Youth Policy in Romania

In Romania, the responsibility for youth policy is divided between the central level authorities and the local authorities. Within the limits of the Youth Law (Legea Tinerilor, Law no. 350/2006), the local authorities are free to develop initiatives, and there is seldom coordination at national level. One of the most important instruments used by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (until 2021), the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities (until 2024), but also by the Ministry of Culture, for the implementation of the youth policy, is the allocation of grants for small projects of youth NGOs. The the Cultural Student Centres, as well as the County Offices for Culture, the Universities and schools have a large degree of autonomy in establishing their activities and calendars for working with young people. The decentralisation of activities ensures the accessibility of youth activities and youth work for a large number of young people from many regions, cities, towns and villages. However, the whole national territory is not covered in the same manner and the level of accessibility to youth activities and youth work varies largely across the country (young people in some cities benefit from a larger number of activities and services compared to other young people). The national coordination is challenging in the absence of strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in the field of youth activities and youth work.

The dedicated institution for youth policy was until December 2021 the Ministry of Youth and Sports, established in 1990. In January 2022 the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities was funded, but it was merged with the Ministry of Labour, into the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity (since December 2024). Some youth policy measures are also under the responsibility of other Ministries, such as the Ministry of Education, or the Ministry of Culture. Since 2001, strategic documents in the field of youth, including the National Youth Strategy 2024-2027 have been reuniting youth policy general and operational objectives. However, beside the strategic document, coordination between top-level authorities responsible for youth policy is not systematic.