Slovak Republic's decentralisation context

The Slovak Republic inherited a heavily centralised government at independence in 1993 but has steadily introduced elements of decentralisation since 2001. Constitutional reform in 2001 introduced three layers of government (central, regional, and municipal), Parliament extended new responsibilities to subnational governments in 2002, and in the same year the government approved a three-year decentralisation plan. Major fiscal decentralisation reforms took hold in 2005. Although decentralisation has been rapid and strong in many ways, the Slovak Republic is among the less decentralised OECD countries in terms of sub-national expenditures, tax revenue, and debt.