Local democracy and the European Charter of Local Self-Governments
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President of NPO Polis; Lecturer, Tallinn University
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Professor Emeritus, Tallinn University of Technology
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Senior Adviser of Chancellor of Justice
Local governments and the European Charter of Local Self-Governments (Charter) have had a very important role in the development of Estonian democracy.
Until 1940, Estonia had had a centuries-long system of self-government. In 1866, local government units were formed. Since the end of the 1980s, colleagues from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany and several other democratic countries provided important assistance in the restoration of local governments. The principles of the Charter are extensively reflected in the Estonian Constitution, espe-cially in its Chapter XIV. The idea of local government is that the community itself should solve local issues in a way that suits the city or rural municipality. The state may also assign national functions to local governments by law, but then the state must also provide sufficient funds for performing them. The article speaks about the 30th anniversary of the ratification of the Charter by the Riigikogu and the legal order of Estonia relating to this; the fiscal autonomy of local governments; and the implementation and results of the 2017 administrative reform. There are still chal-lenges ahead, including limited fiscal autonomy and the dependence of funding on central government. Democratic, effective and cohesive governance requires cooper-ation between the local governments and the state, as well as cooperation with uni-versities, the third sector and the private sector, involving communities and civil society more actively in decision-making processes.