Tourism can act as an important sector which captures both the attention of public authorities and the interest of people. It is also a main “target” for cross-border cooperation programs, aiming at fostering the role played by local and regional communities in addressing sustainable local development. This paper presents, both theoretically and by using a survey-based research conducted among public administration’s representatives and experts involved in tourism sector, across the Hungarian-Romanian border, some relevant issues concerning the interest and level of involvement of public authorities in cross-border cooperation actions conducted in tourism.

<p class="Default">The Hungarian administrative law has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several rules – which were introduced during the state of danger based on the epidemic situation – have been incorporated into the Hungarian legal system. The administrative procedural law has been influenced by the epidemic transformation. However, the rules on e-administration have not been reformed significantly (due to the digitalisation reforms of the last years), but the rules on administrative licenses and permissions have been amended. The priority of the general code on administrative procedure has been weakened: new, simplified procedure and regime have been introduced. The local self-governance has been impacted by the reforms. The transformation has had two opposite trends. On the one hand, the Hungarian administrative system became more centralised during the last year: municipal revenues and task performance has been partly centralised. The Hungarian municipal system has been concentrated, as well. The role of the second-tier government, the counties (<em>megye</em>), has been strengthened by the establishment of the special economic (investment) zones. On the other hand, the municipalities could be interpreted as a “trash can” of the Hungarian public administration: they received new, mainly unpopular competences on the restrictions related to the pandemic. Although these changes have been related to the current epidemic situation, it seems, that the “legislative background” of the pandemic offered an opportunity to the central government to pass significant reforms.</p>

Concentration and recentralization can be described as a European trend in the fi eld of local governance, especially in the fi eld of the administration of rural areas. An important tool of the concentration of the local administration is the intercommunal cooperation. The Hungarian rural areas have fragmented spatial structures. Because of the fragmentation and the small number of the voluntary associations these types of local cooperation were signifi cantly supported by the central budget in the 1990s and 2000s. The economic crisis resulted in a strong concentration trend in Hungary, as well. The new Hungarian Municipal Code introduced a Janus-faced model. The administration of the rural areas was strongly concentrated by the establishment of the mandatory common municipal offi ces of the small villages (under 2000 inhabitants) while the forms of the intercommunal associations were simplifi ed. This reform reduced the number of local offi ces signifi cantly. This type of intercommunal cooperation became the main form of the j oined public service management as well, because the former signifi cant state aid of the voluntary associations has been reduced.