Topic 16 · Shared public services

How do small town halls in other countries work together?

The only pillar built from the start around solutions: joint administrative centres, services shared between town halls and small institutions, as they work in other EU countries.

Analyses

4 min · updated 15 October 2026You don't have to disappear to be efficient: two shared-services models from the EUMerging is not the only solution for small localities. Denmark allowed a mandatory partnership instead of a merger, and Estonia built a shared digital infrastructure for thousands of institutions.