Slovak government readies law to strengthen municipal cooperation

Slovakia, home to nearly 3,000 municipalities, is drafting legislation aimed at improving cooperation among local authorities without forcing mergers. The draft law will set clearer rules for joint actions, define minimum standards for the number of municipalities and population required for shared service centres, and link cooperation to existing "centres of shared services" that were created with EU recovery funds. The first centre opened in Tornala, Revúca district and provides building permits, environmental, education, transport and social‑service functions for small communes that cannot afford dedicated staff.

The Interior Ministry, represented by State Secretary Michal Kaliňák, said current inter‑municipal collaboration is insufficient and that the law should guarantee that "a village remains a village and a mayor remains a mayor until residents decide otherwise." Officials also discussed the legal form of the cooperation—whether as a joint legal entity, a public corporation or another stable structure—to replace the dwindling model of joint municipal offices, which has fallen from about 200 offices to roughly 70 in recent decades.