07/15/2026
SCTM initiative to improve the legal framework for the management of spa areas
SCTM initiative to improve the legal framework for the management of spa areas
SCTM launched an initiative to systematize the management of spas. The Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities, after a consultation process with its members, launched an initiative to improve the legal framework regulating spa areas and the use of natural healing factors.
The initiative is the result of analyzes and consultations conducted within the SKGO working bodies with representatives of the cities and municipalities on whose territory the spas are located. In the previous work, the need to review the existing system was recognized, bearing in mind that issues of importance for the functioning of spas are regulated through several laws and the competence of different state authorities.
SKGO therefore proposed to the Ministry of Mining and Energy, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and the Ministry of Tourism and Youth to launch an inter-sectoral dialogue on the improvement and mutual harmonization of regulations in the field of spas, mining and geological research, water and fees for the use of public goods.
At the heart of the initiative is the need to more clearly regulate the role and responsibility of local self-government in the preservation, sustainable use and management of the spa area and natural healing factors on its territory.
In the initiative, it is proposed that in further work, the conditions and procedure for declaring a spa area, defining the natural healing factor in accordance with modern standards, mechanisms for its protection, criteria for granting the right to use these resources, as well as the supervisory role of local self-government and control mechanisms, should be considered.In particular, the need to consider a more active role of cities and municipalities when deciding on the research and use of natural healing factors in the spa area was pointed out.
The goal of the initiative is to establish a clearer and more sustainable spa management system, which will at the same time enable the protection of natural resources, the development of health and tourism potentials, and the more efficient exercise of the competences of local self-government.The initiative is another result of direct consultations of the SKGO Expert Service with cities and municipalities and a joint effort to continuously develop the legal framework and improve the practice of managing spa areas.
Representatives of interested cities and municipalities will be included in the further dialogue, through SKGO.
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