RIO country report : Romania 2014.
Date: 2015-07-17
Institutions: Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
Subjects: EU research policy, Romania, financing, innovation, knowledge management, labour market, organisation of research, public financing, research and development, research budget, research policy, research report, research staff

RIO Country Report  
Romania 2014 

Radu Gheorghiu 

2 0 1 5  

1 

Report EUR 27303 EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
European Commission 
Joint Research Centre 
Institute for Prospective Technological Studies  

Contact information 
Address: Edificio Expo. c/ Inca Garcilaso, 3. E-41092 Seville (Spain) 
E-mail: jrc-ipts-secretariat@ec.europa.eu 
Tel.: +34 954488318 
Fax: +34 954488300 

JRC Science Hub  
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc  

Legal Notice 
This publication is a Science and Policy Report by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s in-house science 
service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policy-making process. The scientific output 
expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person 
acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. 

All images © European Union 2015 except for the ERA Dashboard image on the first page by Niels Meyer licensed 
under CC BY 2.0  

JRC 96475  

EUR 27303 EN 

ISBN 978-92-79-48959-4 (PDF) 

ISSN 1831-9424 (online) 

doi:10.2791/925233 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015 

© European Union, 2015 

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

Abstract 

The  report  offers  an  analysis  of  the  R&I  system  in  Romania  for  2014,  including  relevant  policies  and  funding,  with 
particular  focus  on  topics  critical  for  two  EU  policies:  the  European Research  Area and the  Innovation  Union.  The  report 
was  prepared  according  to  a  set  of  guidelines  for  collecting  and  analysing  a  range  of  materials,  including  policy 
documents,  statistics,  evaluation  reports,  websites  etc.  The  report  identifies  the  structural  challenges  of  the  Romanian 
research and innovation system and assesses the match between the national priorities and those challenges, highlighting 
the latest policy developments, their dynamics and impact in the overall national context.   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acknowledgments 

The  report  draft  has  benefited  from  comments  and  suggestions  of  Dragoș  Pîslaru from 
GEA  Strategy  &  Consulting  S.A.  and  of  Jana  Zifčiaková  from  JRC-IPTS.  The  contributions 
and comments from DG RTD and JRC-IPTS are also gratefully acknowledged. 

Copyright  of  this  document  belongs  to  the  European  Commission.  Neither  the  European 
Commission, nor  any person  acting  on  its  behalf,  may  be  held  responsible for  the  use  of 
the  information  contained  in  this  document,  or  for  any  errors  which,  despite  careful 
preparation and checking, may appear. The report does not represent the official opinion of 
the  European  Commission,  nor  that  of  the  national  authorities.  It  has  been  prepared  by 
independent policy experts.  

i 

 
 
 
 
 
Executive summary 

This report was prepared according to set guidelines for collecting and analysing a range of 
materials,  including  policy  documents,  statistics,  evaluation  reports,  websites,  etc.  The 
quantitative and qualitative data is, whenever possible, comparable across all EU Member 
State reports. 

While Romania is a relatively large country (20m inhabitants), its RDI system is undersized: 
the number of researchers per population is four times lower than the EU average. Almost 
80%  of  researchers  are  in  the  public  sector,  relatively  equally  distributed  among  the 
national  R&D  institutes,  the  institutes  of  the  Romanian  Academy  and  the  branch 
academies, and universities.  

As  the  country  is  not  yet  an  innovation-based  economy  or  even  in  transition  towards  an 
innovation-based  economy  (WEF  2014),  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  private  research 
organisations  are  very  rare,  while  only  a  few  companies  report  R&D  activities.  However, 
over  the  last  years  there  have  been  signs  of  more  vibrant  innovation-oriented  activities, 
visible in the formation of hubs, especially in ICT. 

In  terms  of  governance,  the  system  is  a  centralised  one,  the  Ministry  of  Education  and 
Scientific Research (MESR) being in charge of the elaboration of the national RDI Strategy. 
The  MESR  has  only  limited  power  in  influencing  the  policies  beyond  the  resources  it 
controls directly, as the interministerial council in charge of a broader coordination of RDI 
policies has had not recorded any activity so far. 

Continuous political battles over the national law of education or the control of the main 
financing  agency  maintained  a  climate  of  uncertainty  in  the  system.  Combined  with  a 
promised but perpetually delayed increase in the public R&D expenditures, the uncertainty 
resulted  in  a  massive  brain-drain  and  an  underuse  of  the  relatively  good  research 
infrastructure.  

Even if Romania has registered economic growth rates of around 3% starting 2013, and 
renewed its commitment to reach gradually 1% of GDP public R&D expenditures, the R&D 
allocation remained below 0.25% of GDP. The pressure of the research community and the 
civil  society  to  respect  this  strategic  commitment  is  limited.  This  is  also  the  case  for  the 
education sector (3% instead of 6%). 

The  relatively  low  allocation  of  structural  funds  (SF)  for  RDI  also  shows  the  low  political 
interest  in  this  field  (approx.  €1b  for  2014-2020,  representing  15%  of  the  public  R&D 
required to reach 1% of GDP in 2020), even though the absorption rate for R&D funds was 
100%, compared to less than 40% for the rest of the fields. 

