* Today, 18 May, the Commission decided to make EUR 248 million available to Romania and 4 other Member States that were most affected at the beginning of the war and host a large number of refugees. Today, 18 May, the Commission decided to make EUR 248 million available to 5 Member States most affected at the beginning of the war and hosting large numbers of refugees to support their reception and border management systems. The decision follows the global fundraising event on 9 April entitled ‘Support Ukraine’, where the Commission committed to support up to EUR 400 million of refugees arriving from Ukraine to the most affected Member States. Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will receive this emergency assistance from home affairs funds. Member States can use these funds to provide immediate assistance, e.g. food, transport and temporary accommodation, to people fleeing the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia and to increase their capacity to manage the EU’s external borders. Civil society organisations and local and regional authorities also play a key role in providing assistance and therefore Member States will have to ensure that they also have access to this urgent funding. In order to ensure that payments are made quickly, without considerable administrative burden, the Commission will release the funds on the basis of the results achieved rather than the actual costs. To further support initial reception needs as they evolve, the Commission will make available the remaining EUR 152 million once the budgetary authority has agreed.
Romania allocated just 12.8% of its GDP to social protection spending in 2023, the lowest proportion among European Union member states, according to data published by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Romania, based on Eurostat figures. This places Romania well below the EU average and far behind the highest-ranking countries […]
The French-led group's strength will increase from 1,500 troops to approximately 4,000, and NATO's reinforced forward battle group in Romania will thus be expanded to brigade level, according to Bursa.ro and
The Romanian government is preparing a major restructuring of the prime minister's office and the General Secretariat (SGG), with staffing reductions in some departments expected to reach 30–40%, Profit.ro reported on July 15, citing multiple government sources. Prime...
UniCredit Bank, in a report issued on July 14, projects Romania's public deficit to reach 8.5% of GDP this year in ESA terms, down from 9.3% in 2024 – a projection rather on the pessimistic side compared to the European Commission's 8.6%-of-GDP projection without the July 7 fiscal package and the 7.8%-of-GDP forecast issued on […]
Romania's industrial output increased by 7.1% y/y or by 3.8% y/y in workday-adjusted terms in May, the statistics office INS announced. The adjusted growth rate is the strongest in three years, but it was helped by base effects – Erste Group notes on a moderately positive note in a research update. The performance in May […]
Political risks have eased in Romania since the previous government introduced a consolidation package in late 2024 amid heightened tensions triggered by the annulment of November's presidential election and the coalition negotiations resulted in ambitious consolidation targets, but significant fiscal consolidation will weigh on economic growth, and implementation risks cannot be discounted, according to a […]
