Romanian President Klaus Iohannis stated on Wednesday during a press conference in Belgium that negotiations for Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area continue on all fronts, adding that the best option is for Romania and Bulgaria to enter the Schengen Area together. This contradicts Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who suggested that Bucharest might consider decoupling from Bulgaria. The head of state stated that “negotiations for Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area continue on all fronts” and thanked Belgium for its support. “Negotiations for Romania’s Schengen accession are ongoing, and they are not happening at a low level; all of us are very involved, and we are all trying to convince, especially the Austrian side. The negotiations continue on all fronts, and of course, they are being discussed more informally than formally, and different variants of how to proceed are being considered. It is not difficult to see that there are few options: either we enter together with Bulgaria, or neither enters, or one enters and the other does not. By far, the best option is for Romania and Bulgaria to enter together, and that is the common goal of all negotiations and efforts to convince those who are still hesitant in this matter,” he explained. A day earlier, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated in an interview with Bloomberg that he would ask the Spanish government, which holds the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union, to convene an extraordinary JHA Council meeting in December to reexamine Romania’s Schengen Area candidacy.
Romania's Social Democratic Party (PSD) is pushing for stricter tax regulations targeting multinational companies and a new turnover tax as part of ongoing fiscal reform negotiations within the ruling coalition. Interim party president Sorin Grindeanu warned that the PSD could exit the coalition if its key proposals are not accepted, although he described the alliance […]
Amazon Development Center, the Romanian branch of US tech giant Amazon, is preparing to lay off over 500 employees from its Iași-based retail business services division, Romanian media reported on July 16, citing internal company sources. The Iași centre, established in 2005, handles both IT research and development and business services across several domains, including […]
The Investment and Development Bank (Banca de Investiții și Dezvoltare - IDB), a development bank founded by the Romanian government in 2023, will manage the Regional Participation Fund for financing SMEs worth EUR 233.35 million, according to Cursdeguvernare.ro. The...
Private equity fund ROCA Investments announced the sale of its entire 20% stake in Artesana dairy to Booster Capital, another investment fund, five years after the initial investment. The dairy producer reported a 4-fold increase in production capacity over the five years, and it tripled its turnover over the period to EUR 11 million in […]
Romania's fiscal consolidation plan will help government achieve its deficit targets of 7.5% this year and 6.4% in 2026 from the record 8.7% of GDP in 2024 (cash terms) and will moderate the current account (CA) deficit from 8.3% of GDP in 2024 to 7.5-8.0% in 2025 and 6.5-7.0% in 2026 – at the cost […]
Pavăl Holding, the investment vehicle of Romania’s Pavăl family and owner of leading home improvement retailer Dedeman, has acquired Praktiker Hellas, the top DIY chain in Greece. The deal, estimated at EUR 120-130 million according to Profit.ro, marks Dedeman’s first step beyond Romania’s borders. With 17...
