Ooni Koda
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Newsfeed
  4. /
  5. Romania, Bulgaria and Greece jointly tackle East-West energy...

Romania, Bulgaria and Greece jointly tackle East-West energy price gap

October 31, 2024

 It is not normal for Eastern Europe to pay much higher energy prices than Western Europe, as it has happened in recent months, and this is why we have asked the European Commission (EC) for a fair treatment and a functional energy union, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja wrote on Wednesday on Facebook."As I promised on September 12, I officially asked the European Commission, alongside my Greek and Bulgarian counterparts, for fair treatment and a functional energy union. It is neither fair nor normal for Eastern Europe to pay much higher energy prices than Western Europe, as it has repeatedly happened in recent months. There are two causes for this: the lack of interconnections in central Europe (especially Austria and Slovakia), which means that the flow of cheap energy produced in the West practically stops in Austria and Slovakia; and the additional demand for energy from the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, which puts additional pressure on prices in our region. I said it clearly yesterday in Warsaw too: we respect the common European single market obligations, but we demand equal rights too. There can be no development without safe and accessible energy. The well-being of our citizens and the competitiveness of the economy, wages and jobs depend on it. That is why we have tried to keep the prices capped for consumers, putting in all our efforts, but we cannot tolerate the inequities on the European energy market," Burduja wrote on Facebook.According to him, at the joint request of Romania, Greece and Bulgaria, which has already been accepted by the European Commission, "we will present the situation and ask for offset measures at the next meeting of the EU Energy Council, which is due in Luxembourg on October 15", because "the truth must be told, and Romania will not be silent in the face of injustices." (Photo:https://www.facebook.com/) 

Read in full - click here
Romania's Cultural Consumption Barometer: Difficult access, cost hamper participation in cultural education activities

Participation in cultural education activities continues to be limited, with the main barriers being difficult access, insufficient knowledge, and cost, the recently released Cultural Consumption Barometer 2024 shows. The report showed that many Romanians still associate culture with entertainment rather than with personal development or furthering their knowledge. The need for relaxation dominates in cultural […]

Overwhelming majority of Romanians say the pace of public digitalization is slow, survey shows

Roughly 84% of Romanians say that the pace of the state’s digitalization is slow or very slow, according to an Edge Institute & AtlasIntel study presented at the Digital Governance Summit 2025, which took place on Tuesday, November 25, at the presidential palace in Bucharest.  The survey aims to capture the way citizens relate to […]

Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy rejects new bill cutting magistrates’ pensions

Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) issued a negative opinion on the new bill regarding magistrates’ pensions. The move is only the latest development concerning a heated issue that led to tensions between the executive and the judiciary branch.  CSM’s opinion is consultative, and the government led by Ilie Bolojan can still take responsibility for […]

Romania takes the presidency of the Central European Initiative for 2026

Romania took the presidency of the Central European Initiative (or CEI) on Wednesday, November 26, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE).  The organization is a regional intergovernmental forum established in 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It gathers 17 Member States in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe […]

Romania-Poland annual bilateral trade in goods valued at over EUR 12 billion

Trade between Romania and Poland continues to grow, with annual bilateral exchanges in goods now valued at more than EUR 12 billion, according to figures presented by the Polish-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRBCC). The data was released during a reception in Bucharest marking Poland’s Independence Day and Romania’s National Day. Polish investments […]

Lorena Tănase (ONV LAW) and Alina Sîrbu (Arthur Hunt) explain the EU Pay Transparency Directive and its implications for companies in Romania

As Romania moves closer to implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, local employers are preparing for one of the most consequential shifts in workplace regulation in over a decade. The directive, set for transposition by June 2026, introduces strict new rules on salary disclosure, pay reporting, and equal-pay verification, aiming to close persistent gender gaps […]