Abstract: Cooperation between human groups is ancient and has its roots in the practical necessities of the surviving of the groups. Nowadays, cooperation is seen as a form of development, as different communities learn from each other how to deal with social or economical challenges. From the first cities in Middle East, to Medieval gilds cooperation and today’s original forms of local administrative cooperation, all these links between different communities, even if they had mostly economic aims, were and today are even more, part of the development of the respective communities. The recent situation in the Romanian space has been influenced by the communist era, but today, local administrative authorities, especially the cities, became the core element of the socio-economic development, having an increasing impact on the national level decisions. There are now seven forms of administrative cooperation, with different degrees of involvement from the part of the administrative authority, covering a wide range of areas, from culture to security, from education to economy. Some of the newest forms of cooperation are the euro regions and the associations of inter-community development, both established by the Local Public Administration Law issued in 2001 and the development region cooperation, established by the law of 1998. Even if lack of funding remains one of the most important obstacles for a strengthened cooperation at the local administration level, the actors involved in this process are trying to assure an increased level of social welfare in their areas by setting long term objectives. One of the most important tools in achieving the aims is education and training, exchange of information and knowledge. This would lead also to a raise of people awareness about their interests and the ways to achieve theirs goals.

Keywords: cooperation, administrativ authorities, euro-regions.