Today, Romania has a national plan, and it is called the accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a historic opportunity to regain our social cohesion and national solidarity and to fulfill an ambitious destiny, that of our country becoming a European economic power, was the main message sent by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
He participated at the conference entitled ”Romania and OECD – The Country’s Main Project After NATO, the EU, and Schengen”, a large-scale event organized by Calea Europeană, Romania’s leading media platform in European affairs, in partnership with the Concordia Confederation, the Foreign Investors Council, Romanian Business Leaders, AmCham Romania, CCIFER, and AHK Romania – key organizations in Romania’s economic development.
”As soon as I took office as Prime Minister, I have announced that joining the OECD is the most important strategic objective for Romania’s development and modernization. That is why I believe that we must use every opportunity, such as today, to explain to Romanians why this is worth a national effort”, emphasized the Prime Minister.
He underlined that ”OECD membership means higher investments, a better country rating, a level playing field for companies and a tax system in which resources will be used more efficiently. In short, a better performing public administration means improving the life of every Romanian, through modern social services of new quality standards”.
Marcel Ciolacu gave as a concrete example the Ministry of Education’s adoption of an OECD recommendation to show the positive effects of this transformative process on Romania.
”Taking over an OECD recommendation has produced a major initiative to evaluate and strengthen the education system in Romania. The Ministry of Education and Research has thus moved on to apply a modern solution. Teachers in Romania will be evaluated annually from an online platform, with analysis of student performance and feedback from peers and school principals, all managed digitally. And these evaluations will directly influence teachers’ salaries. The aim is for teachers’ pay to be linked to the performance of education, a unanimous expectation in society”, said Marcel Ciolacu.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the milestones achieved by Romania in the last year and a half, during which our country managed to pass 12 formal approvals from the OECD Committees, almost half of the total required.
In order to finalize this process on schedule, he called for maintaining ”a sustained pace this year to obtain all the remaining endorsements” because ”we are in a marathon race, where endurance is decisive”.
The Prime Minister also acknowledged that ”accession to the OECD, managed simultaneously with the finalization of the PNRR, is the toughest, most complex and sophisticated administrative examination Romania has undergone since European integration”.
”We have had to learn to work diligently, involving extensive teams and in an interministerial format, in the 26 areas of activity where we are evaluated on the basis of our blood, in order to reach the targeted standards”, Marcel Ciolacu emphasized the difficult process of adaptation in achieving this country’s objective.
These efforts will be rewarded by numerous benefits, the prime minister pointed out, drawing a parallel ”with what the effect of our accession to the European Union has meant for the country’s development”.
”If we compare effort versus benefits, the advantages are huge. According to the forecasts of the National Bank of Romania, as well as those coming from the private sector, joining this select club will open enormous opportunities for the Romanian economy. In 2000, Romania’s GDP per capita at purchasing power parity was about 25% of the EU average, and today this indicator is close to 80%. This means that Romania has made up on average more than two percentage points of this gap each year. Labor productivity growth – the fastest in Central and Eastern Europe – has also played a key role in the convergence process! This growth has been significantly supported by a solid and steady increase in the volume of foreign direct investment generated by EU membership”, the Prime Minister detailed.
While Romania’s accession to the European Union has had substantial benefits, joining the OECD, ”in terms of economic effect, is overwhelming”, Marcel Ciolacu pointed out.
”By the time we join the OECD, in the first fiscal year, Romania’s GDP can increase by almost 7 percentage points! This would mean that by 2030 we have a good chance of reaching the European average in a highly relevant indicator called GDP per capita at purchasing power parity. This will give Romania much cheaper access to finance and capital, plus a massive leap in the ranking of investment destinations. Moreover, we will have a seat at the table where the major fiscal and economic policies with global impact are decided„, the Prime Minister emphasized.
He stated that the ”moment of grace of modern Romania’s development” is based on three pillars: accession to the OECD, full integration into Schengen and the finalization of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
”The Euro-Atlantic integration into NATO and the European Union has opened a historic opportunity for our nation. Accession to the OECD, coupled with full integration into Schengen and the finalization of the NRRP, is the moment of grace for the development of modern Romania. However, this requires that we carry through substantial reforms, access 100% of available European funds and accelerate the processes of economic convergence”, Marcel Ciolacu added.
The Prime Minister concluded by inviting the political class, society, the private sector and civil society professionals to join forces for this ”national ideal”.
”We are familiar with making major progress when the whole of society aligns behind a national ideal, when the political class, together with the private sector and civil society professionals, manage to formulate a strategic objective at the political, social and economic level, and then follow up its implementation through effective and constant public pressure on all the institutions that play a key role in this process. I believe that joining the OECD is such a crucial moment for Romania’s future. It is a historic opportunity to regain our social cohesion and national solidarity and to fulfill an ambitious destiny, which Romania fully deserves: that of becoming a European economic power, because only a country with a strong economy can hope, in today’s world, to be a voice that can effectively count at international level”, concluded the Prime Minister.
Calea Europeană, Romania’s leading media platform in European affairs, in partnership with the Concordia Confederation, the Foreign Investors Council, Romanian Business Leaders, AmCham Romania, CCIFER, and AHK Romania – key organizations in Romania’s economic development – is organizing the conference “Romania and the OECD – The Country’s Main Project After NATO, the EU, and Schengen”.
The event takes place under the High Patronage of the Interim President of Romania and is hosted by the Presidential Administration at Cotroceni Palace.
Romania’s accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) represents the next major national strategic objective after joining NATO, the European Union, and gaining full access to the Schengen Area.
The accession process could be finalized next year, as Romania has already met more than half of the necessary criteria to align with the highest international economic and institutional standards.
Romania officially submitted its candidacy for OECD membership during previous expansion rounds, in April 2004 and November 2012, and has renewed its request annually since 2016.
On January 25, 2022, the OECD Council decided to begin accession discussions with all six candidate countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru, and Romania.
In June 2022, the OECD Council adopted Romania’s Accession Roadmap alongside those of the four other candidate states. Subsequently, in December 2022, Romania submitted its Initial Memorandum on accession to the organization.
Currently, Romania is in the technical evaluation phase of the process, which involves providing additional information, organizing thematic missions, and presenting assessments in the 25 key OECD sectoral committees essential for accession.
As of March this year, Romania has undergone preliminary or final evaluations by 24 of the 25 OECD sectoral committees. Of these, Romania has received 12 formal approvals from the following committees: Senior Budget Officials, Regional Development Policy, Steel Industry, Shipbuilding Industry, Competition Policies, Digital Policy, Consumer Protection, Education, Social Affairs, Employment and Labor, Regulatory Policy, Health, and Fisheries.
Romania aims to complete its committee evaluations throughout 2025, with the goal of joining the OECD in 2026.
