Controlling Nordic Municipalities

European Public Law is an English language journal edited at the Institute of European Public Law at the Law School, Hull University. A forum for the discussion of issues in the development of public law, the journal traces the public law of the Member States as it is shaped by the law of the European Union as well as by the Council of Europe’s European Convention on Human Rights.

European Public Law provides a detailed analysis of constitutional and administrative law at a crucial stage of European integration and legal development. In its articles, authorities in the field investigate the extent to which the separate systems of public law in each Member State are, notwithstanding their distinct historical and cultural backgrounds, developing a European Public Law in tandem with the law of the European Union Treaty. The journal also examines the public law systems of new Member States.

Without neglecting the more traditional concerns of constitutional and administrative law, the journal explores the emerging constitution of the European Union and the interplay between law and politics. It is concerned with the identification, examination and control of public power as public and private become ever more intertwined. Public law is given a wide interpretation, including the structure of government, judicial review, the conduct of regulatory bodies, redress of grievance through ombudsmen and administrative bodies, protection of human rights and protection against discrimination, openness and transparency, fiscal and monetary policy, and the role of regulation in the contemporary state and the European Union.

In short, the journal embraces the operation and control of government and government agencies, regulation of economic and commercial affairs and relationships between the state and individuals.This study has partially been financed by The Swedish Cultural Foundation of Finland. The aim of this article is to show how local governments in the Nordic countries are controlled by the state and the citizens. These countries have a strong local self-government and all of them are welfare states highly ranked in international comparisons. The main research question is what kind of differences and similarities there are in the legal control mechanisms and competences between the states. How do the various control methods fit in the European Convention of Local Self-Government? In comparative law, Nordic countries are often said to form a family of their own; but it is also possible to speak about the Eastern and Western models. This distinction can be seen in this article. The similarities between Norway and Denmark make it possible to speak about grouping (the Western group) and the similarities between Finland and Sweden justify speaking about another group (the Eastern group).