EU RECENT MEMBERS

COUNTRYPROFILE: BULGARIA

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Introduction: Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria is a country in the Balkans in
south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north (mostly
along the River Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece
and Turkey to the south. The Black Sea defines the extent of the country to the east.
With a territory of 110,994 square kilometers, Bulgaria ranks as the third-largest country
in Southeast Europe (after Romania and Greece). Several mountainous areas define the
landscape, most notably the Stara Planina (Balkan) and Rodopi mountain ranges, as well
as the Rila range, which includes the highest peak in the Balkan region, Musala. In
contrast, the Danubian plain in the north and the Upper Thracian Plain in the south
represent Bulgaria's lowest and most fertile regions. The 378-kilometer Black Sea
coastline covers the entire eastern bound of the country.

History: The Fatherland Front, a Communist-dominated political coalition, took over the
government in 1944 and the Communist party increased its membership from 15,000 to
250,000 during the following six months. It established its rule with the coup d'état of
September 9 that year. However, Bulgaria did not become a people's republic until 1946.
It fell under the Soviet sphere of influence, with Georgi Dimitrov (Prime Minister 1946
to 1949) as the foremost Bulgarian political leader. The country installed a Soviet-type
planned economy, although some market-oriented policies emerged on an experimental
level under Todor Zhivkov. By the mid 1950s standards of living rose significantly, and
in 1957 collective farm workers benefited from the first agricultural pension and welfare
system in Eastern Europe. Todor Zhivkov dominated the country from 1956 to 1989, thus
becoming one of the most established Eastern Bloc leaders. Zhivkov asserted Bulgaria's
position as the most reliable Soviet ally, and increased its overall importance in the
Comecon. His daughter Lyudmila Zhivkova became very popular in the country by
promoting national heritage, culture and arts on a global scale. On the other hand, a
forced assimilation campaign of the late 1980s directed against ethnic Turks resulted in
the emigration of some 300,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey.
The People's Republic ended in 1989 as many Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, as
well as the Soviet Union itself, began to collapse. Opposition forced Zhivkov and his
right-hand man Milko Balev to give up their power on 10 November 1989.
In February 1990 the Communist Party voluntarily gave up its monopoly on power, and
in June 1990 free elections took place, won by the moderate wing of the Communist
Party (renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party — BSP). In July 1991, the country adopted
a new constitution that provided for a relatively weak elected President and for a Prime
Minister accountable to the legislature. The 1990s featured high unemployment, unstable
(and often high) inflation rates and discontent of the market system.
Since 1989, Bulgaria has held multi-party elections and privatized its economy, but
economic difficulties and a tide of corruption have led over 800,000 Bulgarians, most of
them qualified professionals, to emigrate in a "brain drain". The reform package
introduced in 1997 restored positive economic growth, but led to rising social inequality.
Bulgaria became a member of NATO in 2004 and of the European Union in 2007, and
the US Library of Congress Federal Research Division reported it in 2006 as having
generally good freedom of speech and human rights records. In 2007 the A.T.
Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine globalization index ranked Bulgaria 36th (between the
PRC and Iceland) out of 122 countries.

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Demographics: The National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria estimates the country's
population for 2009 at 7,606,000 people. According to the 2001 census, it consists mainly
of ethnic Bulgarians (83.9%), with two sizable minorities, Turks (9.4%) and Roma
(4.7%). Of the remaining 2.0%, 0.9% comprises some 40 smaller minorities, most
prominently (in numbers) the Russians, Armenians, Arabs, Chinese, Vlachs, Jews,
Vietnamese, Crimean Tatars and Sarakatsani (historically known also as Karakachans).
1.1% of the population did not declare their ethnicity in the latest census in 2001.
In recent years Bulgaria has had one of the lowest population growth rates in the world.
Negative population growth has occurred since the early 1990s, due to economic collapse
and high emigration. In 1989 the population comprised 9,009,018 people, gradually
falling to 7,950,000 in 2001 and 7,606,000 in 2009. As of 2009 the population had a
fertility-rate of 1.48 children per woman in 2008. The fertility rate will need to reach 2.2
to restore natural growth in population.
Islam came to the country at the end of the fourteenth century after the conquest of the
country by the Ottomans. In the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, missionaries
from Rome converted Paulicians from the districts of Plovdiv and Svishtov to Roman
Catholicism. As of 2009 Bulgaria's Jewish community, once one of the largest in Europe,
numbers less than 2,000 people.

