The European Directive on minimum statutory wage would push up the gross wages in Romania quite substantially: the minimum level would be hiked by RON 1,000 (EUR 200) to RON 3,500 (EUR 700), according to G4media.ro commenting on an interview given by MEP and former EU Commissioner Corina Cretu (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats). This can not have a negligible impact, and the investors have already warned of the massive negative impact in terms of jobs lost. On the other hand, the same effect (higher wages) is achieved by the workforce mobility and the investors’ complaints about “the lack of [chap] workforce” demonstrate this. Under the Directive, the minimum statutory wage will be calculated on a country-by-country base as 60% of the economy-wide average wage. The benchmark coincides with the poverty line - 60% of the average per capita income. The European minimum wage Directive is close to the final vote in the European Parliament. Some EU member states still oppose the Directive, including Sweden and Denmark; they say that it is not their governments that set the minimum wage, but that it is set through negotiations on collective bargaining agreements. The Directive was already voted in the Labor Committee of the European Parliament, and the vote in the plenary sitting could take place early next year, MEP Cretu explained for G4Media. In short, if applied, the minimum gross wage would increase in Romania. In the field of European funds, Cretu warned those who will take over the relevant ministry that the new Operational Programs must be concluded and approved by the European Commission and the Resilience Plan PNRR must be kicked off urgently - otherwise, Romania will lose huge amounts of money.
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 […]
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 (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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
