Romania has been catching up with OECD economies and almost halving the gap in GDP per capita over the last two decades, driven by strong productivity growth. However, since the global financial crisis, Romania has suffered of weak business dynamism and investment and the pace of economic growth is slowing down. Most of Romania labour productivity growth is driven by capital accumulation, boosted by EU-funded projects, rather than technological progress. While large multinational enterprises have attracted foreign investment in sectors such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain less productive and mostly domestic-oriented. Improving the business environment will be key to strengthen entrepreneurship and investment.
To support this effort, the OECD, in collaboration with the Reform and Investment Task Force (SG REFORM) of the European Commission, is supporting the Romanian government to improve the business licensing system, under the Technical Support Instrument of the European Union. The work aims at making the business licensing procedures simpler, more predictable and transparent for businesses.
This report outlines the key features of the business licensing system, its main barriers and ways to simplify it, with a special focus on the commerce and service sectors. It builds on an in-depth analysis of the updated Business Licensing Inventory, which collected information on 502 licences for business activities in the commerce, industrial, and service sectors. It relies on information provided by public institutions, interviews with public and private stakeholders and a methodology developed by the OECD to assess the administrative complexity of the business licensing system.
The recommendations presented in this report contribute to addressing the 2019 European Commission country-specific recommendation to improve the quality and predictability of decision making and complement the policy recommendations aimed at improving the business licensing system presented in the 2024 OECD Economic Survey of Romania. They indirectly support the achievement of Target 244 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) by contributing to generally reducing the average time needed to perform business environment related regulatory requirements and contribute to RRP Target 246 on digital platforms on legislative transparency and procedural simplification for businesses. The recommendations presented in this report, also align with the European Commission’s priorities for simplification and reduction of red tape set out in the 2025 Competitiveness Compass.
The report is structured as follows. Chapter 1 presents the economic context, and the challenges related to the business environment as well as recent reforms to support business entry and operations. Chapter 2 provides an in-depth assessment of the licencing procedures and present the methodology to identify specific measures to simplify commerce and service licences. Chapter 3 presents a roadmap for a comprehensive reform of business licensing including actionable recommendations and practices from OECD countries.