Changes

{{ANENavegacionCapitulo (monografía COVID-19)|estructura temática=Estructura temática|seccion=[[Social, economic and environmental effects|Social, economic and environmental effects]]|capitulo=Internal territorial governance}}

Spain is a liberal democratic country with a very high level of political decentralisation. This decentralisation finds expression both in higher levels –Spain joined the European Union on 12 June 1985– and internally in lower levels –Spain is a composite state, made up of the national administration, the regions and the local authorities since 1992, when the process of political decentralisation was completed–. It is a model in which institutional mechanisms must be put in place in order to make effective the combination of self-government and shared government, which are the two pillars on which this agreement or foedus is based. These mechanisms shall smooth the way for two basic principles of good territorial governance, i.e. coordination and cooperation between the different levels of administration. However, the balance that may be drawn to date shows that significant progress has been made in the area of self-government, yet only little in the area of shared government. Although Spain is one of the most decentralised states in the European Union, there is a lack of internal territorial governance.