Value System: A number of ancient civilizations, most notably

the Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs, and Bulgars, have left their mark on the culture,
history and heritage of Bulgaria. Thracian artifacts include numerous tombs and golden
treasures, while ancient Bulgars have left traces of their heritage in music and early
architecture. Thracian rituals such as the Zarezan, Kukeri and Martenitza are to this day
kept alive in the modern Bulgarian culture.The oldest treasure of worked gold in the
world, dating back to the 5th millennium BC, comes from the site of the Varna
Necropolis.
Bulgaria functioned as the hub of Slavic Europe during much of the Middle Ages,
exerting considerable literary and cultural influence over the Eastern Orthodox Slavic
world by means of the Preslav and Ohrid Literary Schools. Bulgaria also gave the world
the Cyrillic alphabet, the second most-widely used alphabetin the world, which originated
in these two schools in the tenth century AD. Bulgaria's contribution to humanity
continued throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with individuals such
as John Atanasoff — a United States citizen of Bulgarian descent, regarded as the father
of the digital computer. A number of noted opera-singers (Nicolai Ghiaurov, Boris
Christoff, Raina Kabaivanska, Ghena Dimitrova, Anna Tomowa-Sintow,Vesselina
Kasarova), pianist Alexis Weissenberg, and successful artists (Christo, Pascin,Vladimir
Dimitrov) popularized the culture of Bulgaria abroad.
Bulgaria has a rich heritage in the visual arts, especially in frescoes, murals and icons.
The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak offers fine examples of excellently preserved ancient
Thracian art. Tomb art provides one of the most important sources of information about
Thracian lifestyle and culture. Visual arts in the Bulgarian lands experienced an upsurge
during the entire period of the Middle ages. The crypt of the Alexander Nevski cathedral
features an exhibition of a large collection of medieval icons. The earliest of those dates
from around the 9th century AD. The Tarnovo Artistic School, the mainstream of the
Bulgarian fine arts and architecture between 13th and 14th centuries, takes its name from

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the capital and main cultural center of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Tarnovo. Although
it shows the influence of some tendencies of the Palaeologan Renaissance in the
Byzantine Empire, the Tarnovo painting had its own unique features which make it a
separate artistic school.
Owing to the relatively warm climate and diverse geography affording excellent growth-
conditions for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits, Bulgarian cuisine offers great
diversity.
Famous for its rich salads required at every meal, Bulgarian cuisine also features diverse
quality dairy products and a variety of wines and local alcoholic drinks such as rakia,
mastika and menta. Bulgarian cuisine also features a variety of hot and cold soups, for
example tarator. Many different Bulgarian pastries exist as well, such as banitsa, a
traditional pastry prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of sirene
(Feta cheese) between filo pastry and then baking it in an oven.
Bulgaria is officially a secular nation and the Constitution guarantees the free exercise of
religion but appoints Orthodoxy as an official religion. In the 2001 census, 82.6%
Bulgarians declared themselves Orthodox Christians, 12,2% Muslim, 1.2% other
Christian denominations, 4% other religions (Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Judaism)
and zero percent atheists. Most citizens of Bulgaria have associations at least nominally
with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Founded in 870 AD under the Patriarchate of
Constantinople (from which it obtained its first primate, its clergy and theological texts),
the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had autocephalous status since 927 AD. The Church
became subordinate within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, twice during the periods of
Byzantine (1018 – 1185) and Ottoman (1396 – 1878) domination. It was re-established
first in 1870 in the form of the Bulgarian Exarchate, and then in the 1950s as the
Bulgarian Patriarchate.

Business Environment: Bulgaria features notable diversity, with the landscape ranging
from the Alpine snow-capped peaks in Rila, Pirin and the Balkan Mountains to the mild
and sunny Black Sea coast; from the typically continental Danubian Plain (ancient
Moesia) in the north to the strong Mediterranean climatic influence in the valleys of
Macedonia and in the lowlands in the southernmost parts of Thrace.
Bulgaria occupies a unique and strategically important geographic location. Since ancient
times, the country has served as a major crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa.
Five of the ten Trans-European corridors run through its territory.
The national road network has a total length of 102,016 km (63,390 mi), 93,855 km
(58,319 mi) of them paved and 441 km (274 mi) of them motorways. Planning or
construction has started for several motorways: Trakiya motorway, Hemus motorway,
Cherno More motorway, Struma motorway, Maritza motorway and Lyulin motorway.
Bulgaria also has 6,500 km (4,000 mi) of railway track, more than 60% electrified. A
€360,000,000 project exists for the modernisation and electrification of the Plovdiv–
Kapitan Andreevo railway. The only high-speed railway in the region, between Sofia and
Vidin, will operate by 2017, at a cost of €3,000,000,000.
Air travel has developed relatively comprehensively. Bulgaria has six official
international airports at Sofia, Burgas, Varna, Plovdiv, Rousse and Gorna Oryahovitsa.
After the fall of the communist government in 1989, most of the smaller domestic
airports stood unused as the importance of domestic flights declined. The country has

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many military airports and agricultural airfields, with 128 of the 213 airports in Bulgaria
paved.
The most important shipping ports by far, Varna and Burgas, have the largest turnover.
Burgas, Sozopol, Nesebar and Pomorie support large fishing fleets. Large ports on the
Danube River include Rousse and Lom (which serves the capital).
Bulgaria has a well-developed communications network (despite a somewhat antiquated
fixed-line telephone system), with extensive Internet and cellular communications. The
years after 2000 saw a rapid increase in the number of Internet users: in 2000, they
numbered 430,000, in 2004 – 1,545,100, and in 2006 – 2.2 million. The population of 7
to 6 million people uses some 11 million cell phones.

