CONDITIONS FOR ESTABLISHING ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL UNITS - MUNICIPALITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

Abstract

The study aims to show the deficits in the legislation regarding the conditions for establishing municipalities as administrative-territorial units. An experimental methodology for assessing current regulatory conditions for establishing a new municipality in Bulgaria has been proposed, and the results from applying it have been presented. Conclusions were made per group of municipalities. A comparison was drawn between the constitutionally established role of municipalities as the main Administrative Territorial Units, in which local self-government is exercised, and the conditions for establishing a municipality, defined by the Law on the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of Bulgaria. Based on the results of the study, we have proposed to improve the understanding of the need for real forms in the social and economic sphere, instead of populist promises for a new administrative-territorial division of the country and the future positive effects determined by it.

Keywords

• a methodology for evaluation
• local self-government
• reforms in the social and economic sphere