Romania is in first place among the eight candidate countries for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said on Tuesday Luca Niculescu, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) and national coordinator for the OECD accession process.

“We still have to adopt, when the decision to join is made, the accession agreement that Parliament must adopt. But we have made good progress, at the moment we are in first place among the eight countries I was talking about, because there was political will at all levels: president, prime minister, several prime ministers, Parliament. We also had strong support. Not to mention the private sector, because the private sector for us is the main supporter and the one that understood from the first what this accession to the OECD means. In fact, Romanians will be better off after we join, companies will be better off, academia, unions. I cannot say that there is anyone who would have said that accession to the OECD is something that Romania should not get involved in. Since 2004, we have been trying to join this organization that is also called the Club of Rich Countries, but I would prefer to call it the Club of Developed Democracies. Romania “It still manages to be in first place among the eight countries. We are the ones who have concluded the most chapters, the most committees for accession, that is, 23 out of 25. There are two more and we hope to conclude them in the coming period,” said Niculescu, according to Agerpres.

According to the official, over 100 OECD recommendations have been adopted in Romania, consisting of legislative reforms, norms, practices and new policies.

“For three and a half years since I have been coordinator for the OECD accession process, I think that the institutions have grown tired of me and my colleagues and all the demands we make and tell them that this reform is necessary for accession to the OECD. Over a hundred OECD recommendations have been adopted, which means that in Romania they have been translated into legislative reforms, new norms, new practices, new policies. Some of the laws that you have certainly heard of are the Pillar 2 Pensions Law, which was talked about last year and you know what a debate it was. Then, the Law on the Single Registry of Transparency and Interests, the Pantouflage or Revolving Doors Law, which will establish a 12-month reserve period when you move from some public positions to some private positions. So, these are laws that have not always been easy to adopt. I remember a discussion I had with parliamentarians when we started the process and they told us, “You know, this is what we need.” “it will complicate our lives” and I can understand them. But there were laws that were required of all those who are in the process of joining the OECD, because we are talking about Romania, but there are eight countries currently in the accession process, three from Europe, three from Latin America and two from Southeast Asia”, explained Luca Niculescu.

A new edition of the Pria Competition conference, on competition topics, takes place on Tuesday in Bucharest, an event attended by representatives of the competent authorities, but also from employers’ associations, professional associations and companies.