“The current economic boom has been driven mainly by consumption, while investment has remained subdued. The strong economic upswing represents an opportunity to rebuild fiscal buffers and prepare the economy for leaner times. Inequality and poverty rates remain high despite the strong economic growth. Some structural reforms were reversed in 2017 while others stalled,” the Commission said in a working document to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Central Bank, and the Eurogroup.
The progress made in the fight against corruption was again put at risk. Ensuring continuity of past reforms would support Romania’s transformation to a higher value added economy and could improve the economy’s resilience to an eventual downturn, the Commission noted.
The irreversibility of the progress in the fight against corruption was recently put at risk. The continued good results of the judicial institutions in the fight against corruption were largely brought into question by events throughout the past year. The ongoing reforms of the justice laws risk harming judicial independence and undoing progress achieved over the past 10 years. Moreover, judicial institutions and the legal framework for fighting corruption crimes continue to be under intense pressure.
Corruption persists at all levels and remains an obstacle for doing business. The fight against corruption continued but has faced increased pressure throughout the past year, the report notes.