President Nicusor Dan said on Friday that if Europe continues on its current path, it will lose the battle with the US and the economic fight with China, mentioning that a revival of Europe's competitiveness is essential, but achieving it requires "courage."
President Nicusor Dan is attending the event called "Dialogue for development - Summit 2025 - Intelligent Development, European competitiveness," organized by the Concordia Employers' Confederation.
"We have to say it very directly: if Europe keeps going the way it has, it will lose the battle with the United States and it will lose the economic fight with China. Thus, a revival of Europe's competitiveness is essential. That means courage, including reintroducing in discussion some matters which Europe set out five to ten years ago in another context. This means we must no longer waste too much time trying to find the perfect balance between economic, social and environmental policies. This means looking carefully at the two reports by Letta and Draghi from last year, strengthening the single market, simplifying, cutting bureaucracy and looking at energy and investing in energy, because energy will become increasingly important and the energy price is directly linked to this concept - competitiveness," the president said.
He argued that this is a moment when the private sector and the state need to start collaborating.
"In respect to Romania, first of all, I want to once again commend the private sector, which has sustained and developed Romania all these years, many times against or despite the state policies. This is a moment when the private sector and the state need to start collaborating. And here, again, informally, I encourage you to enter areas where normally the economic sector would not go. We need to build an interface where politics and the economy can discuss and propose solutions, but at this moment ... and we are working on this interface, however, as the Romanian state exists today, it will take time," Nicusor Dan said.
The head of state also spoke about the 2028-2030 Multiannual Financial Framework.
"I encourage you to come forward with policies already drafted and with ready-made standpoints, ready to be implemented where normally the state should act. For instance, the multiannual financial framework will cover 2028-2030. There is a negotiation within the European Union and it will set a direction for the development of both the European economy and the Romanian economy, which are the directions we want to advance in Romania during negotiations with the Commission. We want your input in this negotiation. The national budget - which economic areas do we want to stimulate? Do we have an analysis of the state aid schemes? What has succeeded, what has failed? Do we have a perspective for the coming years? I do not. But you and the experts we pay, or you pay, can have it, so that the debate on the 2026 budget has a strong component regarding the national economy," the president also added.
The president brought to mind the trade deficit and also mentioned the need to boost exports.
"We can talk about the legislative process. There are matters concerning the economic environment, there are matters concerning education. How do we ensure that what schools produce aligns with what you expect in the labour market. Theoretically, you should send principles to the Government and there, specialists would draft these principles and turn them into legislative acts or other regulations. This theory does not work, because the administrative capacity to transform some ideas which are correct, some principles into action does not exist at the moment, we want to build a state that can do this within a reasonable timeframe. But right now, that administrative capacity simply does not exist, let's say it clearly, so, I ask you, during this transition period, to do what normally you should not have to do and the administration should do. Come forward with ready-made proposals for implementation. We have a trade deficit. In order to correct this trade deficit, the state and the private sector must work together and for this, we need to use our diplomatic apparatus, as everyone else does, in order to stimulate exports from Romania and to find the partnerships to stimulate the right partnerships which can help our economy. Again, there is willingness, but at the moment, there isn't really a project," the president added.
President Nicusor Dan underscored that Romania must invest in defence, in the context in which security becomes important.
"We are in a context in which security is becoming important. This means that, unfortunately, we must invest in defence. In principle - it is better to pay teachers than people who make machine guns, but this is the context and this context provides opportunities for the Romanian economy, which had a tradition and still has some people, skilled workers who know how to make things. Within the defence industry, there are new areas that can be approached from a classical technology perspective and from an automotive perspective. These are competitive advantages I invite you to reflect on, because this is an opportunity for our economy," Nicusor Dan pointed out.
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