engleski

European good governance standards in Croatia: An assessment.

The European integration process initiated a series of structural and functional reforms in national political systems of the European states. Besides a democratic institutions building, reforms greatly affected national justice sector and public administrations. Although the national (central) levels of government play the main role in adaptation process, one cannot ignore an increasing engagement of subnational units in implementing the European good governance standards. The European Commissions' White paper on European governance proclaims general principles for good governance on national levels (openness, accountability, participation, effectiveness, coherence), and recommendations for theirs practical implementation. However, according to the subsidiarity principle, “public responsibilities shall generally be exercised, in preference, by those authorities, which are closest to the citizen”. Therefore, the preliminary question to be answered in this paper is whether there is a set of principles proclaimed in the context of good local governance? In the first phase of the research the author has analysed European Unions’ and Council of Europe’s legal documents regulating local self- government issues in order to create a catalogue of European principles and associated standards for good local governance. Based on results of the legal analysis, the author endeavoured to determine compliance level between Croatian framework for local self- government and European regulation and standards.

European Union, Council of Europe, good local governance, principles, standards, structural reforms, functional reforms, europeanization, downward causality, polity, policy, politics, public management reform, Croatia

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