Administrative reforms in the 1990s 1994 reforms under the socialist
Papandreou government turned the largely dysfunctional
prefectures into Prefectural Self-Government entities (PSGs) with prefects and prefectural councils both being popularly elected. In return, the thirteen
administrative regions of Greece, which had already been created in 1987, but in the absence of a working budget remained unable to fulfill even their limited responsibilities, now assumed the prefectures' competences in regard to
tax collection,
European structural funding and
treasury. Part of the subsequent
Kapodistrias plan, Law 2539/1997 sharply reduced the number of
municipalities and communities from 5.823 to 1.033, after the increasing
urbanization had left small communities literally dying out. With a median of just 4,661.5 inhabitants, a large number of small municipalities and rural communities however remained independent. This included 88 communities with a population of less than 1000, down to
Gramos with just 28 inhabitants. With the territorial reforms of the 1990s, Greece has been cited as the first southern European country to follow a coercive top-down approach for territorial reforms, an approach rather typical for northern European countries. Though strengthened by the 1990s reforms, the prefectural second-tier level however did not meet expectations. Largely subverted by an uncoordinated but convergent anti-reform opposition, the reformed prefectures lost a number of important competences following court decisions. The numerous controversies largely undermined public trust in the prefectural level.
The failed Kapodistrias II After the electoral victory of the liberal-conservative
New Democracy party in
2004, the
Karamanlis government had initially been reluctant to pursue further administrative reforms, as it had opposed the reforms of the 1990s. In a late implementation of a provision that was already part of the Kapodistrias plan, the 147
provinces, as subunits of the 51 prefectures, were abolished in 2007. Only after the
2007 reelection did the Karamanlis government decide that further reforms were necessary to bring the territorial structure in line with the European Union's
Lisbon Strategy and the requirements of the Fourth Programming Period (2007–2013). Putting administrative efficiency first, the top-down reform plan was criticized as subordinating questions of
legitimacy and
participation. Rather than being opposed by the parliamentary opposition, the plan faced obstruction by the more conservative camp within the governing party and ultimately failed. In a country which has been widely regarded as the most
centralist country of the European Union, with many smaller municipalities, especially rural communities being "extremely understaffed and deprived of any possibility to fulfil their tasks," an emphasis was put on strengthening the remaining authorities in terms of autonomy of
self-governance, public transparency and overall accessibility to citizens. The law was adopted in May 2010 and was implemented following the
November 2010 local elections comprising the constituting regional elections, which replaced provincial elections as they were held before in
2002 and
2006. ==Reforms as part of the Kallikratis plan==