in 2003 through constitutional reform that the two main er timetables of devolution <S1> [mhm-hm mhm-hm] </S1> [st- steps towards] devolution so in 1982 law said that communes departments and regions are free to administrate themself by elected councils and (xx) that laws will determinate which competences are (xx) to regions departments and communes in 1999 a new law (enforces) cooperation between communes with new tax and financial dispositions so there are three types of inter-communes structure community of commune community of agglomerations <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [er with] more than 50,000 <S1> [yes] </S1> [inhabitants] with a main city of 15,000 [inhabitants] <S1> [right] mhm-hm </S1> and the urban communities erm that have more than er 500,000 inhabitants , corsica er has a special regime with its assembly that has a regulat- regulatory power on language (xx) research culture and heritage <S1> mhm-hm </S1> reform of the constitution in 2003 establishes principle of devolution with a right to experiment new practices in legal and (xx) and regions were considered <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [as] territory unit like communes and departments </S3>
<S1> okay can you tell us er if er france er erm ratified the charter european charter of local subgov- er local subgovernment </S1>
<S3> they did </S3>
<S1> [yes when] </S1>
<S3> [er yeah france] france did at the beginning <S1> [mhm] </S1> [in] 1985 </S3>
<S1> where di- er where did you find er the information like that </S1>
<S3> on on the charter </S3>
<S1> on the what </S1>
<S3> on the charter </S3>
<S1> on the charter what [charter] </S1>
<S3> [charter] charter of er </S3>
<S1> [ratification table] </S1>
<S3> [european charter] of local subgovernment </S3>
<S1> er is there a date is there a a year when er france ratified the charter . in 80 in 90 when it was because er my information is that france didn't ratify the charter <BROWSING PAPERS, P:06> uh <S3> mhm  </S3> and what is your information did france ratify the charter or not </S1>
<S3> no they didn't </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm , yeah france switzerland er er they are a country er which er er i- <SIC> inspiting </SIC> that they're they are er mem- members of er council of europe they doesn't ratified the charter er although they sagni- s- sign it they sign it but the parliament er didn't make a ratification process er of the mhm of the charter switzerland and er france [er that's] </S1>
<S3> [you you] mean that they sign it but they didn't implement it <S1> yeah  </S1> okay </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm they didn't ratified it er erm so that's very interesting and that's the maybe the f- erm showing the feature feature of nation yes they always er erm like to show that they are er different nation and they they m- although they they are the one of the i- most important member of council of europe but they didn't ratify the charter like er switzerland but of course switzerland , it is er er erm obvious it is it can be understand because in switzerland we have we have er the the strongest power of er canton cantons mhm-hm [the the the most strong] </S1>
<S3> [and activities concerning] activities [erm so] </S3>
<S1> [yes activities mhm-hm] </S1>
<S3> regions are in charge of orientation and programme competencies departments must lead solidarity policies and manage proximity infrastructures communes are responsible for proximity policies transfer of competencies from central government to local units (xx) 11 to 13 billions of (xx) three billions allocated to regions and eight billions allocated to departments this is related to the erm reform of constitution in 2003 <S1> [mhm-hm mhm-hm] </S1> [concerning the devolution so] 11 to 13 billions of (xx) and that have concern erm 130,000 civil servants that are <S1> mhm-hm </S1> under the con- under the authority <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [of local] and for instance (xx) individual assistance to companies has now been in the hands of regions and cultural heritage is committed to regions departments have been in charge of job training solidarity accommodation funds and minimum income support , and the entire national motor highway is also transferred to departments <S1> mhm-hm </S1> and since 1983 local territories have been in charge of building secondary schools and high schools and since since 2004 they have control on their cleaning and technical people (xx) </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm mhm-hm mhm-hm so do you think er the activities er er of local government in france they er divided erm er in a common common way er in the universal way er erm they it is er division of activities er like in other countries er of europe or er d- did you find any so- er something special in the activities of local government </S1>
