As a result of the rapid and overlapping transformations in the last decade, the strategic and administrative capacity the public sector has been almost fully absorbed with planning and running EU-financed programs and, sometimes, projects run in cooperation with other bilateral donors. Therefore, such programs (and especially PHARE) became the main platforms for policy-making and coordination in Romania, at all levels. For good and for bad the regional and local development plans have relied almost by default on the relatively complex and progressive agendas promoted by PHARE and since 2004-2005, on the process of preparing for Structural Funds. The few skilled people at the local level are so busy responding to application calls and preparing reports on funds spending, that the little strategic capacity which existed in institutions was fully occupied by the process of programming and running EU projects – and even this happened with variable success.