The organization frames its appeal in the context of overlapping pressures, both external and domestic, arguing that the current moment leaves little room for political disruption.
“Let’s not undo what has started to work. Romania urgently needs real reform, to continue the efforts already underway to reorganize into a more competent state and to reduce the budget deficit.”
RBL points to the broader geopolitical backdrop, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating tensions in the Middle East, alongside internal instability marked by a fractured governing coalition and the prospect of a no-confidence motion.
“We are writing these lines at a time when the war in Ukraine continues at our borders, tensions in the Middle East are escalating, and geopolitical uncertainty is greater than ever. Domestically, the government is threatened with a no-confidence motion, the governing coalition has fractured, and political instability risks becoming the norm rather than the exception. We do not need and this is not the moment for a new political crisis. Not when the economy is slowing, we are under the excessive deficit procedure, and investor confidence is eroding with every new rupture in the coalition. We firmly call for political stability and responsibility.”
The business community’s critique extends to the structure and efficiency of the state, which it describes as a persistent source of cost and friction for the private sector.
“The Romanian state spends poorly and inefficiently. Overlapping institutions, duplicated agencies, state-owned companies that have been losing money for decades, structures that produce nothing but paperwork and costs. And the bill always ends up in the same place: with the private sector.”
RBL also highlights administrative complexity and the limits of partial reforms, arguing for a more fundamental rethink of how public systems interact with businesses.
“An entrepreneur in Romania interacts with the state as if navigating a labyrinth designed by Kafka. Debureaucratization does not mean eliminating forms, it means eliminating the need for forms. And digitalization must be meaningful: the state should not ask you for data it already has.”
State-owned enterprises are singled out as a key area where reform has been delayed, with the organization calling for professional management and structural changes.
“State-owned companies still largely function as political placement agencies. We demand performance: managers chosen for what they know, not for who they know. The restructuring of state-owned companies is not a liberal whim. It is a national urgency.”
Beyond governance issues, the statement raises questions about Romania’s economic direction and the absence of a clear prioritization framework for investments.
“Romania spends poorly and in all directions at once. There are sectors where we are already respected globally: IT, cybersecurity, the automotive industry, business services, creative industries. The strategic question is not ‘what else should we do?’ but ‘what do we choose to be the best at?’ A country without a strategy reacts. A country with a strategy chooses.”
The organization also emphasizes the role of domestic capital in sustaining long-term growth, linking economic independence to the capacity to finance development internally.
“And beyond strategy, there is an even more fundamental question: with what money? Romania cannot build a solid economic future if it does not strengthen its domestic private capital. For the poor, capital means independence. For the wealthy, it means dominance. This applies equally to companies and to countries.”
“Romania still has the reflex of an outstretched hand, we wait to be given things instead of creating the conditions to grow on our own. We move from dependence to smart resource allocation only when we have our own capital. And capital is built, not waited for.”
In this context, RBL is calling for a Pact of Stability and Inclusive Economic Growth, framed as a set of commitments that should be upheld regardless of which party is in power.
“We call for a Pact of Stability and Inclusive Economic Growth. A public commitment, assumed by all parties, regardless of who governs, that:
1. The deficit will be reduced through real reform of the state: debureaucratization, meaningful digitalization, and an administration sized to reality.
2. State-owned companies will be restructured and professionally managed, not politically, alongside their listing on the stock exchange to ensure transparency and improved economic performance.
3. Public investments will be allocated strategically, based on merit and impact, in areas where Romania can excel, with concentrated resources and the courage to abandon what does not work.
4. The development of Romanian capital will be treated as a national priority, because a country that does not primarily finance its growth through its own means will always depend on the decisions of others.”
RBL positions these demands as baseline measures, arguing they reflect economic common sense rather than an ambitious reform agenda.
“It is not much. It is not revolutionary. It is the minimum that economic common sense requires.”
The statement concludes with a broader reflection on the role of the business community in sustaining the economy through multiple crises, alongside a warning that patience and trust are not unlimited.
“We have built in storms, hired in crisis, exported during the pandemic, and paid taxes while others explained why it could not be done. But patience has a price. And trust has a threshold.
Every person in the RBL community has risked something to build something. That is what binds us. That is what legitimizes us to ask. And that is what drives us to continue for as long as needed for a country where our children will want to live.”