It is very important to be found methods to increase the competitiveness between the Romanian administrative-territorial units, under the current conditions of the economic crisis, by means of the existing economic levers successfully used within the European Union regions. The development regions of Romania do not have the statute of administrative units, but they represent territorial units large enough to constitute a good basis for the elaboration and implementation of regional development strategies, allowing an efficient use of the financial and human resources. The scope for which these development regions were created had in view the support granted for the larger communities in their action to settle the problems which go beyond the administrative borders and which surpass the financial possibilities of one county. n Romania, the communes, towns, municipalities and counties are defined as administrative-territorial units within which the local autonomy is exercised and the authorities of the local public administration are organized and operate. The local, communal, town, municipality and county councils, as deliberative authorities, and also the mayors and the presidents of county councils as executive authorities have the duties to solve the public matters of the community, acting as authorities of the Romanian public administration. In Romania, the local autonomy is only administrative and financial, having as objective the organization, operation, competencies and tasks, and also the management of the inland resources. The principle of the local financial autonomy implies the fact that the administrative-territorial units have the right to financial resources, which can be used by the authorities of the local public administration when exercising their tasks. According to the Law of the local public finances, the local budget incomes could be made also of the non-reimbursable funds granted by the European Union. Based on the elaborated and assumed strategies of local development, and also on the experience gained by the administrative-territorial units in accessing the governmental funds and the pre-accession programs, the authorities of the local public administration from the West Development Region knew how to successfully access the non-reimbursable financing opportunities granted through the Regional Operational Programme 2007 - 2013. The status analysis of the implementation of the projects submitted by the administrative-territorial units from the West Development Region and financed through the Regional Operational Programme 2007 - 2013 highlights which are the main areas of interest for the authorities of the public local administration and gives practical solutions for the reduction of the intra-regional development gaps. This article is intended to be a guide for the administrative-territorial units in the systematic mobilization of the existing local energies and resources by means of certain projects which should meet the specific needs for development and which should involve the attraction of non-reimbursable funds with a minimum effort of co-financing.
