As their competencies have been substantially increased, the municipalities and regions must now implement the necessary know-how and infrastructure to be able to fulfill their new tasks.

In the past, many European regions were not able to make use of existing European benefits (such as grants and subsidies funded by the European Union) because the application process was too complicated.

For a number of years efforts have been made across Europe, not only on a legislative but also on a constitutional level, to increasingly take into account issues related to regional and municipal self-government – even in those states which initially did not want to enshrine the principle of decentralization in their constitution. Over the past six years, these constitutional amendments have been adopted in approximately 30 states and provinces.