Roumanie

The Romanian government has undertaken important legal and institutional changes over the past decade to improve the governance and performance of its state-owned enterprises (SOEs), yet significant implementation shortcomings persist. This review describes and assesses the corporate governance framework of the Romanian SOE sector against the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. It also makes recommendations to help the Romanian authorities design adequate mechanisms to ensure the implementation of applicable rules for the exercise of state ownership and the governance of SOEs.

The paper is the first in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The second paper is titled: ‘The environmental sustainability competence toolbox: From leaving a better planet to our children to leaving better children for our planet’.

The paper is the second in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The first paper is titled ‘Young people’s environmental sustainability competence: Emotional, cognitive, behavioural and attitudinal dimensions in EU and OECD countries.

Around one-third of the European Union’s budget is dedicated to cohesion policy, which promotes and supports the overall harmonious development of its Member States and regions. The success of this investment relies on effective partnerships among governments, stakeholders, and citizens. Citizens have a key role to play in shaping decisions on public investment, as well as in making public authorities more transparent and accountable. From July 2020-December 2021, the European Commission and the OECD partnered to explore how five authorities across Europe could place citizens at the centre of their investment decisions. This report summarises lessons learned throughout this project and, particularly, the results of applying innovative citizen participation methods to cohesion policy more broadly.

Over the last two decades, Romania has converged rapidly towards the OECD average income per capita. Its economy has also proved resilient: after a deep contraction in 2020 triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, activity has rebounded fast. However, short and medium term challenges remain. The recent surge in inflation and the new pandemic wave require prudent macroeconomic policies. Eventually, fiscal sustainability needs to improve to cope with ageing. Productivity levels remain well below the OECD average, calling for reducing competition barriers, raising human capital, enhancing the regulatory framework, and improving transport infrastructure. Romania should seize the opportunity provided by the NextGeneration EU plan to boost investments for the green and digital transitions. Poverty remains high and some groups have difficulties to join the labour market. Active labour market policies need to be reinforced and access to training is a pre-requisite for addressing skills shortages. Finally, pursuing convergence to the highest OECD standards requires improving the rule of law and fighting corruption. SPECIAL FEATURES: STRENGTHENING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT FOR PRODUCTIVITY CONVERGENCE; IMPROVING LABOUR MARKET CONDITIONS FOR STRONGER AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH