From decentralization to recentralization in central and eastern Europe

"During the period of membership of the CEEC and after, the state remains the largest player in the process of decentralization, both at local and regional level. Indeed, the process of decentralization has remained unfinished; in the context of the financial crisis, the state began the process of recentralization, reducing the power of public and regional authorities. Our presentation is based on this finding and it will make the case that, with the CEEC, the state remains the most important partner of the European Commission for the development of regional policy in these countries. We will stress that this role has some differences, born of the particularities of each country in the region. Thus, the case of Romania has interesting particularities."