The EC published today, 13 July, the latest Special Eurobarometer on Corruption, listing citizens’ perceptions and experiences, as well as the Flash Eurobarometer on the attitudes of businesses to corruption in the EU. Corruption remains a serious problem for EU citizens: 68 % of them believe that corruption is still widespread in their country. For 63 % of EU businesses, corruption is also a widespread problem in their country. 37 % of respondents believe that anti-corruption measures are applied impartially and without hidden purposes. 34 % of EU citizens believe that sufficient prosecutions are successful to discourage people from engaging in corruption practices and that their national government’s efforts to fight corruption are effective (31 %). And 31 % believe that transparency and control over the funding of political parties in their country is sufficient. Corruption remains a serious problem: 72% of respondents believe that, in Romania, corruption is still widespread (68% European average). For 88% of Romanian companies, corruption is also a widespread problem, with the EU average of 63%. 42% of respondents consider that, in Romania, anti-corruption measures are applied impartially and without hidden purposes (38% for EU-27). 37% of Romanian respondents believe that the government's efforts to combat corruption are effective (31% European average), and 40% believe that transparency and control over the financing of political parties in Romania are sufficient (31% EU-27 average). Eurobarometer surveys are an important source of information for the Commission’s assessments, including rule of law reports. Under the EU Rule of Law Mechanism, the Commission encourages the fight against corruption to promote a rule of law culture in all EU countries. The 2022 Rule of Law Report will, for the first time, contain specific recommendations addressed to Member States, in particular on the fight against corruption. In May, the Commission presented a proposal for a directive on asset recovery and confiscation to ensure that crime and corruption are not profitable, limiting the ability of criminals to commit new crimes. In addition, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is operational and has already blocked and confiscated assets from criminals worth several million euros.
French utility group Engie nearly doubled the capacity of its wind farms in Romania after taking over WIND Project (ROM) SIX – the operator of an 80MW wind farm located in the eastern part of Romania at Chirnogeni, Constanta county. The Competition Council approved the deal,
Golden Food Snacks, controlled by Greek businessman Konstantinos Mitzalis, announced it completed the takeover of Derpan – a local bakery specializing in the production of packaged pastry set up by local entrepreneurs near Galati, in 2001. The deal was cleared by the Romanian Competition Council in 2022,
Romanian do-it-yourself (DIY) chain Dedeman, controlled by local entrepreneurs, announced the opening of its second store in the western Romanian city of Arad upon an investment of EUR 19 million. The investment includes the value of the 9-ha plot of land, the building, as well as the working capital (value of the inventory) needed by […]
With a delay of nearly two years, expected to cost the supplier over a fifth of the contract’s EUR 100 million value, French group Alstom delivered the first of the 13 trains for the Bucharest subway network, according to Economica.net. The train will start serving the M5 line, which is the destination for all the […]
Dutch company Damen "sued Romania" at an international arbitrage court (Vienna International Arbitral Centre according to Europa Libera Romania), asking for the termination of the agreement reached in 2018 over local company Damen Shipyards Mangalia – which operates a shipyard on the Black Sea coast,
Despite the challenging international environment and significant downside risks, the economies of most Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European countries are expected to perform well in 2024 – especially the EU member states, according to the new Spring Forecast issued by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) for 23 countries of the region. The […]