Political Situation: Since 1991 Bulgaria has a democratic, unitary parliamentary

republican constitution.
The National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie consists of 240 deputies, each elected for
four-year terms by popular vote. A party or coalition must win a minimum of 4% of the
vote to enter parliament. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the
budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister and other
ministers, declare war, deploy troops abroad, and ratify international treaties and
agreements. Boyko Borisov, de facto leader of the centre-right party Citizens for
European Development of Bulgaria, became prime minister on 27 July 2009.
The president serves as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He
also chairs the Consultative Council for National Security. While unable to initiate
legislation other than Constitutional amendments, the President can return a bill for
further debate, although the parliament can override the President's veto by vote of a
majority of all MPs.
Bulgaria became a member of the United Nations in 1955, and a founding member of
OSCE in 1995. As a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty, the country takes part in
the administration of the territories situated south of 60° south latitude. The country
joined NATO on 29 March 2004 and signed the European Union Treaty of Accession on
25 April 2005. It became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007, and
elects 17 members to the European Parliament.
Bulgaria has embassies in all European countries except Latvia and Iceland, as well as 40
other countries, and hosts the embassies of 68 nations in its capital.

Legal System: The process of formation of the contemporary legal system of Bulgaria
starts with the liberation of the country from Ottoman political domination in 1878. It is
marked by the adoption of the first Bulgarian constitution – the Turnovo Constitution
signed on 16 April 1879, a founding document upholding the most progressive and
democratic principles dominating in Europe in the nineteenth century.
The modern Bulgarian legal system is influenced by two very important factors: the
democratization and liberalization of the country’s economy, which started after the fall
of the Communist regime in 1989, on the one hand, and the integration of Bulgaria into
the EU, on the other. The Bulgarian legal system evolved through a profound and strictly-
monitored alteration in order to achieve coherence with the acquis communautaire. The
country signed an EU Accession Agreement on 25 April 2005 in Luxembourg and the
expected date for Accession of Bulgaria to the EU is 1 January 2007 (the final report of

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the European Commission on accession of the country to the EU will be issued in
October 2006). Upon accession the EU legislation will become an integral part of
Bulgarian legal system.

Economy: Bulgaria has an industrialized, open free market economy, with a large,
moderately advanced private sector and a number of strategic state-owned enterprises.
The World Bank classifies it as an "upper-middle-income economy". Bulgaria has
experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, even though it continues to rank as
the lowest-income member state of the EU. According to Eurostat data, Bulgarian PPS
GDP per capita stood at 40 per cent of the EU average in 2008. The United States Central
Intelligence Agency estimated Bulgarians' GDP per capita at $12,900 in 2008, or about a
third that of Belgium. The economy relies primarily on industry and agriculture,
although the services sector increasingly contributes to GDP growth. Bulgaria produces a
significant amount of manufactures and raw materials such
as iron, copper, gold, bismuth, coal, electronics, refined petroleum fuels, vehicle
components, weapons and construction materials.

Bulgaria tamed its inflation after a deep economic crisis in 1996–1997, but figures
showed an increase in the inflation rate to 12.3% for 2008. The unemployment rate
declined from more than 17% in the mid 1990s to nearly 7% in 2007, but in some rural
areas it still continues in high double digits. Bulgaria's inflation means that the country's
adoption of the euro might not take place until the year 2013–2014. Corruption in the
public administration and a weak judiciary has also hampered Bulgaria's economic
development.

Amidst the Financial crisis of 2007–2010, unemployment rates remained relatively low at
6.3% for 2008, but increased to almost 8% in 2009. GDP growth in 2008 remained high
(6%), but turned largely negative in 2009. The crisis had a negative impact mostly on
industry, with a 10% decline in the national industrial production index, a 31% drop in
mining, and a 60% drop in "ferrous and metal production". The government predicts a
decline of 2.2% of GDP in 2010, with a budget deficit of 0.7%.

Technological Developments: Bulgaria spends 0.4% of its GDP on scientific research,

or roughly $376 million on a 2008 basis. Since 1989 scientific activities in the country
have been hampered by chronically underinvestment and lack of government interest, and
currently Bulgaria has one of the lowest scientific budgets in Europe. This leads to a
significant brain drain and many scientific professionals leave the country. The country
has a strong tradition in mathematics, astronomy, physics, nuclear technology and

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sciences-oriented education, and has significant experience in medical and
pharmaceutical research. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), the leading
scientific institution in the country, employs most of Bulgaria's researchers in its
numerous branches.Bulgarian scientists have made several important discoveries and
inventions that have revolutionized global society: the world's first electronic digital
computer, designed by Bulgarian-American scientist John Vincent Atanasoff; the first
electronic digital watch (Peter Petroff), the first purpose-built aircraft bombs (capt.
Simeon Petrov); nivalin (prof. Dimitar Paskov); the molecular-kinetic theory of crystal
formation and crystal growth (formulated by Ivan Stranski) and photo electrets (Georgi
Nadjakov), the last forming an important step in the development of the first photocopier
machine. Bulgaria became the 6th country in the world to have an astronaut in space:
major-general Georgi Ivanov on Soyuz 33 (1979), followed by lieutenant-colonel
Alexander Alexandrov on Soyuz TM-5 (1988).Among Bulgaria's most advanced
scientific branches computer technology features highly and in the 1980s the country
became known as the Silicon Valley of the Eastern Bloc. According to the Brain bench
Global IT IQ report, Bulgaria ranks first in Europe in terms of IT-certified specialists per
capita and 8th in the world in total ICT specialists, out-performing countries with far
larger populations. In addition, Bulgaria operates one of the most powerful
supercomputers in Eastern Europe, an IBM Blue Gene/P, which entered service in
September 2008.

