Municipalities in Greece continue to fail to collect critical performance data that would allow them to effectively design, monitor and implement their policies according to the 2023 Municipal Effectiveness Index published by the Center for Liberal Studies in collaboration with the Center for International and European Political Economy and Governance (KEDEPOD) of the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the University of Peloponnese.

According to the study, the creation of an online hub for monitoring the performance of Local Self-Government Organizations in the Ministry of the Interior, as provided by the new law 5056/2023, can be important in this direction.

Specifically, according to the main findings of the study, the municipalities that are included in the 10% with the best overall performance per category are the following:

  • Municipalities of Metropolitan Centers: Municipality of Moschatos-Tavros, Municipality of Pylaia-Hortiatis, Municipality of Heraklion Attica, and Municipality of Chaidari.
  • Major Mainland Municipalities: Municipality of Heraklion Crete, Municipality of Thermi, Municipality of Marathon, Municipality of Almopia, Municipality of Trikkaia, Municipality of Elassona, Municipality of Florina, Municipality of Volos, and Municipality of Chania.
  • Middle Epirotian Municipalities: Municipality of Rafina-Pikermio, Municipality of Kameni Vourla, Municipality of Istiaea-Edipsos, Municipality of Parga, Municipality of Farsala, Municipality of Phaistos, Municipality of Pyli, Municipality of Mouzaki, and Municipality of Monemvasia.
  • Small Continental and Small Mountain Municipalities: Municipality of Anogeia, Municipality of Velventos, and Municipality of Agios Vassiliou.
  • Large and Medium Island Municipalities: Municipality of Mykonos, and Municipality of Salamina.
  • Small Island Municipalities: Municipality of Hydra, Municipality of Skyros, and Municipality of Oinousso.

The biggest weakness of the municipalities is found in the measurement and observance of data on sustainability indicators (field in which the availability of data is the least), while their best performance concerns financial management (field in which the availability of data is the greatest).

Financial independence of municipalities from central administration appears to be associated with better performance in the overall score of the Municipal Efficiency Index. This relationship mainly concerns the field of Services, followed by the fields of Civil Protection and Organization and Governance.

The Municipalities of Metropolitan Centers have the highest average score, with a performance of 36.5 out of 100, followed by the Large Mainland Municipalities with a score of 32.8, the Medium Mainland Municipalities with a score of 25.9, the Large and Medium Island Municipalities with a score of 24.3, the Small Mainland and Small Mountain Municipalities with a score of 20.6, while the lowest score is achieved by Small Island Municipalities with 18.3.

Municipalities are unable to collect and process data that measure their performance with the aim of drawing up, monitoring and implementing effective and targeted local government policies. It is indicative that only 10% of the municipalities responded to the study’s questionnaire, a percentage which demonstrates both the small operational capacity of the municipalities and the lack of a culture of evaluation and transparency.

The provisions of the new law 5056/2023 for the creation in the Ministry of the Interior of an online hub for monitoring the performance of Local Government Organizations, it is predicted that they will significantly contribute to the monitoring of local government performance and will facilitate the development and improvement of the Municipal Efficiency Index.

The Legislation Quality Index evaluates all the country’s municipal authorities based on their performance in the fields that constitute their core responsibilities.

The Executive Director of the Center for Liberal Studies, Nikos Rompapas, made the following comment:

“The first principle of management is that you can’t improve something if you don’t measure it. Today, municipalities in Greece continue not to measure their critical performance, which has significant negative effects on the effectiveness of their policies. The new local authority performance monitoring hub at the Ministry of the Interior can make a decisive contribution to this, as long as it is designed and implemented properly. The methodology of the Municipal Efficiency Index published in recent years by the Center for Liberal Studies offers a useful road map in this direction.”