The meeting in Jesenské in last June. (source: TASR)
Many smaller municipalities in Slovakia struggle to perform certain tasks and duties effectively. There are now plans to solve several of these problems by establishing shared service centres at the local level.
Their creation is also part of Slovakia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, with €11.4 million being allocated for this purpose.
The Association of Towns and Villages of Slovakia (ZMOS) announced in early February that in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, they are working on a call to create such centres in 22 areas in central and eastern Slovakia. Four should be situated in Banská Bystrica Region, 10 in Prešov Region and eight in Košice Region.
“The aim is to support municipalities that search for ways to provide better services to their inhabitants, on the basis of joint provision of certain agendas,” the Interior Ministry’s press department told The Slovak Spectator.
ZMOS representatives added that they are starting pilot projects. The plan is to test and implement the basic elements of integrated public administration in the least developed districts, said Gabriel Mihály, mayor of the village of Jesenské, in central Slovakia, and head of the public administration section at ZMOS Council.
Subsequently, they will be able to provide shared services even to the smallest municipalities in the country, he added.