Exports & Imports of Bulgaria:

Exports $22.3 billion (2008)

Export goods clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery

and equipment, fuels

Main export EU 60%, Turkey 7%, Serbia 3.1%, Russia 2.2%,

partners Macedonia 1.6%, US 1.1% (2008)

Imports $35.3 billion (2008)

Import goods machinery and equipment, metals and ores,

chemicals and plastics, fuels, minerals, and raw
materials

Main import EU 52%, Russia 13%, Ukraine 7%, Turkey 4%,

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 partners China 2%, Georgia 1% (2008)

Gross external $54.01 billion (December 2008)

debt

Industrial Structure: Agriculture: Agricultural output has decreased overall since 1989,
but production has grown in recent years, and together with related industries like food
processing it still plays a key role in the economy. Arable farming predominates over
stock breeding. Agricultural equipment amounts to over 150,000 tractors and 10,000
combine harvesters, as well as a large fleet of light aircraft. Bulgaria ranks as one of the
top world producers of agricultural commodities such as anise (6th in the world),
sunflower seed (11th), raspberries (13th), tobacco (15th), chili peppers (18th) and flax
fibre (19th). Energy, industry and mining: Although Bulgaria has relatively few reserves
of natural fuels such as oil and gas, it produces significant amounts of metals and
minerals, and its well-developed energy sector plays a crucial role throughout the
Balkans. The country's strategic geographical location makes it a major hub for transit
and distribution of oil and natural gas from Russia to Western Europe and to other Balkan
states. In terms of electricity production per capita, it ranks fourth in Eastern Europe. In
addition, Bulgaria has an active nuclear industry for peaceful purposes. The only
Bulgarian nuclear power plant operates in the vicinity of Kozloduy, and has a total
capacity of 3,760 MW. Construction of a second nuclear power plant has started near
Belene with a projected capacity of 2,000 MW. Thermal power plants (TPPs) provide a
significant amount of energy, with most of the capacity concentrated in the Maritsa Iztok
Complex. Bulgaria ranks as a minor oil producer (97th in the world) with a total
production of 3,520 bbl/day. Prospectors discovered Bulgaria's first oil field near
Tyulenovo in 1951. Proved reserves amount to 15,000,000 bbl. Natural gas production
halted in the late 1990s. Proved reserves of natural gas amount to 5.663 bln. Recent years
have seen a steady increase in electricity production from renewable energy sources such
as wind and solar power, although it still relies mostly on coal and nuclear power plants.
Due to the abundance of forests and agricultural land, biomass can provide a viable
source of electricity. Wind energy has large-scale prospects, with up to 3,400 MW of
installed capacity potential. As of 2009 Bulgaria operates more than 70 wind turbines
with a total capacity of 112.6 MW, and plans to increase their number nearly threefold to
reach a total capacity of 300 MW in 2010. Mining produces important exports and has
become pivotal to the economy. The country ranks as the 19th-largest coal producer in
the world, 9th-largest bismuth producer, 19th-largest copper producer, and the 26th-

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largest zinc producer. Ferrous metallurgy also has major importance. Much of the
production of steel and pig iron takes place in Kremikovtsi and Pernik, with a third
metallurgical base in Debelt. The largest refineries for lead and zinc operate in Plovdiv,
Kardzhali and Novi Iskar; for copper in Pirdop and for aluminium in Shumen. In
production of many metals per capita, such as zinc and iron, Bulgaria ranks first in
Eastern Europe; it also produces the largest quantity of steel in the region. About 14% of
the total industrial production relates to machine building, and 20% of the people work in
this field.

COUNTRY PROFILE: ROMANIA

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Introduction: Romania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North
of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch,

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bordering on the Black Sea. Almost the entire Danube Delta is located within its territory.
Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic
of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south.
Romania has the 9th largest territory and the 7th largest population (with 21.5 million
people) among the European Union member states. Its capital and largest city is
Bucharest the 6th largest city in the EU with 1.9 million people. In 2007, Sibiu, a city in
Transylvania, was chosen as a European Capital of Culture. Romania also joined NATO
on March 29, 2004, and is also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie, of the
OSCE and of the United Nations, as well as an associate member of the CPLP. Romania
is a semi-presidential unitary state.

