Konsekwencje kryzysu COVID-19 dla finansów jednostek samorządu terytorialnego w krajach UE

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the consequences of the pandemic crisis for the financial situation of the local government subsector in individual European Union countries. Research method – The research is based on comparative analysis of the dynamics and structure of such budget figures as budget revenue (including transfers), expenditure (including COFOG classification), budget balance and debt. The comparisons covered the local government subsector in the 27 countries of the European Union for the years 2019–2021. The source of data for analysis is the Eurostat database. Results – The research indicates that local government finances in the EU countries did not suffer significantly because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, however, was essentially due to the fact that the main source of funding for additional tasks and covering tax revenue shortfalls were transfers from the government subsector. At the same time, there was a change in the structure of local government spending in most EU countries by increasing the share of spending on health care, social protection and economic affairs and decreasing the share of spending on recreation, culture and religion, housing and community amenities and education. Originality/value/implications/recommendations – The originality of the presented approach is due to the comprehensive presentation of the consequences of the pandemic crisis for local government budget parameters for 2020–2021 in all the European Union countries.