Fiscal decentralisation is a fundamental component for decentralized governance systems. Our studies show that, unfortunately, in many places in the South-East Europe (SEE) region, local governments are not able to effectively respond to such need and demands, as they are not equipped with adequate resources that correspond to their service responsibilities and as a result, local challenges to improve local services are exacerbated by incomplete, insufficient or slow fiscal decentralisation reforms.

Additionally, to be able to make informed decisions, develop good public policies and public services and efficiently manage scarce resources, policymakers at all levels of government have to rely on high quality data and information. But all-around South-East Europe such data is either missing or is difficult to access. To bridge this gap, NALAS facilitates the access to and utilisation of timely, accurate, reliable and comparable data and information on local government finance ins SEE.

NALAS supports the advocacy efforts of its member Local Government Associations for enhanced fiscal decentralisation reforms via its dedicated Fiscal Decentralisation Task Force bringing together local government finance experts and practitioners from each member in the region. The Task Force prepares on a regular basis a Report on Fiscal Decentralisation Indicators in SEE, providing policymakers, experts, practitioners and researches up to date and comparable local finance data and information. The Task Force also operates the NALAS Decentralisation Observatory for South-East Europe, a platform that facilitates regional comparisons of data and policies, the visualisation of complex data in a user-friendly manner and serves as a unique knowledge hub on local government finance in SEE.

Contact person:
Elton Stafa, stafa@nalas.eu