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Framework Law No. 339 Of 12 July 2004 On Decentralisation

Original Language Title:  LEGE-CADRU nr. 339 din 12 iulie 2004 privind descentralizarea

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Framework law no. 339 339 of 12 July 2004 on decentralisation
ISSUER PARLIAMENT
Published in OFFICIAL MONITOR no. 668 668 of 26 July 2004



The Romanian Parliament adopts this law + Chapter I General principles + Article 1 This law regulates the fundamental principles and general rules, as well as the institutional framework for conducting the process of administrative and financial decentralization in Romania. + Article 2 Within the meaning of this law, decentralization represents the process of transfer of authority and administrative and financial responsibility from central to local level. + Article 3 The decentralization process takes place for the benefit of the citizen by strengthening the power and role of the local public administration for the purpose of sustainable economic and social development of administrative-territorial units. + Article 4 The principles on which the decentralization process takes place in Romania are as follows: a) the principle of subsidiarity; b) equality of citizens before the local public administration authorities; c) guarantee the quality of public services offered to citizens by public administration authorities, independently of their place of residence; d) stimulating competition as a means of increasing the efficiency of public services; e) the exercise of powers by local public administration authorities located on the administrative level closest to the citizen; f) ensuring a balance between administrative decentralization and financial decentralization at the level of each administrative-territorial unit; g) transparency of decision-making based on citizens ' access to public information and their participation in decision making; h) ensuring financial decentralization based on transparent rules on the calculation of financial resources allocated to administrative-territorial units. + Article 5 The administrative-territorial units are administered autonomously by the local councils, the county councils or the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, which have deliberative authority, and by the presidents of the county councils and mayors, who have executive authority for the exercise of their powers. + Article 6 (1) Local public administration authorities shall enjoy the right to experiment. (2) In exercising the right to experiment local public administration authorities may organize, for a determined period, pilot centers for the implementation of decisions on decentralization of certain competences at the central level at the local level, before their generalization at national level through the decentralisation law on local responsibilities. + Article 7 In relations between the central and local public administration authorities, as well as between the local public administration authorities there are no subordination reports, according to the law. + Article 8 Citizens with the right to vote, inhabitants of an administrative-territorial unit, may request, under the conditions provided by law, the registration on the agenda of the meeting of the local council, the county council or the General Council of the Municipality Bucharest of a problem that falls within its competence. + Article 9 At the initiative of the local public administration authorities, for issues of particular interest from administrative-territorial units, residents can be consulted, by local referendum, under the law. + Chapter II Allocation of powers to local public administration authorities + Section 1 Communes and cities + Article 10 (1) The local council has the initiative and decides, under the law, in matters of local interest. (2) The local council exercises the powers provided by law. (3) These powers will be supplemented by the decentralisation law on local responsibilities. + Article 11 (1) The mayor is the head of local public administration and performs a function of public authority. (2) The mayor represents the commune or the city in relations with other public authorities, with Romanian or foreign natural or legal persons, as well as in justice. (3) The mayor ensures compliance with normative acts at local level. (4) Cases in which the mayor needs a special mandate will be established by law. + Article 12 The mayor applies the decisions of the local council and performs his duties according to the law, solving operatively the current problems of the collective that elected him. + Article 13 (1) The mayor shall ensure the public order and the safety of the inhabitants, through the police, gendarmerie, firefighters and civil protection units, who are required to respond to his requests. (2) The mayor directs, supervises and controls the activity of the Community Police, under the law. + Section 2 Counties + Article 14 (1) The county council has the initiative and decides, under the law, in matters of county interest. (2) The county council exercises the powers provided by law. (3) These powers will be supplemented by the decentralisation law on local responsibilities. + Article 15 The president of the county council ensures the fulfillment of the decisions of the county council and performs the duties established by law. + Section 3 Bucharest Municipality + Article 16 (1) The General Council of Bucharest and the local councils of the sectors of Bucharest have the initiative and decide on the issues of interest for the city of Bucharest, respectively for its sectors, exercising in this regard the powers established by law. (2) The general mayor of Bucharest shall ensure the fulfilment of the decisions of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest and fulfill the duties established by law. (3) The mayors of the sectors of Bucharest municipality ensure the fulfilment of the decisions of the local sector councils and carry out the duties established by the law. + Chapter III Cooperation between local public administration