Contemporary Social and Economic Coordinates of the Disadvantaged Areas of Baia Mare, Borşa-Vişeu, and Rodna

Our paper researches the economic and social causes which turned Baia Mare, Borşa-Vişeu, and Rodna into disadvantaged zones, the initial and the extant legislation, the decision-making factors, the desiderata of the national and regional policy, and their consequences. This paper claims to identify the mechanism of a key phenomenon that has led to the appearance of several economic and, implicitly, social problems specific to the disadvantaged areas (the reform of the mining sector). It also claims to answer a very frequent question in the last 15 years: “What are the development desiderata and alternatives?” for the disadvantaged areas of northern Romania from the North-Western Development Region: Baia Mare, Vişeu-Borşa, and Rodna. The economy of these areas is characterized by the dominance of the industrial activities and the underdevelopment of the service sector. This is why the loss of jobs in industry has been significant at the level of the local communities and has led to chronic economic and social imbalance (e.g. degraded economic development, long-term unemployment, the deterioration of the living standards). As we have pointed out in a previous study (Ilovan, 2005c), the economic rehabilitation of these disadvantaged mining zones has been possible only by granting them the status of “disadvantaged area”. At present, the “assisted zones” appear as an alternative to the disadvantaged areas where the fiscal facilities have disappeared. This leads to a status of normal functionality, observing the laws of competition. This way the implementation of several programmes with the involvement of local communities will eliminate the above-mentioned flaws and will solve the extant economic and social problems of these areas