<S3> er i think the main er per- er person in charge of local government is mayor [er] <S1> [mayor] mhm-hm </S1> mayor for instance he is responsible of er the security on his commune er some communes er may have erm er municipal police <S1> mhm-hm  </S1> and erm going further erm there are about er 600 communes that have er municipal police with lethal weapons <S1> mhm-hm </S1> so that you yo- you may say that there is erm municipal police national police and gendarmerie which is a <S1> [yeah mhm-hm] </S1> [normal form of security] and erm </S3>
<S1> yeah that's very interesting do you did you heard in your country that that er er th- the- there is a municipal police er stations and they they are organised er by the municipals er er municipalities and there is a national police it is like the the same it is like er in er in england in england that we find city police yes and the national police unfortunately in poland they wanted to do like that but er but they centralise it in at 2002 because er unfortunately through the electio- elections <SIC> wonned </SIC> w- was won by the communistic parties again and they they love to centralise everything and unfortunately it w- er it didn't work like this in poland yes but we got a municipal police er police er in france that's that's very interesting what else </S1>
<S3> and there are also exception status for cities like paris lyon and marseille </S3>
<S1> marseille lyon yeah </S1>
<S3> they have their own district er their own mayor for each district <S1>  mhm-hm </S1> and paris is typical because it's er capital city it is also a commune er communes inside communes and it is also a department itself </S3>
<S1> it yes they mhm-hm they are separate departments the metropolitan's communes yes </S1>
<S3> and paris is a commune and a department </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm yeah , the city with the right of department yes <S3> yeah </S3> mhm-hm okay that's very nice , and when france er join es- EU </S1>
<S3> they were on the er the </S3>
<S1> when france [joined EU] </S1>
<S3> [foundation of europe] which is er germany italy benelux and france they were er the origin of the EU in 1951 (in brussels) </S3>
<S1> mhm-hm mhm-hm they were the countries which er which created yes which start start to build the u- EU alright france and we've got slovenia only er left erm er have a look at the tables because i- er yesterday i spre- erm gave you the table let's find slovenia what is the country slovenia er has got a quite l- low public finance sector isn't it isn't has er hasn't it er slo- slovenia slovenia you say <S4> [yes] </S4> [er slovenia] not slovakia <S4> [slovenia] </S4> [slovenia] oh no slovenia <S4> [it has] </S4> [has got] yes quite high </S1>
<S4> [public finance sector (xx)] </S4>
<S1> [quite high yes and slovenia] about the decentralisation er <S4> [(is low)] </S4> [level] er we haven't [got] </S1>
<S4> [it is] between luxemburg and lithuania <S1> yes [yes] </S1> [so it's] quite low </S4>
<S1> and about the autonomy ta- tax autonomy is [low] </S1>
<S4> [(xx)] has spoken about this , because in the other one there is </S4>
<S1> 33 33 per cent er percentage of total reve- municipal revenues in the middle [yes] </S1>
<S4> [in the public] finance decentralisation there isn't slovenia </S4>
<S1> yeah yeah because er er euro start er er er <S4> no </S4> not available they said that in in [this table] </S1>
<S4> [euro in] slovenia is in th- in this year that is [(xx)] </S4>
<S1> [mhm-hm yeah yeah so what you] what we can say about this country how many population is [is is it] </S1>
<S4> [it's about] million the population </S4>
<S1> uh-huh very small country <S4> [yeah] </S4> [yeah] and we know where is it situated yes [okay] </S1>
<S4> [erm] okay the during the communistic era slovenia became the most prosperous republic of the of the yugoslavia er maybe this was so because it was closer to the rich region of the west europe like italy and <S1> mhm-hm </S1> er austria <S1> [yes] </S1> [erm] <COUGH> mhm september 1989 the general assembly of the yugoslav republic of slovenia adopted an amendment to its er constitution asserting that slovenia's right (to dissociate) from yugoslavia so from 19- 1991 slovenia erm came er a real er country </S4>
<S1> independent [country] </S1>
