ABSTRACT
As elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, regionalization processes in Romania have taken place within the context of political and economic transition and integration into the European Union. Emerging from a highly centralized state-socialist regime, Romania’s process of societal modernization and institutional change has been a complex one. In fact, the development of rules and behaviours that might promote stronger local and regional governance has been progressing in a glacial manner. Traditional ‘centralist’ or ‘autocratic’ behaviours persist alongside new democratic procedures. In this process of transformation, as has been amply documented by Ilona Kovács Pálné (this volume) for the case of Hungary, the role of the EU is of central importance. Much of the impetus for ‘region-building’ has, in fact, come from Brussels. Both on the grounds of more efficient regional development policies and the promotion of greater governance capacities below the level of national government, the EU has more or less imposed tenets of New Regionalism on Romania. The potential outcome of this experiment, however, is less than clear. In 1998, Romania established new ‘development regions’ (NUTS 2 territorial divisions) in order to satisfy EU requirements but also as a strategy to enhance national structural policies. While the new regions have served to channel EU funds their governance role remains minimal and it is uncertain whether they will assume a greater degree of autonomy – much less develop the socially integrating roles prescribed by new regionalists.
