Project R-7964

The Janus face of intermunicipal cooperation: caught between public and private between government and undertaking (Research)

The project studies a longlasting but regularly reappearing and underresearched conflict related to intermunicipal cooperation. It will focus on the changing and evolving nature of intermunicipal cooperations. Is it public, is is private, is it a government, is it an undertaking, is it something inbetween? It will also study the role of (and the impact of) (changing) national and European law. How is this affecting their tasks, their legal form, their role and what can we learn from other EU-member states? An answer to these legal queries is an important step towards a more coherent legal framework for intermunicipal cooperations. A legal framework where a more sustainable balance between the governmental tasks and the activities of an undertaking can be found, would be important for Belgian municpalities and arguably, for the municipalities within the whole EU. The research questions will be studied from a national and European comparative legal perspective. Legal desk research shall be the starting point. Internal comparative research shall be used in order to clarify the internal differences between the regions in Belgium. Furthermore, during research stays, the legal shapes of intermunicipal cooperations in three other EU countries (France, Italy and Germany) will be studied as those countries possess different approaches. Different frameworks will be useful to understand the distinct approaches and choices, and may help to overcome existing problems.

01 October 2017 - 30 September 2021