Political decentralisation in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

In this paper we are going to look at different forms of decentralisation - namely political, administrative and fiscal decentralisation. More importance is given to political decentralisation since this leads to self-government. The only acknowledged form of political decentralisation which has taken place within the Maltese Islands has occurred at local council level. For the purposes of this paper we are also going to study the Ministry of Gozo, a state entity with deconcentrated functions at a regional level. Deconcentration is a form of administrative decentralisation. Gozo-Comino has been acknowledged by the political authorities at Maltese and European Union (EU) level as a region suffering from double insularity leading to regional disparity. It has not however been legally recognized as a sub-national governing body even though it carries out more functions than local councils, and has a wider area and population under its jurisdiction.