On June 28, 2016, at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania took place the closing event of the project: “The analysis of the impact of existing regulations on a competitive environment in three key sectors of the Romanian economy – A partnership among the OECD, the Romanian Government and the Competition Council”. The project was conducted in the period 2014 – first semester of 2016, its final results being covered by a consistent and pertinent Report launched within this special occasion. The three sectors (selected following consultations with the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the World Bank, and representing 12 percent of Romania’s GDP and 10 percent of our country’s jobs) were food processing, constructions (mainly, construction materials and tenders for civil construction works) and freight transport.
The special event benefited from the participation of Mr. Costin Borc, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy, Trade and Business Environment (who congratulated again the Romanian Competition Council for its responsible involvement in the interactions with business environment, and in significant partnerships), and Mrs. Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since August 2014 (Mrs. Kiviniemi was Finland’s Prime Minister from 2010 to 2011). There were analyzed 895 pieces of legislation in these three sectors, 152 recommendations being made within the framework of the Report (the implementation of these OECD recommendations being included by the government in the National Reform Program). The Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD underlined the importance of implementing these recommendations to Romanian consumers, and the considerable impact on our economy.
The event was opened by Mr. Mihai Daraban, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania, who underlined the traditional co-operation with the Romanian Competition Council, and the importance of the above mentioned project for our business environment.
Mr. Bogdan M. Chiriţoiu, President of the Romanian Competition Council, thanked the Romanian Deputy Prime Minister for the governmental support, reconfirmed the already well-known constant responsible involvement of the Romanian Competition Council (in a more pro-active enforcement approach, while continuously focusing on monitoring the key economic sectors and on protecting the competitive environment so as to increase the productivity and the efficiency of the Romanian economy), and highlighted the good co-operation with OECD within the context of strengthening RCC’s expertise in ensuring the systematic implementation of reforms of the competition regime (taking into account different policy recommendations). On the other hand, Mr. Chiriţoiu explained why this event was held at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania.
It is also worth mentioning the valuable contribution to the success of this event made by other OECD representatives, such as: Alberto Heimler, Chairman of the Working Party on Competition and Regulation, OECD; Sean Ennis, Senior Economist, Competition Division, OECD; Michael Saller, Project Leader Romanian Competition Assessment, Senior Expert, Competition Division, OECD.
Allow us to also remember that Mr. Alberto Heimler is an old great friend of the Romanian Competition Authority, a distinguished member of the so-called international competition family (as Central Director for Research and International Affairs at the Italian Competition Authority, member of the Steering Group of the ICN and co-chair of the Working Group on the Operational Framework, and so on).