<S4> [in- independent] country <S1> mhm-hm </S1> so it is i think a ve- a very new republic because it has er twe- 20 years of of life <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [no more] erm slovenia will be the first of the ten new members entering the european union in 2004 to hold the the presidency in janu- in january 2008 <S1> mhm-hm </S1> erm okay th- just this just to have a brief erm history just to understand erm okay the government the executive power in slovenia is exercised by the government of the republic of slovenia of course and (its ministries) erm the municipalities and the (bodies that) govern- local government bodies undertake individual task er with the state juridis- juri- jurisdiction only er when they are agreed to do th- to do this and when their responsibility are regally legally defined <S1> mhm-hm </S1> [erm] </S4>
<S1> [yes i] think it's er like that in all the co- er erm local government systems in europe that local government can do [something] <S4> [can do] exactly </S4> if the law allows it </S1>
<S4> of course </S4>
<S1> yes of course [er] </S1>
<S4> [or] when the law doesn't say anything they can regulate by themselves </S4>
<S1> yes but when when there is a gap in the law it doesn't says who has to carry on the task </S1>
<S4> usually it's the law that [at least the main (munici-)] </S4>
<S1> [we presume there is a] presumption <S4> yeah </S4> that local government has to carry on the task yes that is the same er constitutional principle we have er i- in poland and [er the same is in in in] </S1>
<S4> [er but er my my] information are from or that i have i took from the constitution of er of slovenia <S1> yeah [mhm-hm] </S1> [so] <FOREIGN> (xx) </FOREIGN> the <S1> [consti-] </S1> [constitution] i i took <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [information] from there in <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [particular] erm the prime minister is the head of the government and the president of the republic recommends the the prime ministerial candidate to the parliament after consulting with the leaders of the political parties the prime minister's term (begins) when the when a new parliament is formed from in parliament election and erm also can be terminated if the parliament passes a vote of no confidence in the government or if the constitutional court is missing on grounds of violating the constitution or the law [this is like more or less in italy] </S4>
<S1> [alright mhm-hm] let's go to the local government [er] </S1>
<S4> [yeah] of course er okay erm the process of devolution started in 1981 with the adoption of a new constitution which guarantee guaranteed local subgovernment in the next three four years the central government made many rules about the system to finance the local government and rules about how t- this government could be elected <S1>  mhm-hm </S1> in 1995 was the year the 1995 was the year of introduction of a new sti- sy- system of administrative organisation and administrative autonomy and in 1996 erm were established by law the torritos- of the the territories of the municipalities in 1988 the municipalities from 147 became 192 so the number that is now <S1>  mhm-hm </S1> erm okay the municipalities shall independently take (decision on joining) into wider self-govern- governing local communities and to regions <S1> mhm-hm </S1> and the regions shall regulate and perform local matters [erm] </S4>
<S1> [so you] have er erm excuse me er er a structure er of local governments in slovenia two tiers or third er three tiers </S1>
<S4> t- okay two tiers <S1> [two] </S1> [because] the region are like er er administrative units er [er because the the the central government have (al- allowed) this] </S4>
<S1> [yeah mhm-hm er mhm-hm] let's have a look <S4> [now] </S4> [at the] table i i mhm gave you yesterday let's find slovenia slovenia </S1>
<S4> [so the regional] </S4>
<S1> [oh slovenia] yes er the regional er tier is the strictly er central government administrative [units] </S1>
<S4> [this kind of] region has to (xx) have the [municipalities] </S4>
<S1> [so actually] we've got one tier of local government </S1>
<S4> [(xx) local government] </S4>
<S1> [municipalities how many] are they a- are they </S1>
<S4> [192] </S4>
<S1> [192] 92 </S1>
<S4> yeah <S1> yeah </S1> okay i found also in in er some information that they can also have 193 okay one more or one less but [i don't know] </S4>
<S1> [yes yes] yes er er the numbers erm you know the numbers of local governments can change isn't it er from a year to a year they can er er change to a smaller or b- <S4> [or bigger] </S4> [bigger amount] yes because er it depends er on the on the erm lo- er local community's will yes </S1>
<S4> [also also i found] </S4>
<S1> [sometimes] sometimes they do- they they doesn't want to have anymore for example to create a county yes and they want to join other county and then we [have] </S1>
