Politics of Romania - Regional Institutions

Regional Institutions

For territorial and administrative purposes, Romania is divided into 41 counties (judeţe, singular judeţ) and the city of Bucharest. Each county is governed by an elected county council. Local councils and elected mayors are the public administration authorities in villages and towns. The county council is the public administration authority that coordinates the activities of all village and town councils in a county.

The central government appoints a prefect for each county and the Bucharest municipality. The prefect is the representative of the government at the local level and directs any public services of the ministries and other central agencies at the county level. A prefect may block the action of a local authority if he deems it unlawful or unconstitutional. The matter is then decided by an administrative court.

Under new legislation in force since January 1999, local councils have control over spending of their allocations from the central government budget as well as authority to raise additional revenue locally. Central-government-appointed prefects formerly had significant authority over the budget; this is now limited to a review of expenditures to ascertain their constitutionality.