Municipalities in the System of Territorial Organization of Public Authority in the European Countries: Prospects for Ukraine

The article focuses on the problems of European integration of Ukraine through the lens of implementing municipalities at the lowest (basic) level of territorial organization of local self-government. For this purpose, the article analyzes the experience of organization and functioning of municipalities in European countries. The study employs a comprehensive methodology, including formal-legal, dialectical, and prognostic methods, as well as methods of comparative analysis and synthesis. The study reveals the three-component structure of a municipality, which consists of territory within defined boundaries, the population of this territory, and governing bodies. The authors emphasize the importance of comprehensive understanding of municipality, warning against reducing it merely to the territorial aspect, as such approach does not solve the problems of low public activity and ineffective governance. The paper analyzes the European model of local self-government, where the fundamental principle is the recognition of local communities or administrative-territorial units as bearers of legal rights and obligations, rather than local councils or their executive bodies. The study questions the expediency of maintaining the institution of territorial community in current Ukrainian legislation, arguing this with insufficient integration of local self-government bodies with the territorial community and territory. It is concluded that in Ukraine, communal property is formed taking into account the corporate model (with population - territorial community - defined as the owner). Significant inconsistencies between the elements of the corporate model of local self-government and peculiarities of Ukraine's legal system have been identified, indicating necessary directions for reform in implementing municipalities. It is proposed to establish the triune structure of municipality, defining the interdependence between territory, population, and the system of local self-government bodies. This approach will facilitate effective implementation of European standards in the organization of municipal government in Ukraine.