The year 2014 and the beginning of the year 2015 are situated between two programming 
periods.  The  new  National  RDI  Strategy  2014-2020,  elaborated  as  a  result  of  a  large 
participatory  foresight,  is  a  comprehensive  one,  with  a  stronger  orientation  towards 
innovation.  As  part  of  ex-ante  conditionality,  Romania  adopted  a  set  of  additional 
strategies which include a broad range of innovation-related objectives and measures (e.g., 
The National Strategy for Competitiveness 2014-2020, The Governmental Strategy for the 
SME  sector  and  business  environment.  Horizon  2020),  but  their  resources  and  the 
implementation plans remain unclear. 

In  2013,  institutional  funding  represented  59%  of  R&D  expenditures  from  governmental 
resources.  The  recipients  of  the  institutional  funding  are  the  national  R&D  institutes  (via 
the  programme  NUCLEU)  and  the  institutes  of  the  Romanian  Academy  (via  the  research 

ii 

 
programme  of  the  Romanian  Academy).  Institutional  funding  is  not  fully  competitive:  the 
evaluation  of  institutes  carried  out  so  far  does  not  clearly  set  them  apart  in  terms  of 
quality,  so  the  correlation  with  the  level  of  financing  remains  weak.  Universities  do  not 
receive institutional funding for RDI and their RDI activity is only assessed as proxy for the 
quality of education services. 

The  main  competitive  programmes  are  the  national  RDI  Plan  2007-2013  (the  most 
affected by the budgetary cuts, still in place as of May 2015) and the RDI structural funds 
(mostly allocated by the MESR).  

BERD  is  even  lower  than  public  expenditures,  reaching  only  0.12%  of  GDP  in  2013 
(decreasing  from  0.19%  in  2012).  The  situation  can  be  explicable  by  the  low  high-tech 
intensiveness  of  the  economy  and  the  limited  number  of  multinationals  which  establish 
R&D  centres  in  Romania,  but  also  by  the  low  interest  of  companies  in  reporting  R&D 
expenditures.  

The  RDI  Strategy  2014-2020  sets  the  ambitious  target  of  1%  BERD  by  2020,  with  the 
main  triggers  being  public  expenditures,  a  better  focus  of  these  expenditures  in  smart 
specialisation  areas,  and  the  tax  deduction  for  R&D  expenditures.  Most  of  these 
expectations  are  already  below  schedule:  the  allocation  of  public  R&D  expenditures  for 
2015 is less than half of the value established in the adopted national strategy, and the 
main implementation instrument (i.e., the National RDI Plan 2014-2020) has not been yet 
adopted (by May 2015). 

In  what  regards  smart  specialisation,  a  large  foresight  process  (www.cdi2020.ro)  was 
carried  out  as  part  of  the  elaboration  of  the  National  Strategy  2014-2020.  The  process 
was  based  on data analytics and supported by a wide participation of  stakeholders (200 
panellists  and  4000  online  respondents),  and  it  provided  a  set  of  four  smart 
specialisations:  Bioeconomy, which is rooted mainly in  the huge agriculture  potential;  ICT, 
which  is  clearly  the  most  dynamic  sector  in  Romania;  Energy  and  environment,  in 
connection  with  the  challenges  of  energy  efficiency  and  water  resources,  and  of 
substitution  of  critical  materials;  and  Eco-technologies,  which  focuses  on  new-generation 
vehicles, equipment, technical systems for the generation of bioresources, and depolluting 
and  waste  reuse  technologies.  The  specialisations  resulting  from  consultations  were 
extended by political decision and included space and security, energy production, and the 
entire  spectrum  of  new  materials.  While  this  additional  list  may  have  its  possible 
arguments,  it  attenuates  the  focus  of  the  specialisations  and  reduces  the  chances  of 
reaching critical mass point for advancing in the global value chains. 

The regional smart specialisation strategies in all of the 8 regions should be elaborated by 
the end of 2015, but as the actual regionalisation process is still pending in Romania, the 
spectrum of instruments these strategies can use remains limited. 

The main transnational cooperation in which Romania is involved is related to the Extreme 
Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), a pan-European infrastructure which will be 
built  using  structural  funds  in  Magurele,  near  Bucharest. Access  to  the  ELI-NP  will  be 
granted for most of the eligible time based on the evaluation of the scientific cases by the 
international scientific board. In addition to the €300m for the laser project, a plan to build 
a 1bn euro science park in 2017 (also using structural funds) is already part of the Ilfov 
County Council's strategy for promoting entrepreneurship and developing research. 

Romania has a relatively large number of research infrastructures – investments that were 
mostly  supported  by  structural  funds.  In  order  to  increase  the  national  and  international 

iii 

 
access  to  these  infrastructures,  an  online  booking  platform  for  research  infrastructure 
services (www.erris.ro) will be launched in 2015. 

Except  for  the  access  to  research  infrastructures,  Romania  is  not  enough  attractive  for 
researchers.  The  underfinancing  and  uncertainty  in  the  RDI  system  have  resulted  in  a 
massive  brain-drain,  while  the  project  financing  the  targeting  of  foreign  and  diaspora 
researchers associated to Romanian research organisations has had only limited resources.  

Technological  entrepreneurship  is  only  now  emerging.  The  culture  of  entrepreneurship  in 
Romania  is,  in  general,  not  widespread,  and  the  public  infrastructure  for  technology 
transfer  and  incubation  is  mostly  non-functional,  as  assessed  by  the  authorities 
themselves.  However,  private  initiatives  have  been  more  active  in  the  last  years  and  an 
important tax deduction for business angels was introduced in 2015, which may accelerate 
the dynamics of technological entrepreneurship. 

For the moment, the RDI system in Romania has a higher productivity than the EU average 
in terms of publications per researcher, which is mostly driven by the requirements of the 
academic career in universities. The EPO patenting is almost absent (3% of the EU average 
per GDP in PPP), while there are only few innovation-driven companies. 

Considering the situation outlined above, Romania first faces the challenge of ensuring a 
credible  path  for  gradually  increasing  the  public  R&D  expenditures.  To  increase  the 
orientation  of  the  business  sector  towards  innovation,  the  tax  deduction  represents  an 
important step, but a more complex policy mix is required. The business sector also needs 
to find reliable partners in the public research organisations. Indeed, the whole public R&D 
system  needs  restructuring  in  order  to  improve  its  correlation  with  the  structure  of  the 
economy  and  the  relevance  of  its  outputs,  not  only  for  the  business  sector,  but  also  for 
policy-making. The innovation infrastructure needs to build on the actual practices in  the 
business sector. 

iv 

 
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................................................i 

Executive summary ........................................................................................................................................................ ii 

1.  Overview of the R&I system ..................................................................................................................... - 1 - 

1.1 Romania in the European RDI landscape ........................................................................................ - 1 - 

1.2 Main features of the R&I system ....................................................................................................... - 2 - 

1.3 Structure of the national research and innovation system and its governance ........ - 3 - 

2.  Recent Developments in Research and Innovation Policy and systems ............................ - 7 - 

2.1 National economic and political context ......................................................................................... - 7 - 

2.2 National R&I strategies and policies ................................................................................................. - 8 - 

2.3 National Reform Programmes 2013 and 2014 ....................................................................... - 10 - 

2.4 Policy developments related to Council Country Specific Recommendations .......... - 11 - 

2.5 Funding trends ........................................................................................................................................... - 11 - 

2.5.1 Funding flows .................................................................................................................................... - 11 - 

2.5.2 Project vs. institutional allocation of public funding ..................................................... - 13 - 

2.5.3 R&I funding......................................................................................................................................... - 16 - 

2.6 Smart Specialisation (RIS3) ................................................................................................................ - 17 - 

2.7 Evaluations, consultations, foresight exercises ........................................................................ - 18 - 

3. National progress towards realisation of ERA .................................................................................. - 19 - 

3.1 ERA priority 2: Optimal transnational co-operation and competition ........................... - 19 - 

3.2 ERA priority 3: An open labour market for researchers. Facilitating mobility, 
supporting training and ensuring attractive careers ...................................................................... - 20 - 

3.2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ - 20 - 

3.2.2 Open, transparent and merit-based recruitment of researchers ........................... - 21 - 

3.2.3 Access to and portability of grants ........................................................................................ - 22 - 

3.2.4 EURAXESS ............................................................................................................................................ - 22 - 

3.2.5 Doctoral training .............................................................................................................................. - 22 - 

3.2.6 HR strategy for researchers (HRS4R) incorporating the Charter and Code ....... - 23 - 

3.2.7 Education and training systems .............................................................................................. - 23 - 

3.3 ERA priority 5: Optimal circulation and access to scientific knowledge ...................... - 24 - 

3.3.1 e-Infrastructures and researchers electronic identity .................................................. - 24 - 

3.3.2 Open Access to publications and data ................................................................................. - 24 - 

4. Innovation Union .............................................................................................................................................. - 25 - 

4.1 Framework conditions ........................................................................................................................... - 25 - 

4.2 Science-based entrepreneurship ...................................................................................................... - 25 - 

4.3 Knowledge markets ................................................................................................................................ - 26 - 

v 

 
 
4.4 Knowledge transfer and open innovation ................................................................................... - 26 - 

4.5 Innovation framework for SMEs....................................................................................................... - 28 - 

4.6 Venture capital markets ....................................................................................................................... - 29 - 

4.7 Innovative public procurement .......................................................................................................... - 30 - 

5. Performance of the National Research and Innovation System ............................................. - 32 - 

5.1 Performance of the National Research and Innovation system ...................................... - 32 - 

5.2 Structural challenges of the national R&I system .................................................................. - 34 - 

5.3 Meeting structural challenges ........................................................................................................... - 35 - 

Annex 1 – References ......................................................................................................................................... - 36 - 

Annex 2 - Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... - 40 - 

vi 

 
 
 
 
1. Overview of the R&I system 

1.1 Romania in the European RDI landscape 

Despite  its  strong  public  research  base  and  a  certain  degree  of  awareness  of  the 
importance  and  role  of  the  R&I  sector,  Romania  is  lagging  behind  most  of  its  European 
peers. With a disjointed innovation ecosystem, caused by misalignment of incentives, lack 
of  trust  and  self-sufficiency,  Romania  finds  itself  in  a  paradoxical  situation,  mixing  a 
general  lack  of  results  with  global  excellence  in  both  fundamental  research  (e.g. 
Mathematics, Physics) and entrepreneurial technological innovation (e.g. internet security). 
While the potential for catching-up is high, Romania faces the full challenge of brain drain, 
with the danger of not being able to create the critical mass of elite researchers needed 
for boosting its R&I ecosystem. 