History: During the period of Austro-Hungarian rule in Transylvania, and Ottoman

suzerainty over Wallachia and Moldavia, most Romanians were in the situation of being
second-class citizens (or even non-citizens) in a territory where they formed the majority
of the population. In some Transylvanian cities, such as Braşov (at that time the
Transylvanian Saxon citadel of Kronstadt), Romanians were not even allowed to reside
within the city walls. After the failed 1848 Revolution, the Great Powers did not support
the Romanians' expressed desire to officially unite in a single state, which forced
Romania to proceed alone against the Ottomans. The electors in both Moldavia and
Wallachia chose in 1859 the same person –Alexandru Ioan Cuza– as prince (Domnitor in
Romanian). Thus, Romania was created as a personal union, albeit a Romania that did
not include Transylvania. There, the upper class and the aristocracy remained mainly
Hungarian, and Romanian nationalism inevitably ran up against Hungarian in the late
19th century. As in the previous 900 years, Austria-Hungary, especially under the Dual
Monarchy of 1867, kept the Hungarians firmly in control even in the parts of
Transylvania where Romanians constituted a local majority.
In a 1866 coup d'état, Cuza was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-
Sigmaringen, who became known as Prince Carol of Romania. During the Russo-Turkish
War Romania fought on the Russian side, in and in the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Romania
was recognized as an independent state by the Great Powers. In return, Romania ceded
three southern districts of Bessarabia to Russia and acquired Dobruja. In 1881, the
principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol became King Carol I.
The 1878–1914 period was one of stability and progress for Romania. During the Second
Balkan War, Romania joined Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey against Bulgaria,
and in the peace Treaty of Bucharest (1913) Romania gained Southern Dobrudja.1989
marked the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. A mid-December protest in Timişoara
against the eviction of a Hungarian minister (László Tőkés) grew into a country-wide
protest against the Ceauşescu régime, sweeping the dictator from power. On December
22, President Nicolae Ceauşescu had his apparatus gather a mass-meeting in Bucharest
downtown in an attempt to rally popular support for his regime and publicly condemn the
mass protests of Timişoara. This meeting mirrored the mass-meeting gathered in 1968
when Ceauşescu had spoken out against the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw
Treaty countries. This time however, the people turned angry and riot broke out. During
the events of the following week, marked by confusion and street fighting, it is estimated
that 1,051 people lost their lives. To this day, the real number of casualties are unknown
and so are the identities of the individuals responsible for them. Those responsible for the

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casualties are still called "the terrorists". Ceauşescu was arrested in Târgovişte. After a
summary trial by a kangaroo court, he and his wife were executed on December 25.
During the Romanian Revolution of 1989, power was taken by a group called the
National Salvation Front (FSN), which grouped a large number of former members of the
Communist Party and Securitate (the Romanian equivalent of the KGB) but also a small
number of dissidents and other participants in the uprising who genuinely thought the
FSN to be an anti-Communist movement. The FSN quickly assumed the mission of
restoring civil order and immediately took seemingly democratic measures. The
Communist Party was thus outlawed, and Ceauşescu's most unpopular measures, such as
bans on abortion and contraception, were rolled back.

Demographics: According to the 2002 census, Romania has a population of 21,698,181

and, similarly to other countries in the region, is expected to gently decline in the coming
years as a result of sub-replacement fertility rates. Romanians make up 89.5% of the
population. The largest ethnic minorities are the Szekelys and Hungarians, who make up
6.6% of the population and Romanies (Gypsies), who make up 2.46% of the population.
Hungarians constitute a majority in the counties of Harghita and Covasna. Ukrainians,
Germans, Lipovans, Turks, Tatars, Serbs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Russians,
Jews, Czechs, Poles, Italians, Armenians, as well as other ethnic groups, account for the
remaining 1.4% of the population. Of the 745,421 Germans in Romania in 1930, only
about 60,000 remained. In 1924, there were 796,056 Jews in the Kingdom of Romania.
The number of Romanians and individuals with ancestors born in Romania living abroad
is estimated at around 12 million.
Languages
The official language of Romania is Romanian, an Eastern Romance language related to
Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan. Romanian is spoken as a first language
by 91% of the population, with Hungarian and Romani, being the most important
minority languages, spoken by 6.7% and 1.1% of the population, respectively. Until the
1990s, there was also a substantial number of German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons,
even though many have since emigrated to Germany, leaving only 45,000 native German
speakers in Romania. In localities where a given ethnic minority makes up more than
20% of the population, that minority's language can be used in the public administration
and justice system, while native-language education and signage is also provided. English
and French are the main foreign languages taught in schools. English is spoken by 5
million Romanians, French is spoken by 4–5 million, and German, Italian and Spanish
are each spoken by 1–2 million people. Historically, French was the predominant foreign
language spoken in Romania, even though English has since superseded it. Consequently,
Romanian English-speakers tend to be younger than Romanian French-speakers.
Romania is, however, a full member of La Francophonie, and hosted the Francophonie
Summit in 2006. German has been taught predominantly in Transylvania, due to
traditions tracing back to the Austro-Hungarian rule in this province.
Romania is a secular state, thus having no national religion. The dominant religious body
is the Romanian Orthodox Church, an autocephalous church within the Eastern Orthodox
communion; its members make up 86.7% of the population according to the 2002 census.
Other important Christian denominations include Roman Catholicism (4.7%),
Protestantism (3.7%), Pentecostalism (1.5%) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church

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(0.9%). Romania also has a Muslim minority concentrated in Dobrogea, mostly of
Turkish ethnicity and numbering 67,500 people. Based on the 2002 census data, there are
also 6,179 Jews, 23,105 people who are of no religion and/or atheist, and 11,734 who
refused to answer. On December 27, 2006, a new Law on Religion was approved under
which religious denominations can only receive official registration if they have at least
20,000 members, or about 0.1 percent of Romania's total population.
Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Romanian educational system has been in a
continuous process of reform that has been both praised and criticized. According to the
Law on Education adopted in 1995, the educational system is regulated by the Ministry
of Education and Research. Each level has its own form of organization and is subject to
different legislation. Kindergarten is optional for children between 3 and 6 years old.
Schooling starts at age 7 (sometimes 6), and is compulsory until the 10th grade (which
usually corresponds to the age of 17 or 16). Primary and secondary education are divided
into 12 or 13 grades. Higher education is aligned with the European higher education
area.

Value System: Romania has its unique culture, which is the product of its geography and
of its distinct historical evolution. Like Romanians themselves, it is fundamentally
defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the
Balkans, but cannot be truly included in any of them. The Romanian identity formed on a
substratum of mixed Roman and quite possibly Dacian elements, with many other
influences. During late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the major influences came from
the Slavic peoples who migrated and settled in near Romania; from medieval Greeks, and
the Byzantine Empire; from a long domination by the Ottoman Empire; from the
Hungarians; and from the Germans living in Transylvania. Modern Romanian culture
emerged and developed over roughly the last 250 years under a strong influence from
Western culture, particularly French, and German culture.
The first half of the 20th century is regarded by many Romanian scholars as the Golden
Age of Romanian culture and it is the period when it reached its main level of
international affirmation and a strong connection to the European cultural trends. The
most important artist who had a great influence on the world culture was the sculptor
Constantin Brâncuşi, a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of
abstraction, the innovator of world sculpture by immersion in the primordial sources of
folk creation. His sculptures blend simplicity and sophistication that led the way for
modernist sculptors. As a testimony to his skill, one of his pieces, "Bird in Space" , was
sold in an auction for $27.5 million in 2005, a record for any sculpture. In the period
between the two world wars, authors like Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga, Eugen
Lovinescu, Ion Barbu, Liviu Rebreanu made efforts to synchronize Romanian literature
with the European literature of the time. George Enescu, probably the best known
Romanian musician, also came from this period; a composer, violinist, pianist, conductor,
and teacher, the annual George Enescu Festival is held in Bucharest in his honor.
The UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites includes Romanian sites such as the Saxon
villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the Painted churches of northern
Moldavia with their fine exterior and interior frescoes, the Wooden Churches of
Maramures unique examples that combine Gothic style with traditional timber
construction, the Monastery of Horezu, the citadel of Sighişoara, and the Dacian

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Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains. Romania's contribution to the World Heritage List
stands out because it consists of some groups of monuments scattered around the country,
rather than one or two special landmarks. Also, in 2007, the city of Sibiu famous for its
Brukenthal National Museum is the European Capital of Culture alongside the city of
Luxembourg.

Business Environment: With a surface area of 238,391 square kilometres (92,043 sq

mi), Romania is the largest country in southeastern Europe and the twelfth-largest in
Europe. A large part of Romania's border with Serbia and Bulgaria is formed by the
Danube. The Danube is joined by the Prut River, which forms the border with the
Republic of Moldova. The Danube flows into the Black Sea within Romania's territory
forming the Danube Delta, the second largest and the best preserved delta in Europe, and
a biosphere reserve and a biodiversity World Heritage Site. Other important rivers are the
Siret, running north-south through Moldavia, the Olt, running from the oriental
Carpathian Mountains to Oltenia, and the Mureş, running through Transylvania from East
to West.
A high percentage (47% of the land area) of the country is covered with natural and semi-
natural ecosystems. Since almost half of all forests in Romania (13% of the country) have
been managed for watershed conservation rather than production, Romania has one of the
largest areas of undisturbed forest in Europe. The integrity of Romanian forest
ecosystems is indicated by the presence of the full range of European forest fauna,
including 60% and 40% of all European brown bears and wolves, respectively. There are
also almost 400 unique species of mammals (of which Carpathian chamois are best
known), birds, reptiles and amphibians in Romania.
Owing to its distance from the open sea and position on the southeastern portion of the
European continent, Romania has a climate that is transitional between temperate and
continental with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 11 °C (52 °F) in
the south and 8 °C (46 °F) in the north. The extreme recorded temperatures are 44.5 °C
(112.1 °F) in Ion Sion 1951 and −38.5 °C (−37 °F) in Bod 1942.
Due to its location, Romania is a major crossroad for International economic exchange in
Europe. However, because of insufficient investment, maintenance and repair, the
transport infrastructure does not meet the current needs of a market economy and lags
behind Western Europe. Nevertheless, these conditions are rapidly improving and
catching up with the standards of Trans-European transport networks. Several projects
have been started with funding from grants from ISPA and several loans from
International Financial Institutions (World Bank, IMF, etc.) guaranteed by the state, to
upgrade the main road corridors. Also, the Government is actively pursuing new external
financing or public-private partnerships to further upgrade the main roads, and especially
the country's motorway network.

