Regionalizarea administrativă ca instrument pentru realizarea principiului bunei administrări

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to examine how administrative regionalisation could contribute to the implementation of the principle of good administration, understood both as a requirement concerning the organisation of public administration and as the citizen's right to an impartial, efficient and transparent administration, capable of taking decisions within a reasonable time. We argue that regionalisation does not, in itself, constitute a guarantee of good administration, but rather an organisational prerequisite for it. It can become an effective instrument of good administration only if accompanied by a clear allocation of competences, resources commensurate with the responsibilities transferred, and effective mechanisms of oversight, participation and democratic accountability. The current organisation of Romania's development regions, which lack both resources of their own and elected bodies, reveals a paradox: the state bears part of the costs associated with an additional administrative level without benefiting from the main advantages of regionalisation. Invoking efficiency in political discourse is not sufficient to bring about reform as long as constitutional, historical and identity-related factors continue to hinder it. For this reason, good administration should be regarded not merely as a stated objective of regionalisation, but also as a criterion for its legitimacy and evaluation.