<S4> [there's] also a way to f- to finance these er municipalities to measure the too little municipalities with less than 5000 people inhabitants and they they measure these ki- these two municipalities and [it's a way] </S4>
<S1> [and they force] to to join [other mhm-hm] </S1>
<S4> [yes they] so in a way to to [finance this er] <S1> [mhm-hm] mhm-hm </S1> this go- local government from the [central] </S4>
<S1> [yes] so you see so you see er that's slovenia that's the examp- which has the one-tier local government one tier of local government and which has only two millions <S4> [yeah] </S4> [inhabitants] that's the example of the country which doesn't need to have more tiers <S4>  yeah </S4> yes so we have we have one solution from our deliberations that beca- er that in the country where we have er a very big amount of the inhabita- population li- er like over 30 or 40 millions there is a need to have two or three </S1>
<S4> [(xx) also because okay] </S4>
<S1> [three tiers of local] government because local government serve and administer people yes and there is obvious that there are there must be three tiers of er er <SIC> territoral </SIC> divisions of subdivisions and er tiers of local government and in the country where doesn't er which doesn't have a large er number mhm of population there is er usually one tier or two tiers and it is o- it is obvious </S1>
<S4> also because er except the capital ljubljana the the cities in in slovenia are now small more than small so <S1> @yes@ [okay] </S1> [there are] there are little village in in the valley and so on [but (xx) there are many mountain (xx)] </S4>
<S1> [uh-huh the cities yes but the city i suppose] the city er creates er erm a separate separate regime yes re- separate status er of local government or or or er city ljubljana is er mhm has got er n- normal status of municipality of it is a commune or a city <S4> [(i don't know)] </S4> [with the right] of the reg- er of the s- er has er has er ljubljana got a separate [status] </S1>
<S4> [no i don't think] i don't think so </S4>
<S1> mhm so it is a common common municipality [yes city municipality] </S1>
<S4> [yeah also i think] that another big is okay the wi- in the border river <S1> mhm-hm </S1> of italy nova gorica [and (xx)] </S4>
<S1> [alright what are] the activities </S1>
<S4> okay the activities okay the function of the municipalities (okay) many many functions so i ca- i can just <S1> [functions yes] </S1> [just mhm-hm] manage the asset of the municipality of course provide the condition for economic developen- development in accordance with the law er carry out task in the areas of (xx) (tourism) and agriculture erm plan special development carry out tasks in the area of (xx) (physical space) and the construction , erm for example creating condition for the construction of housing and provide for increase in the <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [social] welfare housing fund </S4>
<S1> what about education </S1>
<S4> erm there is okay for the education there is where is it er okay promote cultural artistic creativity ensure a- artistic and cultural programmes ensure library activity for general education purpose erm ensure be be responsible for preserving cultural heritage in its territory </S4>
<S1> right so they they er they do not run their schools </S1>
<S4> erm , yeah of course promote activities related to upbringing the the education information education and er activity for recreation sports and so on <S1> mhm-hm </S1> erm promote the service for social welfare for pre-school institution </S4>
<S1> pre-school institution kindergartens <S4> yeah </S4> @uh-huh@ mhm-hm </S1>
<S4> er the basic welfare for children children sorry family erm di- disable and elderly people <S1> mhm-hm </S1> erm there's okay okay protection of the air this is for the environment [environment and er] </S4>
<S1> [mhm-hm mhm-hm that's] very interesting that they they they put er as the first of the activity they put economic development </S1>
<S4> yeah thi- this kind of er of information i took directly from the constitution <S1> mhm-hm </S1> and er in this order <S1> mhm-hm </S1> and the erm the part about education <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [okay] is more or less in the mi- in the middle and er and the bottom there are okay erm the the service erm the municipal service and local police for example erm okay organise performance of funeral and so on <S1> mhm-hm </S1> erm there's a erm okay then there is okay local matters in general </S4>
<S1> have a look at the table i g- i gave you [er er] </S1>
