Since the restitution of private property rights after the 1989 revolution, little has been done in the field of geographical information and land registration in Romania. Up-to-date and reliable geographical and land registry data is fundamental to the infrastructure and economic development of any country, as it documents property rights and provides decision-makers with the data needed for implementing sound policies and practices in areas as diverse of land planning, environmental protection, agriculture and forestry.
At present Romania does not meet either national or EU needs or legal requirements in these fields, and maps and land registries are out of date. With the implementation of this project, Romania will be one important step closer to implementing the EU INSPIRE directive, which establishes a common and harmonised infrastructure for geographic information across national borders.
Partnership for development
A €1 million grant from the EEA Grants will now allow the Romanian National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration (ANCPI) to address these issues through a major organisational and human resource development project. The project will be carried out in partnership with the Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority and the Land Registry of Iceland.
A platform for founding a new mapping authority will be created within the organisational structure of the ANCPI. Strategies, staffing plans and product and service specifications will be elaborated in order to prepare for the transition to the European geodetic reference system. Among the activities within the project is also the establishment of a new staff training centre and the development of on-site and internet-based courses. In addition, the ANCPI will establish a study centre bringing together social scientists, legal and technical experts which will monitor and advise ANCPI management on the latest technical and policy developments.
The Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority and the Romanian National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration have already been cooperating in a number of fields for several years, and enjoy a close relationship. The Norwegian authority considers stable and up-to-date mapping and cadastral information as a vital prerequisite for socio-economic development, and has experience from similar projects in Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova and Serbia.
Photo credit: The Romanian National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration.