Ensuring transparency and openness in the activities of local government bodies of Spain and Portugal

Abstract

Local self-government can be effective only if certain general regulatory requirements are observed that meet democratic and humanistic ideals. One of such principles is transparency, openness, transparency. They provide for complete openness of the activities of local government bodies and officials, coverage of their work in the media and informing the population about the status of resolving local issues.
Further national reforms in the field of local self-government, including, should also concern improving transparency in the activities of local self-government. The domestic European integration movement will accordingly determine the relevant processes. And in this part it is important to pay, in particular, scientific attention to studying the experience of the countries of the European Union.
This article is devoted to the legal principles of compliance with the principles of transparency and openness in the activities of local and regional self-government bodies of Spain and Portugal. These European countries are among the least studied in domestic science of municipal law, moreover, in terms of studying individual aspects of the functioning of municipal authorities. Therefore, the corresponding relevance is obvious. The work emphasizes the conditions under which ideas began to form in the countries of the Iberian Peninsula regarding increasing transparency in the activities of local governments. Special attention is paid to transparency indices that have been developed and used in the activities of municipal and regional authorities in Spain and Portugal.
A detailed analysis of the municipalities of the Iberian Peninsula confirmed the presence of “sensitive zones” of transparency. This concerns areas such as “public procurement” and “urban planning”, where municipalities in both countries show lower indicators compared to other areas. These are complex areas where many local interests are concentrated and where cases of inefficient management and corruption are more common. The dynamics of municipal transparency are influenced by a set of legal, institutional, political and socio-economic factors that have developed over time.