THE PROCESS OF DECENTRALIZATION IN ROMANIA

Decentralization does not constitute an end in itself, but a way to deliver more effective public services, a process which tends to achieve a greater degree of administrative and financial independence of the local communities. The local authorities know best the needs and problems faced by the local communities, certainly much better than the central administrative authorities could, are therefore they are in a position that allows them to identify the most appropriate means to satisfy or solve them. The process of decentralization should therefore pursue as an ultimate goal the benefit of the citizen by strengthening the power and role of local public administration in order to ensure the economic and social development of the administrative-territorial units. The transfer of the decision power in the context of decentralization signifies the transfer of the power to decide in the matters of the local community, the power to choose between a number of possible solutions to an existing problem the one considered to be most appropriate, including the power to regulate in certain areas. The transfer of the decisional power must be related to the financial power, for without the insurance of the financial resources in the first place, the decisional responsibility is nothing more then an empty form of decentraization that does not guarantee purposefulness.