Decentralisation and Regionalisation in Portugal
What Reform Scenarios?
This report has been prepared by the OECD upon request by the Portuguese Independent Commission for Decentralisation. Decentralisation and regionalisation reforms have recently emerged on the Portugal’s policy agenda, with two main objectives: assigning more tasks to municipalities and strengthening regional level governance. The report presents a diagnosis of Portugal multi-level governance in international perspectives and highlights the strengths and challenges of the system. It then presents three potential policy paths of regional reform for Portugal. As the options are not mutually exclusive, they could work as complements to each other. The report analyses the conditions under which the reforms may deliver more economic efficiency and regional equity.
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to present international and OECD trends on both decentralisation and regionalisation, and to discuss the expected effects of these reforms and the conditions under which they may deliver more economic efficiency and regional equity. The study is based both on economic research and best policy practices. This analysis and information can be useful to contribute to the current policy debate in Portugal about decentralisation and regionalisation.