Foreword 3

Acknowledgements 5

Executive summary 9

1 Why engage in inter-municipal co-operation: drivers, benefits and challenges 11

1.1. Introduction 12

1.2. Policy options to address municipal capacity and scale challenges 12

1.3. Inter-municipal co-operation: a pragmatic and flexible option to respond to both shrinking and growing areas 20

1.4. Inter-municipal co-operation is a widespread tool in OECD countries, taking different forms according to countries’ traditions and local needs 26

1.5. The benefits and challenges of inter-municipal co-operation 34

References 43

Notes 50

2 How to implement effective inter-municipal co-operation: setting the right policy frameworks 51

2.1. Introduction 52

2.2. Enabling conditions for inter-municipal co-operation 53

2.3. Setting an enabling legal framework 58

2.4. Setting the appropriate institutional framework 64

2.5. Setting a solid fiscal framework 81

References 96

3 Country Snapshots of inter-municipal co-operation frameworks in OECD countries and selected accession countries 101

Introduction 102

Australia 102

Austria 103

Belgium 104

Brazil 104

Bulgaria 105

Canada 106

Chile 107

Colombia 108

Costa Rica 109

Croatia 110

Czechia 111

Denmark 112

Estonia 113

Finland 114

France 115

Germany 116

Greece 117

Hungary 118

Iceland 119

Ireland 120

Israel 121

Italy 122

Japan 123

Korea 124

Latvia 125

Lithuania 126

Luxembourg 127

Mexico 127

Netherlands 129

New Zealand 130

Norway 130

Peru 132

Poland 132

Portugal 134

Romania 135

Slovak Republic 136

Slovenia 137

Spain 138

Sweden 139

Switzerland 140

Türkiye 141

United Kingdom 142

United States 144

References 145