Independence of territorial self-government units in a federal state  on the example of the Republic of Austria in the constitutional dimension

The assessment of the degree of independence of local self-government units is one of the basic parameters defining the state from the point of view of the territorial system. In federal states such as Austria, the ambitions of federal entities in the field of imperium may cause limitation of independence of local self-government units, which underlines the importance of constitutional guarantees. The constitution of the considered federation establishes the principle of independence, however, when establishing its limits, it clearly indicates that independence is determined not only by (fairly extensive and meticulous) federal regulations, but also, and perhaps even above all, by regulations of federal entities. Thus, the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law does not prejudge the subject matter of this principle and thus the final picture of the decentralization of this state, considered through the prism of local self-government.