Romania has one of the lowest GDPs in Europe: in 2013, GDP per capita in PPP was 54% 
of EU28 average (Eurostat). Further discrepancies can be found between the eight regions, 
with  Bucharest  registering  more  than  double  the  GDP  per  capita  compared  with  the 
second-best  region  (i.e.,  West  Region)  and  four  times  compared  with  the  region  with  the 
lowest level (i.e., North East) (2010, NIS data). 

The economic growth for 2013 was 3.5% (Eurostat), and it is estimated at 2.6% for 2014 
and 2.5% for 2015 (Autumn Forecast of the National Commission for Prognosis 2014).  

Romania is the 9th largest country in terms of population in the EU: with 20m inhabitants in 
2013  it  has  4%  of  the  EU’s  total  population  (Eurostat).  It  is  also  the  country  with  the 
largest share of rural population in Europe: in 2012, 43% of the population lived in thinly-
populated areas, compared with 28% EU average (Eurostat). 

The  structure  of  the  economy  is  considerably  different  from  the  EU  average:  while 
employment in manufacturing is slightly above the EU average (19% compared to 16%), 
agriculture  represents 26% of employment  (compared to 4% EU average) (Eurostat data 
2013). Of the 8.365m jobs in Romania just over 4m jobs are remunerated. The very high 
level of self-employment (2.1m, 25% of all jobs) is associated with subsistence agriculture 
and  a  lack  of  alternatives  rather  than  with  entrepreneurship.  A  further  1.4m  (20%  of  all 
jobs) is unremunerated family labour, a category that barely exists in the more developed 
economies of the EU (Partnership Agreement, p.11). 

The research, development and innovation (RDI) system is small compared to the country's 
population: the number of researchers (FTE) per population is four times less than the EU 
average.  In  terms  of  financing,  the  RDI  system  continues  to  be  “in  a  silent  crisis”  (World 
Bank, 2010): GERD was 0.39% in 2013, down from 0.48% in 2012. Most of the reduction 
was  caused  by  the  diminished  contribution  of  business  (from  0.19%  in  2012  to  0.12% 
2013),  but  also  by  a  further  reduction  of  public  expenditures  (from  0.29%  in  2012  to 
0.27% 2012). Measured in euro, GERD per capita is 19 times smaller than the EU average. 
At  this  level,  one  would  expect  the  RDI  system  to  fail  being  a  driver  of  economic 
development. 

The  official  target  of  1%  public  R&D  expenditure  (complemented  by  2%  private  R&D 
expenditure)  was  first  set  in  2006  and  was  used  as  a  basis  for  the  programming  period 
2007-2013,  but  the  reality  showed  an  average  annual  allocation  for  the  National  Plan 
three  times  smaller. Romania  has  again  reaffirmed  the  objective  of  1%  public  (this  time 

- 1 - 

 
with an additional 1% from private sources) for 2020, and these figures were considered 
as  the  basis  for  the  National  RDI  Strategy  2014-2020  and  its  main  implementation 
instruments. However, only several months after the adoption of this strategy in 2014, the 
budgetary allocation for 2015 is 2.17 times lower than the iterated objective for the year. 
In reaction to this discrepancy, civil society representatives raised the issue of ministerial 
responsibility1.  

1.2 Main features of the R&I system 

Romania has a:  

  Centralised  RDI  system.  The  country  is  divided  into  eight  ‘development  regions’, 
however,  in  administrative  terms  their  decision  power  is  very  limited.  A  process  of 
regionalisation  has  been  announced,  but  both  the  public  opinion  and  the  experts  are 
divided about the best approach to this matter. Each region has an Agency for Regional 
Development  (ARD) 2 which  elaborates  a  Regional  Development  Plan,  financially 
supported  mainly  by  the  structural  funds  allocated  via  the  Regional  Operational 
Programme. For the period 2014-2020, the RDI funds under the Regional Operational 
Programme represent only 17% of RDI structural funds, and they will be predominantly 
directed towards innovation and the technology transfer infrastructure. 

  A  public  RDI  system  concentrated 

in  national 

institutes.  The  main  research 
organisations  are  the  national  R&D  institutes  (former  sectoral  institutes  under  the 
communist regime), most of which are now subordinated to the Ministry of Education 
and  Scientific  Research  (MESR),  the  institutes  of  the  Romanian  Academy  and  of  the 
branch academies. They receive institutional funding, highly correlated with the number 
of researchers, following a rather inertial financing model. Universities are new players, 
respectable  in  terms  of  scientific  publication  but  with  very  weak  connections  with 
industry.  The  R&D  activities  are  rather  occasional,  related  to  the  oscillating  project 
funding and/or the publishing efforts in relation to the academic career3. 