Political System: The Constitution of Romania is based on the Constitution of France's

Fifth Republic and was approved in a national referendum on December 8, 1991. A

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plebiscite held in October 2003 approved 79 amendments to the Constitution, bringing it
into conformity with European Union legislation. Romania is governed on the basis of
multi-party democratic system and of the segregation of the legislative, executive and
judicial powers. Romania is a semi-presidential democratic republic where executive
functions are shared between the president and the prime minister. The President is
elected by popular vote for maximum two terms, and since the amendments in 2003, the
terms are five years. The President appoints the Prime Minister, who in turn appoints the
Council of Ministers. While the president resides at Cotroceni Palace, the Prime Minister
with the Romanian Government is based at Victoria Palace.
The legislative branch of the government, collectively known as the Parliament
(Parlamentul României), consists of two chambers – the Senate (Senat), which has 140
members, and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor), which has 346 members.
The members of both chambers are elected every four years under a system of party-list
proportional representation.
The justice system is independent of the other branches of government, and is made up of
a hierarchical system of courts culminating in the High Court of Cassation and Justice,
which is the supreme court of Romania. There are also courts of appeal, county courts
and local courts. The Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the French
model, considering that it is based on civil law and is inquisitorial in nature. The
Constitutional Court (Curtea Constituţională) is responsible for judging the compliance of
laws and other state regulations to the Romanian Constitution, which is the fundamental
law of the country. The constitution, which was introduced in 1991, can only be amended
by a public referendum, the last one being in 2003. Since this amendment, the court's
decisions cannot be overruled by any majority of the parliament.
The country's entry into the European Union in 2007 has been a significant influence on
its domestic policy. As part of the process, Romania has instituted reforms including
judicial reform, increased judicial cooperation with other member states, and measures to
combat corruption. Nevertheless, in 2006 Brussels report, Romania and Bulgaria were
described as the two most corrupt countries in the EU, and it was ranked as the most
corrupt EU country by Transparency International in 2009, alongside Bulgaria and
Greece.

Legal System: The Judiciary is the third component within the political system. It is an
autonomous power, with an independent budget. The Judiciary is represented by the
courts, the Prosecutor's Office, and the investigation authorities. Judges, assessors,
prosecutors and examining magistrates are subject only to the law. Jurisdiction is
performed by district and military courts. It should be performed by the Supreme Court
of Causation, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Court of Appeal, but the last two are
not yet established. The law makes no provisions for extraordinary courts. The courts
guarantee equality and conditions for fair competition between the sides in legal
proceedings. The Chief Prosecutor exercises control and supervision over the legality of
the activity of all prosecutors. The investigating authorities are incorporated in the system
of judiciary power. They carry out the preliminary investigations of criminal cases.

The Supreme Legal Council has 45 members. The judges, prosecutors, and examining
magistrates have immunity, as do the parliamentary deputies. The Constitutional Court

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has a special place in the system of judiciary power, being the supreme arbiter of the
different powers in conflicts that arise during the performance of their rights and duties,
and in the relations between them.

Economy: With a GDP of around $264 billion and a GDP per capita (PPP) of $12,285
estimated for 2008, Romania is an upper-middle income country economy and has been
part of the European Union since January 1, 2007.
After the Communist regime was overthrown in late 1989, the country experienced a
decade of economic instability and decline, led in part by an obsolete industrial base and
a lack of structural reform. From 2000 onwards, however, the Romanian economy was
transformed into one of relative macroeconomic stability, characterized by high growth,
low unemployment and declining inflation. In 2006, according to the Romanian Statistics
Office, GDP growth in real terms was recorded at 7.7%, one of the highest rates in
Europe. Growth dampened to 6.1% in 2007, but was expected to exceed 8% in 2008
because of a high production forecast in agriculture (30–50% higher than in 2007). The
GDP grew by 8.9% in the first nine months of 2008, but growth fell to 2.9% in the fourth
quarter and stood at 7.1% for the whole 2008 because of the financial crisis.
According to Eurostat data, the Romanian PPS GDP per capita stood at 46% of the EU
average in 2008. Unemployment in Romania was at 3.9% in September 2007, which is
very low compared to other middle-sized or large European countries such as Poland,
France, Germany and Spain. Foreign debt is also comparatively low, at 20.3% of GDP.
Exports have increased substantially in the past few years, with a 25% year-on-year rise
in exports in the first quarter of 2006. Romania's main exports are clothing and textiles,
industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metallurgic products, raw
materials, cars, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and
agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers). Trade is mostly centered on the
member states of the European Union, with Germany and Italy being the country's single
largest trading partners. The country, however, maintains a large trade deficit, which
increased sharply during 2007 by 50%, to €15 billon.
After a series of privatizations and reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, government
intervention in the Romanian economy is somewhat lower than in other European
economies. In 2005, the government replaced Romania's progressive tax system with a
flat tax of 16% for both personal income and corporate profit, resulting in the country
having the lowest fiscal burden in the European Union, a factor which has contributed to
the growth of the private sector. The economy is predominantly based on services, which
account for 55% of GDP, even though industry and agriculture also have significant
contributions, making up 35% and 10% of GDP, respectively. Additionally, 32% of the
Romanian population is employed in agriculture and primary production, one of the
highest rates in Europe.
Since 2000, Romania has attracted increasing amounts of foreign investment, becoming
the single largest investment destination in Southeastern and Central Europe. Foreign
direct investment was valued at €8.3 billion in 2006. According to a 2006 World Bank
report, Romania currently ranks 49th out of 175 economies in the ease of doing business,
scoring higher than other countries in the region such as Hungary and the Czech
Republic. Additionally, the same study judged it to be the world's second-fastest
economic reformer (after Georgia) in 2006. The average gross wage per month in

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Romania was 1855 lei in May 2009, equating to €442.48 (US$627.70) based on
international exchange rates, and $1110.31 based on purchasing power parity. In 2009 the
Romanian economy contracted as a result of the global economic downturn. Gross
domestic product contracted 7.1% in the third quarter of 2009 from the same period a
year earlier, and the IMF estimates that the budget deficit will be as high as 7.8%

Technological Developments: The Romanian Information Technology Initiative

(RITI), is part of the DOT-COM Alliance which consists of three USAID funded
Leader-with-Associates cooperative agreements (CAs), each with specific areas of ICT
expertise, two of which are present in Romanian;

• dot-GOV: (RITI Policy) led by Internews Network Promotes policy and

regulatory reform to create enabling environments for ICT, including e-
commerce, e-Government and an open and secure Internet but also trade in
telecom services
• dot-ORG: (RITI Access)Extends ICT access to under-served communities and
accelerates the applications of development-related uses of ICT -led by the
Academy of Educational Development (AED).

Initially RITI dot-Gov, also called RITI Policy, assisted primarily with issues of
importance to create a regulatory environment that could handle the transition from a
monopoly market for telecommunications to a fully open competitive market. Various
training activities were organized for the new regulator, ANRC, but some assistance was
also given to the private sector with a specific focus on SMEs.

Other workshops focused on discussing new wireless solutions that could be constructive
for Romania and elaborated on the kind of regulatory measurements that would be
necessary to facilitate their implementation.

During its third and last year of operation RITI dot-Gov is focusing primarily on cyber-
security and e-Government related topics of specific interest to MCTI.

RITI dot-Gov has access to a number of experts from United States and from different
parts of Europe.

Exports & Imports of Romania: Italy is Romania's largest trading partner; two-way
trade totaled some $22.6 billion in 2007. The principal Italy exports to Romania include
computers, integrated circuits, aircraft parts and other defense equipment, wheat, and
automobiles. Romania's chief exports to Italy include cut diamonds, jewelry, integrated
circuits, printing machinery, and telecommunications equipment. 2.8% of the country's
GDP is derived from Agricultural activity. While Romania imports substantial quantities
of grain, it is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products and food stuffs, due to
the fact that food must be regulated for sale in the Romania retail market, and hence
imports almost no food products from other countries. Romania imported in 2006 food
products of 2.4 billion euros, up almost 20% versus 2005, when the imports were worth

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slightly more than 2 billion euros. The EU is Romania's main partner in the trade with
agri-food products. The exports to this destination represent 64%, and the imports from
the EU countries represent 54%. Other important partners are the CEFTA countries,
Turkey, Republic of Moldova and the USA. Romania is one of the world's major
exporters of military equipment, accounting for 3-4% of the world total in 2007. EU
members are represented by a single official at the World Trade Organization.

Industrial Structure: Romania has been successful in developing dynamic

telecommunications, aerospace and weapons sectors. Industry and construction accounted
for 32% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, a comparatively large share even
without taking into account related services. The sector employed 26.4% of the
workforce. With the manufacture of 245,000 vehicles in 2008, Romania was the Europe's
twelfth largest producer of automobiles. In 2004 Romania enjoyed one of the largest
world market share in machine tools (5.3%). Romanian-based companies such as
Automobile Dacia, Petrom, Rompetrol and Bitdefender are well known throughout
Southeast Europe. However, small- to medium-sized manufacturing firms still form bulk
of the manufacturing sector. These firms employ two-thirds of the Romanian workforce.
Romania's industrial output is expected to advance 9% in 2007, while agriculture output
is projected to grow 12%. Final consumption is also expected to increase by 11% overall
- individual consumption by 14.4% and collective consumption by 10.4%. Domestic
demand is expected to go up 12.7%.
The growth of the industrial sector was the principal stimulus to economic development.
In 2007 manufacturing industries accounted for approximately 35 percent of the gross
domestic product and 29 percent of the work force. Benefiting from strong domestic
encouragement and foreign aid, Bucharest's industrialists introduced modern technologies
into outmoded or newly built facilities at a rapid pace, increased the production of
commodities especially those for sale in foreign markets and plowed the proceeds back
into further industrial expansion. As a result, industry recovered from the decline of the
1990s, and was expected to grow by 7.1% in 2008.
Except for mining, most industries were located in the urban areas of the northwest and
southeast. Heavy industries generally were located in the south of the country. Factories
in Bucharest contributed over 25 percent of all manufacturing value-added in 1998; taken
together with factories in surrounding Ilfov, factories in the Bucharest area produced 26
percent of all manufacturing that year. Factories in Bucharest employed 12 percent of the
nation's 2.1 million factory workers.

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