What changes are foreseen with the new local government legal provisions in Kosovo?

Today, GAP Institute published the report "What changes are foreseen with the new local government legal provisions in Kosovo?“ Through this report, GAP Institute has analyzed the proposed legal changes in the field of local government and the benefits that the municipalities will have. In this report, three draft laws have been analyzed: the Draft Law on supplementing and amending the law on local self-government, the Draft Law on local government finances, and the Draft Law on the performance management and the performance-based grant scheme.

Until the end of July 2022, only the Draft Law on the performance management of municipalities and the performance-based grant scheme has received full approval in the Assembly of Kosovo. The draft law on local self-government has passed the first reading in the Assembly, while the draft law on local government finances has not yet been approved by the Government either, although respective public consultation procedures were completed in September 2021.

With the proposed changes in the Law on Local Government Finances, in addition to own revenues, the general grant, the one for education and health, the municipalities will also have three new grants, the capital projects grant, the social services grant and the extraordinary grant. In succession, the various ministries have planned and allocated budgets for municipalities, where inequality has been created in the allocation of the budget between municipalities, as shown by the findings of the GAP Institute reports. In the first year of implementation, the grant for capital projects will be allocated 20% of the total grant value (45 million euros), in the second year 30% (over 73 million euros) and in the third year no less than 40% (104 million euros).

In addition to these grants, the Municipal Performance Grant, whose value will be 2.5% of the total grant value, is provided for in the Project Law on Municipal Performance Management and the performance-based grant scheme.

If the additions according to the Draft Law on local self-government are approved, major changes are foreseen in terms of the role of the deputy mayors of municipalities, the administrative review of acts, procedures for citizens to initiate decisions or municipal regulations, as well as a point has been expanded in the article which indicates that in in which cases the municipal assembly goes to extraordinary elections.

You can find the full report HERE.