Romania 2017

Environment in which elections are held in Romania is on a track of improvement, with last parliamentary elections, held in December 2016, considered largely as free and fair. Measures taken so as to reduce irregularities by improving monitoring of the voting procedures have led to progress in this regard. Positive impact on political pluralism in the country came with the introduction of new provisions on creating a political party, which lowered the mandatory number of members down to three. However, the electoral entrance threshold, i.e. required number of signatures to participate in elections, remains restrictive. Parties still need to collect 1% of signatures (around 183 000) in order to compete for the Parliament. Technocratic government remained stable until elections,

Generally, there are no unconstitutional veto players in Romania who are able to undermine decision making processes of the democratically elected government. Certain influence on the government decisions is exercised by Liviu Dragnea, PSD leader who is prohibited from taking office. That became apparent after shifting of government, in June 2017, only 6 months after PSD won elections. Romania decided to deal with a pervasive corruption among public officials and thus, led by National Anticorruption Directorate, has prosecuted numerous high ranking politicians throughout the year. A plan to decriminalize some corruption offenses led to the biggest anti-government protests since the fall of Communism, in February 2017. The proposal was there after withdrawn. However, initiatives

Freedom of the press is granted by the constitution in Romania, and to certain extent upheld in practice. Journalist independence and professionalism are often hindered by managerial or economic pressure, which made them practicing self-censorship. Media moguls have big influence is shaping public opinion and their ties with political elites often led to partisan reporting, which remained the biggest problem on media scene in Romania. Anti-corruption activities in the country exposed how deep those connections have been, with many media owners having been prosecuted or sentenced. Journalists are from time to time a target of verbal violence by politicians and/or citizens. Romania is one of the rare countries in which insult is not punishable. Economic un-sustainability remains a

Romania`s judiciary has become more independent since the country became a full member of the EU in 2007, especially after 2013. But, in spite of the sophisticated election procedures meant to prevent direct political influence on courts, the latter is indirectly still very much present. Fierce political fighting is on over having the judiciary in one`s sphere of influence, mainly in order to get away with past or future corruption or other misuse of power. Besides, corruption in judiciary itself is far from being eradicated. Following the new regulation as of March 2016 conditions in prisons have started slowly improving, yet in April 2017 the European Court of Human Rights warned Romania of non-compliance with European Convention on

Romania was an EU`s „sick man“, as regards rule of law, when it joined in 2007. Since then, Romania considerably improved, leaving behind a few other - including some „old“ - EU members. But in one aspect it remained at the bottom in the EU – the bribery rate is still the highest, 29%, according to the Global Corruption Barometer 2016. The National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) is receiving excellent marks from many, for its bold take on the mighty politicians and businessmen, while some argue that DNA itself could be more accountable. Both DNA and Prosecutor General are in the midst of the power struggle between political blocks, as personified by the centre-left Government and the centre-right President. Focus of the

Freedom of assembly, association or expression is fairly well respected in Romania, in contrast to the memories of the pre-1989 brutal treatment of dissidents. Alas, current relevant legislation has also - already – become obsolete, due to the law lacunae which enable enforcement officers to fine incommode anti-government protesters. Human trafficking, itself a serious problem because Romania is both a country of origin and of transit, is increasingly well dealt with, as it was pointed out in the Trafficking in Persons Report June 2017 by the US State Department. Better law enforcement and cooperation with NGOs led to more channels of trafficking cut and perpetrators caught and sentenced. However, “minimum standards for

Property rights in Romania are relatively secure, but there are problems arising from judiciary system deficiencies that are undermining the situation. Out-of-court influences on judiciary are present, resulting in low level of judicial independence. Corruption in judiciary is also still present. Enforcement of property rights through judicial process could be lengthy, costly and difficult. Local courts often lack expertise in many specialized fields. Therefore, judgments in some instances could be very much dissimilar. Not all restitution claims have been fully addressed, thus increasing the uncertainty of property rights. Due to all those problems, mediation is slowly becoming more popular. Bucharest International Arbitration Court was established in late 2016. It was

Size of government in Romania is modest, as compared to other European countries, with total public expenditures reaching 31.5% of GDP in 2016 – a significant decrease, due to policy measures to counteract the massive tax reforms. However, this led to a rising government deficit (expected to rise to 3.7% of GDP in 2017). Economic growth rates are robust, but expected to moderate down, while unemployment is at record low. One of the reasons has been in the government policy of increasing current spending at the expense of public investments. State owned enterprises in Romania are numerous and play a notable role in the economy, especially in the infrastructure and transportation sector. SOE corporate governance is weak, with low performance and profitability, relying on

Business regulation in Romania is mostly favourable towards business activities. However, as in other countries in the region, partial implementation of existing regulations can still be witnessed. Same goes for favouritism by government officials or open corruption. Regulation could also prove as unclear and prone to divergent conclusions, while government bureaucracy is not considered as efficient. Starting a new business is relatively easy and inexpensive, with low minimum capital requirements, but these procedures have been made more burdensome with the new process of VAT application. However, obtaining a construction permit and getting eletricity grid connection are very lengthy processes, with many procedures and high fees. Labour market regulations are mostly flexible,

Freedom to trade internationally is mostly respected in Romania. The EU common trade policy has been implemented since EU accession in 2007. Therefore, tariffs are mostly low, with applied mean tariff rate of 5.3%. While manufactured goods are mostly tariff-free, imported agricultural products usually face higher tariffs. However, necessary product standardization and certification procedures pose a significant non-tariff burden, incurring higher import costs. Low public transportation infrastructure quality, most notably of the roads and railroads, serves as another impediment to free trade, resulting in high transportation costs and limiting trade volume. Recent curbing of public investments so as to increase current spending as well as low EU- funds absorption rate are