<S4> [yeah] i i look also also <S1> [yes] </S1> [this] but they m- more or less i think are they're <S1> [the same mhm-hm] </S1> [more or less the same yes] okay here the in in this one the education er is the thir- the third position er also here it is written pre-school and primary school </S4>
<S1> oh you see yes </S1>
<S4> erm the primary health care erm </S4>
<S1> primary health care yes primary [education yes] </S1>
<S4> [same only] only the basic er the basic elements of [them differ] </S4>
<S1> [er mhm-hm] mhm-hm and the local police yes er [they they do th-] </S1>
<S4> [the local police] i- is is quite er at the end of this <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [of this] function of the <S1> mhm-hm </S1> of the municipalities <S1> mhm-hm </S1> in fact i okay when i i've been there there are there are police but <S1> [mhm-hm] </S1> [not so] so much police in in [the in the town (anymore)] </S4>
<S1> [mhm-hm mhm-hm have you] heard about the er the revenues er <S4> [yeah] </S4> [do you] what are the taxes of [the munici-] </S1>
<S4> [yeah okay] the municipality can finance the these local matters from its own sources and the fund from the [national government yes] </S4>
<S1> [transfer er the grants mhm-hm] </S1>
<S4> erm there are okay some taxes that are obligatory contributions and there are other revenue from the asset of the municipality so they can invest their their own asset and the state can also ensure additional funds for municipalities which erm cannot a- adequately finance local affairs of public import- of public importance with their own sources erm these method th- they are determined by law </S4>
<S1> mhm-hm mhm-hm <S4> erm </S4> what kind of taxes do they collect <S4> [er] </S4> [di- did] you find the </S1>
<S4> i okay i didn't write here but okay i i read about this there are taxes about er erm the tax about the houses that you have a house that's when you have to pay [erm the property (fee) yeah] </S4>
<S1> [a a property er real estate tax] mhm-hm </S1>
<S4> erm this one was okay one of the most important er like in italy of course </S4>
<S1> like in poland of [course mhm-hm] </S1>
<S4> [uh-huh they] they can finance er many many things with this <S1> [mhm] </S1> [the the most] revenue came from these [kind of taxes] </S4>
<S1> [mhm] do they have agriculture tax separate [agriculture tax] </S1>
<S4> [er] okay this one really @i don't remember@ </S4>
<S1> @uh-huh@ do they have any charges local charges for for any when you when you go for example to the touristic er er er touristic area er do they charge erm <S4> [no] </S4> [er] a climate charge like climate or a touristic [charge no] </S1>
<S4> [no they don't] they they say [you can] </S4>
<S1> [per day] <S4> no </S4> of staying there <S4> i don't </S4> in a hotel or no </S1>
<S4> i don't think so </S4>
<S1> mhm-hm alright then er quite good presentation i noticed that you gather er some more materials th- er er than than than i gave you that's very nice and i hope that something will rem- er remind er stay in your in your memory about this er er country er so mhm er very nice so i- i don't know er what about the the rest s- so of course you will have five er er please do do prepare for tomorrow yes if you want a good mark so do prepare for tomorrow otherwise you will g- er just have er pass yes or or or three and er erm the point erm the subjects subject er because it is very important and now i will give you the subject that you can prepare at home and send me yes the er and then i will give you four points when er of course the condition of er er receiving four points will be er that the the essay erm erm would have er mu- m- must be written er properly yes it er it cou- can't be taken from the internet you know you will have er because you er er will er mhm er may d- do it er on the example of your country i s- i want you to do it properly yes to do er erm to do it er erm er i- i- d- with er for example er er show the numbers show the statistics show the practical er ro- er solutions yes practical solutions in this in this subject so you you prepare the subject on the example in y- examples in your country yes because then i th- i suppose then you will do it you will do it the best way shall i er written er down or shall i just er dictate you eq- first subject equalisation mechanism between local governments in your country equalisation mechanism equalisation <WRITING ON MARKERBOARD, P:13> mechanism between local governments government units in your country local taxes local , taxes , in your count- tax local taxes system in your country local charges , system in your country er public finance sector actually i will i will dictate you maybe because it's easier it's the rest are very easy public