DECENTRALIZATION AND TERRITORIAL REFORM IN ROMANIA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The paper analyses two important themes in Romanian society of the recent years, the decentralization process and the territorial reform. Especially the last one was seen sometimes as a heal-all remedy in a number of countries, either with consolidated democracy (the Scandinavian countries, for instance), but also for the states in transition from the Eastern part of Europe (for e.g. Greece accomplished a full territorial reform in recent years and a lot of other countries in the region, including Romania, debate such a possible reform). Using a comparative approach, the paper focuses on the reforms made in other countries, their impact on local communities and on the institutional performance improvement. The paper analyzes the process of decentralization and territorial reform on two levels: first, it deals with what the two mentioned processes mean, trying to eliminate some common confusions. Sociological studies also show that the level of trust is higher as relates to local authorities. This is an opportunity for decentralization and transfers of competencies at the local level as a tool for more responsive, competitive and transparent decision-making process. But the unanswered question remains whether they are to become that way, our opinion being that it is not enough to change the legal framework. Secondly, the article presents the pros and cons arguments, the implications of the two processes on the sustainable development of the local communities in Romania, taking into account the differences between rural and urban area. Using different sets of data, the main argument used by the supporters of the reforms is analysed, according to which the two processes will lead to a higher degree of both administrative and economic performance. The conclusion of the analysis being that, even if it is important, it is not enough to have more populated communities in order to achieve economic and administrative performance.