Norway Unitary state

Reforms

A reform introducing a new sharing of competences between the two levels of local and regional authorities went into effect in 2010.

A reform modifying the territorial organisation of Norway went into effect on 1 January 2010. Although the elimination of counties had at one point been discussed, the three levels of government (consisting of the central state, 19 counties and 428 municipalities) were kept and this structure has now been reinforced through a new sharing of competences.

This new division lends more weight to the municipalities in the areas of health and social affairs. Thus, this reform should lead to greater decentralisation by strengthening local democracy and by guaranteeing the autonomy of the municipalities and counties.

Counties now have more substantial resources at their disposal which consequently increases their financial autonomy. The budgets of municipalities also grew in proportion to their newly assigned competences.

For that matter, Norwegian local and regional authorities do not appear to be facing severe budget restrictions due to the crisis.

Local self-government in Norway:

Respect for the principles of local self-government and local democracy seems to have been a priority for the government when setting out this territorial reform. Furthermore, the national association of local and regional authorities was very closely involved in this process of legislative changes.

KEY REFORMS

• 1 January 2010: reforms amending Norway’s system of local government enter into force.
• The three levels of government are retained (central level, counties and municipalities).
• Reinforced architecture with new power-sharing arrangements:
  • Increased powers for municipalities (new powers on health and social affairs)
  • Greater decentralisation, strengthening local democracy and guaranteeing municipal and county self-government
  • New financial resources for counties