  Private  research  almost  absent.  In  a  chronically  underfinanced  system,  the  survivors 

are usually the organisations receiving institutional public funding. 

  Very low business interest in R&D. BERD is only a quarter of GERD, and only one third 
of the R&D business expenditures are devoted to activities performed by universities or 
research institutes. 

  Good  research  infrastructure  and  relatively  large  number  of  PhDs,  both  underused 

resources given the low project funding. 

  Massive brain drain, especially of top young researchers, affecting the capacity of the 

system to replenish and reach critical mass. 

1 http://www.romaniacurata.ro/ad-astra-bugetul-pentru-cercetare-este-prea-mic-si-incalca-legea/  
2 The role of each Regional Development Agency is to  contribute to sustainable and equitable development 
by  removing  disparities  and  imbalances  between  areas  of  the  region,  for  the  benefit  of  its  inhabitants. 
Established  by  Law  151/1998,  the  Regional  Development  Agencies  operates  under  Law  315/2004  on 
regional  development  in  Romania.  Each  Agency  is coordinated  by  the  Regional  Development  Council, which 
brings together the presidents of county councils and representatives of municipalities, towns and villages in 
each county 
3 In the statistics the number of researchers from universities is estimated simply as equivalent of 25% of 
academic staff. 

- 2 - 

 
 
                                                        
  Emerging  state-of-the-art  private  sector  innovation  especially  based  on  the  strong 

domestic ITC sector and on its engineering excellence. 

1.3 Structure of the national research and innovation system 
and its governance 

Inter-ministerial coordination is currently absent 

The innovation policies have no de facto inter-ministerial coordination, as the responsible 
body at governmental level (i.e., The National Council for Science and Technology Policy  – 
NCSTP) has remained inactive since its creation. 

In  the  governance  chapter  the  NS  2014-2020  provides  for  the  creation  of  The  National 
Council for Science, Technology  and Innovation Policy (NCSTIP)4 with the aim of replacing 
the  NCSTP.  Having  as  members  several  ministers,  the  NCSTIP’s  mission  is  to  ensure  the 
coordination and correlation of RDI policies with the sectorial and regional ones. The newly 
founded  RDI  Policy-support  Unit  of  the  MESR  would  elaborate  the  annual  reports  for 
NCSTIP.  

Advisory councils for the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research are only 
partially in place 

According to the NS 2014-2020 the new consulting bodies for RDI are:  

  The Advisory Board for Research, Development and Innovation (ABRDI), which is “the 
main  consulting  body  of  the  MESR”.  Its  activity  is  related  to  applied  research, 
technological  development, 
innovation,  technological  transfer  and  scientific 
international cooperation.  

  The  National  Council  for  Scientific  Research  (NCSR)  is  active  in  basic  and  frontier 
research and the development of human resources in research. The members of the 
council were appointed on the 9th of January 2015 after an extended hiatus. 

Public funding allocation is based on annual budgeting 

Until the new Strategy is implemented5, the credit-granting institutions are the following:  

  The Ministry of Education and Scientific Research – MESR and its agencies  

o  The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation 
Funding (UEFISCDI), subordinated to the MESR, is the implementing agency for the 
National  RDI  Plan  2007-2013  (budget  €131m  in  2013),  a  set  of  project-based 
funding  schemes  with  a  structure  and  procedures  very  similar  to  FP7  (i.e.,  the 
programmes  Ideas,  Human  Resources,  Partnerships,  Innovation,  Capacities),  open 
for all the RDI actors.  

o  MESR  implements  the  programme  Nucleu,  an  institutional  funding  instrument  for 

the National R&D Institutes (budget €70.5m in 2013) 

o  The  Intermediary  Body  for  RDI,  coordinated  by  MESR,  implements  the  operational 
programme for RDI structural funds 2007-2013 (with an average annual budget of 
approx. €120m) 

4 NCSTIP has not been made active by end of February 2015. 
5 The  National  RDI  Plan  2014-2020  has  not  available  by  end  of  February  2015.  The  situation  creates 
uncertainty in terms of programmes and even in terms of institutional development. 

- 3 - 

 
 
                                                        
  The  Romanian  Academy  –  which  has its  own  chapter  in the  national  budget  (€100.7m  in 

2013) – allocates the budget for its research institutes. 

  Different  ministries  (Ministry  of  Economy,  Ministry  of  Agriculture,  MESR)  manage  their 

separate “sectorial RDI plans” (estimated budget in 2013 below €10m). 

The Romanian university system (including approx. 100 accredited universities, about half 
private) is quite homogenous in terms of organisational structures and learning experience. 
They  currently  offer  “Bologna-type  bachelors,  masters,  and  doctoral  programs,  while 
distance  or  “open”  education  programs  are  few  in  number  and  questionable  in  quality”. 
(Andreescu  at  al  2014)  The  homogeneity  of  the  provided  services  and  the  absence  of  a 
strong  reputation  mechanism  (as  ranking  is  practically  suspended)  is  reflected  in  the 
undifferentiated and low tuition fees (around 500-700 Euros per year in both the private 
and state universities). 

