Romania mulls decentralization of power

The Romanian government on Thursday approved a draft law of decentralization, in a bid to transfer power, responsibility and resources from central to regional and local authorities. The decentralization will cover some of the most important fields, such as health, agriculture, environment, culture, sports and tourism, according to coordinator of the bill Liviu Dragnea, depute prime minister and also minister of regional development and public administration. For the moment, harbors, beaches, cinemas and theaters will not be included in the decentralization process, neither will police, said Dragnea. According to Dragnea, some 14,000 people in ministries will begin to work in decentralized institutions under local authorities. Decentralization will require a transfer of some 2,000 buildings in state public domain to local public units. A week ago, Finance Minister Daniel Chitoiu said that some 10 percent of the central administration positions will be abolished in the decentralization process. For a certain time, decentralization has been at the focus of Romania's policy. The government believes that the country has become overly centralized in the past few years, so some of the prerogatives of the government must be transferred to local regions, which would lead to lower administrative costs and higher efficiency. Analysts say that Romania must address the big gap between this country and Europe, bring public services and decisions closer to citizens and use existing resources more judiciously.