Territorial restructuring: amalgamations, secessions and the financial crisis

Abstract

This chapter reviews territorial reforms in Europe implemented in the twenty-first century, noticing that the frequency of cases of municipal amalgamations has increased after 2008. At the same time, the number of municipal secessions was higher before than after 2008. Only in a limited number of cases was the impact of the 2008 crisis on territorial reforms clear and direct. However, the indirect impact might be observed in the changing discourse and set of arguments prompting reform – economies of scale and savings arguments have been much more pronounced in the most recent reforms as compared to those implemented in the first decade of the twenty-first century. But the chapter concludes with the observation that still more research is needed to better understand both the reasons and the actual consequences of territorial reforms.