2 September 2021 – Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița met today with the leaders of the working groups of the Economic Council under the Prime Minister, during which several draft initiatives to remove constraints on entrepreneurial activity and support businesses in the pandemic period were discussed. According to the Prime Minister, the Government will support impactful initiatives that support the economic environment and society in general, a Government statement said.

“The Government is now working on a series of actions to support the economy, maintain jobs and protect the social welfare of citizens. We will come up with initiatives to subsidise short-time work for employees and increase access to working capital for companies. Similarly, solutions are needed for public and inter-city transport, as these are where the biggest hotbeds of infection are. Together with you, we will analyse the most affected areas and come up with the most targeted actions per sector and policy proposals that would help these sectors remain competitive,” said Natalia Gavrilița.

The heads of the 7 working groups presented proposals in their areas of expertise. They talked about legislative changes related to the digitisation of the economy, harmonisation of national legislation with the European legislation on personal data, improvement of the legal framework in the field of competition. At the same time, it was proposed to reconceptualise the function of the control bodies, with a focus on prevention and advice to entrepreneurs in the application of legislative provisions. Economic initiatives were also presented to facilitate cross-border trade in line with the DCFTA agreement.

Participants also examined several options for promoting technological innovation in various sectors of the economy, such as providing a minimum set of documents in electronic format without the need for physical presentation when picking up the document. In this context, it was agreed to organise a working meeting with the authorities concerned to coordinate the necessary actions.

“We are ready to offer help from the state, to come up with bold policies to stimulate market demand, economic activity and help the vulnerable population. We need to moderate the pandemic wave this autumn and reduce its impact on families and businesses. In a week’s time, I ask that we come up with concrete, systematised actions in different areas. It is important to build on well thought-out analysis and strengthen the capacity of the state,” concluded Prime Minister Gavrilița.

The Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, funded by the UK Government’s Good Governance Fund.