This thesis explores the impact of inter-municipal cooperation on the administrative capacity of municipalities in utilizing cohesion funds, focusing on municipalities in the Statistical Region Osrednjeslovenska. Slovenian municipalities face challenges in using cohesion funds, mainly due to understaffed municipal administrations and territorial fragmentation. Inter-municipal cooperation is proposed as a way to improve administrative capacity. This study aims to examine how such cooperation helps address these challenges, highlighting its role in enhancing access to European funds and strengthening municipalities’ ability to prepare projects successfully.
The research uses secondary data obtained from various publicly available sources: Open Data Slovenia, Kohesio, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, the Public Procurement Portal, the research project “Analysis of Inter-Municipal Cooperation in Slovenia,” and municipal websites. An administrative capacity index was calculated for each municipality based on four dimensions: personnel, organization, strategic planning, and framework conditions. The relationship between inter-municipal cooperation and administrative capacity was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The study also presents how local self-government in Portugal relates to cohesion fund utilization.
Results show that in the Statistical Region Osrednjeslovenska, municipalities with higher administrative capacity indices prepare more projects, while a greater number of inter-municipal connections is not necessarily associated with higher administrative capacity. The Portuguese example demonstrates that institutionalized forms of inter-municipal cooperation, such as inter-municipal communities, significantly boost municipalities’ administrative capacity in utilizing cohesion funds.
This work contributes to the professional discussion on the role of inter-municipal cooperation in strengthening municipal administrative capacity and more effective implementation of cohesion policy.
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