Pockets of Excellence in Romanian Municipalities Between the New European Bauhaus and the AI Act
Pockets of Excellence in Romanian Municipalities Between the New European Bauhaus and the AI Act

Summary/Abstract: The transition towards climate-neutral, circular and human-centric production systems requires effective multi-level governance, in which municipal administrations operate as enablers, regulators and orchestrators of local action. This article examines the institutional capacity of Romanian municipalities to operationalize three converging European Union policy frameworks, the New European Bauhaus (NEB), the Industry 5.0 agenda, and the EU Mission for 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, through decentralized sustainable manufacturing. The research combines a quantitative comparative analysis based on official Eurostat indicators (circular material use rate, municipal waste recycling rate, eco-innovation performance) and European Commission datasets (European Innovation Scoreboard 2025, EU Cities Mission Label register) with a qualitative instrumental case study of the Horizon Europe STARHAUS project, in which the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca participates as a pilot partner. The interdisciplinary author team combining expertise on process technology and digital twins, on digital innovation platforms, and on the mechatronic engineering of customized production equipment, with expertise on public administration, program evaluation and the emerging field of algorithmic impact assessment reflects the integrated nature of the inquiry. Findings reveal a structural paradox: Romania records the lowest circular material use rate in the European Union (1.3% in 2024, against an EU average of 12.2%) and ranks last on the Summary Innovation Index (37.7% of the EU average in 2025), yet hosts three cities admitted to the EU Cities Mission, with Cluj-Napoca among the first ten European cities to receive the EU Mission Label in October 2023. This decoupling suggests that municipalities can function as pockets of governance excellence within otherwise lagging national systems. The article proposes a four-layer multi-level governance framework, supranational design, national mediation, municipal operationalization, and citizen co-creation, and argues that EU cascade-funding instruments, NEB-inspired participatory methodologies, and an evaluation infrastructure that extends Social Impact Assessment with emerging Algorithmic Impact Assessment practices, in the context of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, offer strategic levers for Romanian public administration to close the implementation gap.

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