“The  poor  standing  of  Romanian  higher  education  institutions  (HEIs)  in  international 
university rankings (no university has yet gained entry into the top 500, much less the top 
200, of the best-known international rankings) is commonly cited as a sign of the system’s 
weakness and of its low research productivity. It may have also contributed to the fact that 
the  public  opinion  –  executives  included  (WEF,  2013)6 –  has  become  increasingly 
unfavourable or indifferent towards universities, thus hampering their efforts to recruit the 
very best high school graduates, many of whom now go to study abroad.” (Andreescu at al 
2014) The limited top scientific results of universities need to be considered in the context 
of  the  very  inadequate  public  R&D  resources  at  national  level  and  of  the  absence  of 
institutional R&D financing for universities.  

Romania had no company in the top 1000 EU R&D performers in 2012 

Several multinationals have created R&D centres in Romania, such as: Renault Technologie 
Roumanie  with  3,200  engineers,  Honeywell  Romania  (Automation  and  Control  Solutions, 
and  Transportation  Systems)  with  20  R&D  engineers/scientists,  Infineon  Technologies: 
(semiconductors) with 300 employees and Continental Automotive with three R&D centres 
(Source: Kaminski 2011, p12 and Dachs at al 2014, p129). 

According to the European Alphaback Forum, Romania is in the top European countries in 
terms  of  brain  drain:  with  26,296  specialists  with  higher  education  working  in  other 
Western  countries  since  2003,  it  positions  itself  on  the  third  place  (after  Poland  and 
Germany). The main destinations are UK, Italy, Germany and Belgium.7 

6 The World Economic Forum in its Global Competitiveness Report  ranks Romania 108 out of 144 countries 
in  terms  of  the  perception  of  the    executives  regarding  “how  well  does  the  educational  system  meets  the 
needs of a competitive economy” ranked 108 out of 144 countries (WEF 2013, p442). According to a  survey 
commissioned by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, 45% of the students, 41% of 
the parents, and 34% of the teachers stated they believed corruption is present “to a large degree” and “to a 
very large degree” in Romanian universities (UTM, 2013, 45). 
7 http://www.alpbach.org/alpbuzz/2014/08/26/where-the-european-brains-move/  

- 4 - 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
Main changes in 2009 
After  several  years  of  increasing  its  public  R&D  expenditure  to  meet  the  official  1%  target,  the  Romanian 
Government  decided  to  respond  to  the  economic  crisis  by  reducing  the  R&D  expenditures  financed  by 
Government  from  0.4%  of  GDP  in  2009  to  0.25  %  in  2008  and  stay  at  this  level  ever  since.  Most  of  the 
reduction affected the implementation of the National RDI Plan 2007-2013. 
Main Changes in 2010 
UEFISCDI  was  created  by  merging  three  financing  agencies  responsible  for  the  implementation  of  the 
National RDI Plan 2007-2013. Following this decision the administrative costs dropped from 4% to 2% and 
international peer-review has become a norm for project financing under the National RDI Plan 2007-2013. 
Main changes in 2011 
The decision for financial allocation for ELI-NP. The project represents a huge opportunity for Romania. At the 
same time, the decision was not supported by an increase in the allocation of more structural funds for R&D, 
thus reducing the room for project funding. 

The  Law  on  National  Education  no.  15  January  2011  and  the  Government  Decision  no.  789/2011 
Methodology  for  classification  of  universities  and  ranking  of  study  programmes  restricted  the  right  of 
organising  doctoral  studies  only  to  “research  universities”,  but  failed  in  connecting  the  classification  and 
rankings to clear financing lines.  
Main changes in 2012 
The Government Ordinance 96/22.12.2012 regarding the reorganisation of the central public administration. 
According to the Government Ordinance of 22.12.2012 the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport 
was reorganised  by splitting  it into the Ministry of National Education  (MNE) and the  Ministry of Youth and 
Sport, while the National Authority for Scientific Research (NASR) was dissolved, with all attributes taken over 
by  the  new  MNE  (currently,  Ministry  of  Education  and  Scientific  Research).  Furthermore,  the  Government 
Ordinance  established  the  position  of  Delegate  Minister  for  Higher  Education,  Scientific  Research  and 
Technological  development  within  the  MNE.  Additionally,  the  different  research  institutes  formerly 
subordinated to various other ministries were subordinated to the new Ministry of National Education. 
Main Changes in 2013 

Main Changes in 2014 
The Emergency  Ordinance no. 49/2014 brings new  changes to the 2011 Law on  National Education.  Under 
the amended Law, the Ministry of National Education may raise up to 10% the matriculation limits imposed 
on  academic  programs  by  the  Romanian  Agency  for  Quality  Assurance  in  Higher  Education;  private 
universities may be also established by private individuals (rather than, as previously,  by foundations only); 
universities  may  establish  part-time  doctoral  study  programs  (rather  than  full-attendance  programs 
exclusively); universities may establish pre-tertiary educational institutions; private universities may decide on 
their organizational structures, the powers of their officers, and the length of the latter’s terms. 

