The objective of the master`s thesis is to analyse the municipalities of Pomurje, in particular small municipalities and the effectiveness of investments into infrastructure in the 2007-2013 Financial Perspective. Pomurje is divided into 27 municipalities, 19 of which are categorized as smaller municipalities with up to 5000 inhabitants. With the help of financial resources at its disposal, the municipality has to carry out its statutory duties. The main problem for municipalities is the lack of financial resources when it comes to securing the conditions for the construction of suitable infrastructure in a particular municipality. The financing of municipalities from the state budget alone does not provide sufficient resources to fulfil all the needs of inhabitants from a particular municipality. An excellent opportunity for municipalities to use grants or constructing the lacking infrastructure was provided by the 2007-2013 Financial Perspective.
The main goal of this thesis is to take a comprehensive view of the situation in the Pomurje municipalities, with regard in particular to the realisation of projects co-financed by the EU and their implementation in the infrastructural investments of municipalities. The biggest projects co-financed by the EU were implemented jointly and involved several municipalities in Pomurje. By working together on projects, the municipalities managed to effectively use the funds provided in the 2007-2013 Financial Perspective. Furthermore, we have established that the responsibility for those joint projects lay mostly with small municipalities. At the same time, small municipalities in Pomurje were more successful in the drawdown of resources from Structural Funds than larger municipalities. As the recipients of EU support, small municipalities did not need external assistance when applying for calls for tenders and with conducting projects, on the contrary, all small municipalities prepared their applications for call for tenders on their own. By comparing the problems of small municipalities from Estonia and Pomurje, we have established that they did not have identical problems with the implementation of EU projects.
The master`s thesis offers a basis for further research on changes that need to be done in the new Financial Perspective if the municipalities want to successfully apply for calls for tenders and build the lacking infrastructure. This thesis offers in one place all the
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necessary information on all newly built buildings in the Pomurje municipalities, for the past Financial Perspective.
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