Lucian Cernat, How important is TTIP for Romania?, Romanian Center for European Policies, Policy Paper no.69, 26 April 2016
The Romanian Centre for European Policies launches the report ‘How important is TTIP for Romania?’. This contributes slightly differently to the analysis of the principal macro- and micro-economic elements of the Romanian economy linked to the negotiation of the free trade agreement (TTIP) between the European Union the United States of America.
The first thing that can be noted based on the prospective macroeconomic estimations (Cernat and Lakatos, 2015) is that the TTIP agreement will have a positive net impact on Romania. At the same time however, these estimations suggest that this positive impact on Romania will be inferior to the average beneficial impact at a European level, given these current conditions. This can be mostly explained through the fact that commercial relations between the USA and Romania are less important than the shares in the global commercial structure compared to those of other European countries. Nevertheless, the transatlantic negotiations are not yet finalized and the future TTIP agreement will need a couple of years until it is fully implemented. As a result, the ‘initial data’ of the existing estimators can be changed if Romania clearly identifies its priorities within the following time period.
Beyond these macroeconomic predictions, it is important to analyze (particularly in a qualitative way) Romania’s different economic sectors such as agriculture, industry and services that will benefit as a result of increased commercial trade with the USA. Due to this, the report details a series of key factors on a microeconomic level: the characteristics of the exporting Romanian companies, the role of the exporting infrastructure (logistic services) and last, but not least, the role of foreign investors.
Bianca Toma, Oana Ganea and Alexandru Damian, The DNA Sustainability Index, Romanian Center for European Policies, Policy Paper no.68, 30 May 2016
The DNA Sustainability Index, 2nd edition, – an overview of the current state of affairs and, after having consulted with the judiciary, experts, representatives of the civil society and experienced journalists in matters related to the judiciary, it pinpoints the stakeholders who either support, or undermine or threat the work of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate.
The purpose of the „DNA Sustainability Index” is to identify the factors – both internal and external – which contribute to the sustainability of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and to the fight against corruption, in particular high-level corruption.
George Teodorescu, Republic of Moldova on the edge of the abyss – the next step forward. Short assessment of the economic reform and some recommendations, Romanian Center for European Policies, 13 April 2016
The last 12 months have proven difficult for the Republic of Moldova. The delayed reforms in the fields of economy and justice, the politic instability, the financial scandals and the apparent lack of progress in the recovery of the misapproapriated funds from three commercials banks, led to the suspension of foreign assistance. One by one, the European Union and the World Bank have suspended a large part of the assistance offered to Moldova, the IFM stopped negotiations on a new agreement, while the loan of 150 milion euros negociated with the Romanian Government was conditioned by clear progress towards reforms.
The report attempts to provide an overview of the stage of the top-priority reforms for the resumption of external financing i.e. the banking sector, the judicial system, the business sector, as well as recommendations for strengthening the Moldavian economy. The report covers the period between the end of January and the beginning of April 2016.
Alexandra Toderita, Analysis of the Associative Agricultural Sector – a key factor for the development of agriculture in Romania, Romanian Center for European Policies, 15 June 2016
In the context of the analysis of results of the programme ”Rural development through entrepreneurship and association” financed by Romanian-American Foundation, as well as of the public policies regarding the revitalization of the associative agricultural sector for economic purpose, namely the agricultural cooperatives, Romanian Center for European Policies launches the quantitative analysis of the sector. Its aim is to highlight the reduced size and the early stage of development of the sector.
The research is based on data provided by the National Trade Registry Office on all the agricultural cooperatives registered in Romania by mid-2015, and the database was completed with information taken from the official documents available online on the websites of other public institutions .
Alexandra Toderita, Alexandru Damian, Roma integration across the Danube – best practices in administrative and social entrepreneurship, July 2016
The vast majority of Roma population in Europe (80%) lives in the 14 countries of the Danube Region, the population percentage of Roma varying greatly from country to country, – with the strongest concentrations in poor and peripheral regions. Although only estimates of the exact population exist, Romania and Bulgaria, alongside Hungary and Slovakia have the highest shares of Roma within the overall population in the entire European Union. While National Roma Integration Strategies have been in place in these countries in the last few years, their effective implementation and success has been limited to this day.
Nevertheless, it is the approach of this report to emphasize the fact that there have been certain projects and initiatives from both the public and private spheres that have been implemented in Romania and Bulgaria with a noteworthy degree of success, to put them forth and create the context for relevant Roma stakeholders from both countries to mutually gain a complex understanding of the contexts and workings of the best practice examples, to experience them first hand, understand the factors that led to their success and replicate them in their own country.