Adoption of the National RDI Strategy 2014-2020 by Governmental Decision. The new strategy has ambitious 
targets, includes smart specialisations and priorities of national interest, and a large spectrum of instruments 
and policies able to support the development of an innovation ecosystem. However, the strategy remains a 
formal  commitment  as  the  budgetary  commitment  has  already  been  broken  and  the  main  implementation 
instrument has not been adopted. 

Since December 2014 the Government has a new structure approved by Parliamentary Decision 44/2014. As 
the  new  government  structure  is  meant  to  reduce  the  number  of  the  ministries,  it  eliminates  the  delegate 
ministers,  among  which  the  delegate  minister  for  Higher  Education,  Scientific  Research  and  Technological 
Development. The new name of the ministry is the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, and the RDI 
component is the National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation. 

- 5 - 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1: The Structure of RDI governance 2014-2020 

- 6 - 

 
 
2. Recent Developments in Research and Innovation Policy 

and systems 

2.1 National economic and political context 

Romania substantially improved its ranking in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) from 
78  in  2013-2014  to  56  in  2014-2015.  Still,  the  country  remains  an  efficiency-based 
economy,  while  most  of  the  EU  countries  are  either  innovation-based  or  in  transition 
towards an innovation-based economy. Out of the 12 GCI pillars, Romania has its strengths 
in  macroeconomic  environment,  market  size  and  technological  readiness,  while  the 
weakest point is innovation. The most problematic factors for doing business are: access to 
financing, tax rates, inadequate supply of infrastructure and corruption. 

The Foreign Direct Investments registered a slight recovery after the drop in 2011 (€1.7b), 
to €2.5b in 2012 and €2.7b in 2013. FDIs remain concentrated in Bucuresti-Ilfov (61.4% in 
2013). The main FDI sectors in 2013 were: manufacturing (31%), financial intermediation 
(14%), trade (11%) and energy (11%). The most prominent branches of manufacturing are: 
petrochemical (19%), transport vehicles and equipment (18%), metallurgy (13%) and food, 
beverages and tobacco (12%). (FDI in Romania 2013, National Bank of Romania). 

Though Romania formally meets the Maastricht criteria, the adoption of the euro has been 
postponed until 2019. The reasons are connected to the need for economic convergence. 
The  accession  of  Romania  to  the  Schengen  has  been  further  delayed.  According  to  the 
Prime Minister, the Schengen accession is no longer a key negotiation point. 

The absorption rate for structural funds allocated for the period 2007-2013 remains very 
low: only 39% in 10 October 2014 (Source: Ministry of European Funds8). A special problem 
in  absorption relates to  transport infrastructure, where numerous projects are delayed or 
cancelled (problem usually associated with accusations of corruption).9 

The  Romanian  government  adopted  on  26  June  2014  the  Emergency  Ordinance  no. 
49/2014,  bringing  about  substantial  changes  to  the  2011  Law  on  National  Education. 
Under the amended Law, the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research may now raise 
by 10% the matriculation limits imposed on academic programs by the Romanian Agency 
for Quality Assurance in Higher Education10; private universities may also be established by 
private  individuals  (rather  than,  as  previously,  by  foundations  only);  universities  may 
establish  part-time  doctoral  study  programs  (rather  than  full-attendance  programs 
exclusively); universities are allowed to found, by themselves or in cooperation with other 
legal  persons,  primary  or  secondary  educational  institutions;  private  universities  may 
decide on their organisational structures, the powers of their officers, and the length of the 
latter’s  terms.  These  changes  enjoyed  the  support  of the  National  Federation  of  Unions 
“Alma Mater” and the Federation of Educational Unions “Spiru Haret”. They were, however, 
strongly criticised by the opposition, two former ministers of education, and the rector of 

8 http://www.fonduri-ue.ro/stadiul-absorbtiei  
9 http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-17493789-mari-probleme-transporturi-dezastru-absorbtia-fondurilor-
europene-investitiile-fost-taiate-puternic-iar-realizarea-intregii-autostrazi-sibiu-pitesti-din-nou-incerta.htm  
10 Previously,  enrolment  in  a  specific academic  program  was  effectively  capped  by  the  accreditation 
procedures  carried  out  by  the  Romanian  Agency  for  Quality  Assurance  in  Higher  Education,  which  set  a 
maximum matriculation threshold. Now this threshold may be raised by 10% by the Ministry of Education. 

- 7 - 

 
                                                        
one of Romania’s leading higher education (HE) institutions, the Babes-Bolyai University in 
Cluj. 

Hiring in the public sector was halted for four years. In 2009, the Government decided that 
any hiring in the budgetary sector may be made only provided that 7 other persons leave 
for  every  new  hire.  It  is  only  in  July  2014  that  the  Government  decided  on  a  1:1 
replacement scheme, but only after  removing all vacant places (except some in  strategic 
sectors such as defence)11. 