finance sector in your country yes you prep- please present public er finance sector er especially er taking an example from from er the presentation i will do today okay er erm the the fifth subject the mechanism of redistribution of EU funds european union funds in your country the mechanism of redistribution of EU funds in your country wha- what kind of institution d- does it yes does it er er a central government institution or a local government institution and er what are the mechanism yes who does it for example in poland region local government regional government wojvodships yes er erm does the redistribution of EU funds so er and and what are the mhm er mechanism does the EU money go through the budget publi- er state budget and local budget on or does they go separate and create a separate financial plan yes that's very interesting the sixth subject financing financing schools or roads in your country financing school or if you can you can choose roads transportations yes transportation in your country . what is the mechanism of s- financing schools or roads er seventh subject financing health care services health care services in your country , health care services eighth subject budgetary management in y- i- at local level in your country budgetary management i will explain the budgetary management today how it is in poland and you will have an example how to present this subject er er and and ninth s- er subject er relations between public and private sector financ- financials financial relations between public municipal and municipal and private sector public municipal and private sector in your country , right and what we will do today it w- mhm we will er er study er we will study mhm local finance in in poland on er example of course er taking some of the subject i dictate you now er and again i prepared some tables because @unfortunately@ finance means numbers @yes@ and er mhm </S1>
<S4> when do when do we have to send you the [essay] </S4>
<S1> [oh when] er er okay er essay will er er what is the time i think maybe how many time do you need month or two week , how many time , we do have er now is er er 11th of april er so maybe till the end of april or is it alright , or i- i- is it too long okay , because it i- it's 11th of april yeah till the end of april okay </S1>
<S2> er can you give us e-mail </S2>
<S1> a mail okay i'll give you my private num- er mail because it works er better , it works better <WRITING ON MARKERBOARD, P:15> <S1 E-MAIL ADDRESS> . and if you will have some problems with this er er e-mail address so please contact marketta because i- i'll er mailed with marketta several times a- and it should work properly okay with this mail , okay so i will wait till till the end of april and on on 30 er er of april i will er that's the final day alright to send e- essays and at the beginning of maybe on first or s- or the s- second of may i will send the results er so erm about the points yes if someone will prepare essay er very nice er and very interesting er w- will get four points but er if [essay will] </S1>
<S5> [the number] of points doesn't like it's [not] </S5>
<S1> [doesn't] depend </S1>
<S5> on yeah [only] </S5>
<S2> [on the] grade </S2>
<S5> only grade depends of the paper but number of points doesn't <S1>  doesn't </S1> yeah that's right </S5>
<S1> but you said that it does </S1>
<S2> er er <S5> no </S5> <FOREIGN> [(xx)] </FOREIGN> </S2>
<S1> [yeah . okay] okay </S1>
<S4> so what </S4>
<S1> is it er four points that everyone gets four points </S1>
<S2> if they will pass it yeah </S2>
<S1> if they will pass it <S2> yeah </S2> okay so the- they the- there's one condition to pass the the er co- er the main condition to pass is to send me an essay and then it will er </S1>
<S2> have a grade </S2>
<S1> h- have four points </S1>
<S5> [yeah] </S5>
<S2> [then] we will have four points and you will give us a grade on based <S1> [a grade okay] </S1> [on on this] what we've done today [and essay] </S2>
<S1> [three] four or <S2> [five yeah] </S2> [five okay] mhm-hm alright so everyone er er who will send me an an essay will get four points and for example a mark three or four or five alright and of course these people who will present who will do the presentation er during a lecture er er will probably have five er or or even more yes that [will] </S1>
<S2> [mhm] more is impossible </S2>
<SS> [@@] </SS>
<S1> [more more is @okay@] </S1>
<S5> surprise </S5>
<S4> if you want </S4>
<S1> @it is impossible@ so five yes so it is er er better to do the presentation just to have a five er for sure okay today may- maybe we shall make a ten minutes' break okay and then we'll go to poland er of course with our minds </S1>
