Romania could cut its 41 counties down to 15 under a major administrative reform being prepared by the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), although no final number has been decided and the plan remains a working scenario rather than an adopted policy. PSD vice-president Dragoș Benea, who coordinates the working group drawing up the reform, raised the idea in an interview with G4Media on Tuesday, using the country’s 15 courts of appeal as the model for a redrawn map.

Benea was careful to stress that the 15-county figure is only a starting point for discussion. He told G4Media that the reform, in this version, would mean redrawing the current administrative borders so that several counties are brought together into larger territorial units. The party has not yet set a final number of counties, and PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu has said the proposal has not yet been formally discussed inside the party.

Romania’s present map dates from 1968, and Benea argues that borders drawn for the economy of that era no longer match today’s realities. The aim, he said, is to create stronger communities and to improve the country’s absorption of European Union funds, at a time when EU cohesion money for the 2028–2034 budget period will face stiffer competition from defence and innovation spending.

What the 15-county model would look like

Under the model, the new administrative units would be built around the seats of the 15 courts of appeal, whose jurisdictions already cover all 41 counties and Bucharest under Law No. 304/2022 on the organisation of the judiciary. Counties such as Bihor, Timiș, Dolj, Constanța, Galați, Prahova, Alba, Mureș, Bacău, Iași, Suceava and Cluj would be likely to keep their status as regional administrative centres.

Smaller counties would disappear as separate units and be merged into their neighbours. Satu Mare could be absorbed into a region centred on Oradea, while Arad and Caraș-Severin could join Timișoara. In the south-west, Dolj would become the hub for a region also taking in Olt, Gorj and Mehedinți, and Tulcea would be integrated into Constanța. Other counties named in the discussion as likely to merge include Dâmbovița, Buzău, Vaslui, Botoșani and Neamț.

Television channel Antena 3 CNN published a map on 11 November showing Romania divided into 15 units, one for each court of appeal, in which Vâlcea county appeared inside a unit called Argeș. That map is a television illustration of the model, not an official PSD or government document, and Benea himself has refused to commit to a figure, saying the final number could be 15, 18, 20, 22 or 12.

Two reforms running in parallel

The county plan sits alongside a separate, more advanced reform of communes. The Development Ministry, under the so-called “Stoica reform”, is preparing voluntary mergers of communes with fewer than 1,500 residents, with a first draft of that text due to be published next week. The PSD’s own “Benea reform” goes further, proposing forced mergers of communes with fewer than 3,000 residents and of towns with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants.

Mergers would be judged against a sustainability matrix of six apolitical criteria, including population, financial soundness and how efficiently local revenues are collected. PSD vice-president Gabriel Zetea told Digi24 that an analysis to set the merger criteria, to be decided after local referendums, could be completed within a month or two with the help of artificial intelligence. Benea has estimated that between 15,000 and 18,000 local elected officials — mayors, deputy mayors and local councillors — could disappear after 2028 if the reform goes ahead, although he has also said localities will not lose their identity and will not be abolished.

President Dan backs part of the plan

President Nicușor Dan has said Romania’s administrative division is the one from 1968 and no longer suits today’s economy. He expressed support for merging small, non-functioning communes, but questioned whether a complete territorial redraw could realistically be completed before the next local elections, given the complexity of the task.

What happens next

The first stage, voluntary mergers of small communes, is expected to run until March, and Benea has said the reorganisation document should be finalised in March 2027. The full reform, including mandatory mergers, is expected to be passed through the government assuming responsibility for it in Parliament. Until then, the 41-county map stays in place, and the 15-county version remains what Benea himself calls it: a scenario, not a decision.

Sources: Newsy Today; Archynewsy.