authorities + Article 17 (1) The authorities of the local public administration at the level of the communes, towns and counties may freely decide to establish cooperation bodies between administrative-territorial units and to entrust them with a part of their competences. (2) In the case of the association of several local public administration authorities, one of them may exercise a coordinating role in relation to the common interests, under the terms of the agreement that intervened between them and the legal provisions. The legal conditions for the realization of these associations will be established by the law on cooperation between local public administration authorities. + Article 18 The communes, cities and counties can engage decentralized cooperation actions within their international relations, in compliance with the endorsement procedures from the relevant central authorities. + Chapter IV Running the decentralisation process + Article 19 The rules on the basis of which the decentralization process takes place in Romania are: a) decentralization of competences at the central level at the local level is phased; the stages of the decentralization process are provided in the updated Strategy of the Romanian Government to accelerate the reform in public administration; b) the creation of specific technical structures for the realization and monitoring of each stage within the decentralization process, according to art. 20 20; c) the establishment of measures at each stage of the decentralization process only after the analysis of the results of the previous The analyses and results are discussed publicly at the level of local public administration authorities and their associative structures, involved in the decentralization process; d) conduct of pilot phases for the implementation of decisions on decentralisation of certain central-level competences at the local level, before their generalisation at national level; e) monitoring the results of each measure taken in the decentralization process, based on a system of performance indicators developed by the structures provided in lett. b) and approved by Government decision. + Article 20 For the realization and monitoring of the decentralization process, specific technical structures are established at ministerial, inter-ministerial, county and inter-county level: a) Interministerial technical committee, headed by the Minister of Administration and Interior as coordinator of the public administration reform, technically assisted by the Central Unit for Public Administration Reform, which ensure coordination and management of the decentralisation process; b) the working groups for the decentralization of competences, constituted at the level of each ministry and of the other authorities of the central public administration by order of the minister or their leader; c) the county technical committee for decentralization, constituted at the level of each county, which will carry out impact analyses and proposals on the decentralization of certain competences; the county technical committees for decentralization participate in direct negotiations on the transfer of competences and responsibilities from central to local level; d) the county technical committees for decentralization can be constituted in inter-county committees that meet whenever necessary, at their express request, if there is a common problem at the level of several counties. + Article 21 The functioning and the tasks of the structures provided in art. 20 will be determined by Government decision, within 60 days from the entry into force of this law. + Article 22 The government organizes in the last semester of each year a forum on decentralization, together with the associative structures of local authorities. + Article 23 The Government shall submit a report each year on the implementation of decentralisation measures. + Chapter V Financial provisions + Article 24 The local public administration authorities benefit from financial resources available to them freely for the exercise of their competences according to the law. + Article 25 Local taxes and fees are established by local councils, county councils, the General Council of Bucharest Municipality, as the case may be, within the limits and under the law. + Article 26 The incomes of the budgets of the administrative-territorial units are, according to the law, a) own income; b) amounts broken down from some state budget revenues; c) subsidies received from the state budget or other budgets; d) other income; e) donations and sponsorships. + Article 27 Budgetary expenditure shall be entered and approved in the budget by categories of expenditure grouped by economic nature and their destination. + Article 28 Budget revenue and expenditure shall be entered in a single document to ensure the efficient use and monitoring of local public funds. + Article 29 The own income and other incomes of the local public administration authorities represent, for each level of local public administration, a determining part of the revenues of the general budget of the administrative-territorial units, in the law. + Article 30 Any transfer of powers between the State and the local authorities shall be accompanied by the provision of resources equivalent to those previously intended for the exercise of + Article 31 (1) Financial discentralisation operates on the basis of financial balancing mechanisms to ensure equality between local authorities of the same level. (2) The amounts broken down from some state budget revenues for balancing local budgets shall be distributed by county, according to the criteria approved by law. + Chapter VI Final provisions + Article 32 This law shall enter into force 30 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. This law was adopted by the Romanian Parliament, in compliance with the provisions of art. 75 75 and art. 76 76 para. (1) of the Romanian Constitution, republished. CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES PRESIDENT VALER DORNEANU SENATE PRESIDENT NICOLAE VACAROIU Bucharest, July 12, 2004. No. 339. _______________