2.2 National R&I strategies and policies 

R&I policies For more than two decades RDI activities have not have been perceived at the 
political level as a means for increasing economic competitiveness, but rather as a matter 
of  intellectual  reputation.  A  vicious  circle  was  created:  the  chronically  underfinanced  RDI 
system  does  not  reach  the  critical  mass  for  technology  development,  while  the  low 
economic impact further restrains the allocation of public funds. 

The year 2014 was characterised by institutional fragility and uncertainty in the R&D field: 

a)  The  National  Council  for  Scientific  Research  (NCSR)  had  no  members  from  April 
2013  (when  they  resigned  in  block  in  protest  over  cuts  to  the  R&D  budget)  to 
February 2015. 

b)  The  Government  Ordinance  which  created  the  main  R&I  financing  agency 
(UEFISCDI)  has  been  a  subject  of  dispute.  The  GO  74/2010  created The  Executive 
Agency 
Innovation 
Funding (UEFISCDI) by unification of three funding agencies, each of them dealing 
with  different  programmes  of  the  National  Plan  for  Research,  Development  and 
Innovation 2007-2013.  

for  Higher  Education,  Research,  Development  and 

On 18 February 2014, four years after the GO 74’s adoption – a period with a considerable 
improvement  in  the  transparency  of  programmes’  procedures,  with  the  introduction  of 
international  peer  review,  and  reduction  of  operational  costs  from  4%  to  2%  –  the 
parliamentary commission for education in the Senate approved the law rejecting GO 74, 
thus  implicitly  replacing  UEFISCDI  by  the  three  previous  financing  agencies.  This  also 
generated  a  legislative  void  in  certain  aspects  related  to  the  role  UEFISCDI  played 
according  to  more  recent  legislation.  The  law  met  with  protests  from  civil  society 
representatives.  

A document of the Romanian Academic Society (RAS) talks about “the risk of feudalisation 
of research funds in an election year”, suggesting that the decision serves the interests of 
the  former  minister  of education  Ecaterina  Andronescu,  the  delegate  HE  minister  Mihnea 
Costoiu and the Bucharest Politehnica University (where both had served as rectors), which 
managed  one  of  the  former  three  financing  agencies,  responsible  for  the  programme 
Innovation12.  

11

http://cursdeguvernare.ro/institutiile-publice-angajari-%E2%80%9D1-la-1%E2%80%9D-in-sectorul-

public.html  
12 According to UEFISCDI general director Adrian Curaj, in the period 2007-2010, out of 298 projects [in the 
programme  “Innovation”],  Politehnica  Bucharest  coordinated  186.  The  next  institution  in  ranking  was  a 
company with 21 projects, followed by Politehnica Iasi with 19 projects. By comparison, in the period 2011-
2014, out of 277 projects, Politehnica had only 23” (Adevarul, April 1st 2014). 

- 8 - 

 
 
                                                        
On  18  March  2014  the  law  cancelling  the  GO  was  sent  for  re-examination  by  president 
Traian Basescu13, but, on 26 March 2014, the Commission for Education of the Chamber of 
Deputies  rejected  the  request14.  As  a  reaction,  the  Coalition  for  a  Clean  Romania  sent  a 
protest  to  the  Prime  Minister  on  April  7th,  a  protest  supported  by  Ad-Astra  (an  NGO 
dedicated  to  the  scientific  community).  The  resolution  of  this  conflict  is  still  pending,  but 
the RDI Strategy 2014-2020 adopted in October 2014 does not mention at all UEFISCDI as 
a funding agency or as playing any other role. 

The  National  Strategy  for  Research,  Development  and  Innovation  2014-2020  (NS  2014-
2020) was adopted on 21 October 2014. Its elaboration was outsourced by the Ministry of 
National  Education  to  a  consortium  headed  by  11  main  partners  supported  by  an 
additional  141  associated  partners.  The  project  (www.cdi2020.ro)  carried  out  in  2013 
deployed a full-fledged, evidence-based, smart specialisation-aware foresight exercise, the 
result  being  not  only  the  technical  version  of  the  National  Strategy,  but  also  the  main 
implementation  instruments,  namely,  the  National  RDI  Plan  2014-2020  and  the  RDI 
Operational Programme for the same period. The adopted version of the strategy is similar 
to the one resulting from the consultations, except for two areas: the list of priorities which 
was broadened and the governance structure proposal, which was changed.  

The Vision for 2020 included in the National Strategy envisages an innovation ecosystem 
where research and development support the advancement in global value chains. In this 
environment,  excellence  and  an  entrepreneurial  spirit  mobilise  a  critical  mass  of  actors; 
companies become key actors of innovation; the R&D sector is developed around strategic 
fields and is internationally integrated; and Romania is placed next to major European or 
global  initiatives,  either  through  co-participation  or  by  assuming  a  leading  role  (in  cases 
such as ELI-NP or Danubius-RI). 

NS 2020 is to be implemented by the following programmes (in addition to other policies, 
such as the implementation of the 50% R&D tax deduction):  

  The National RDI Plan 2014-2020 (NP3) 

  The Operational Programme Competitiveness – objective “Capacity building for the 

RDI system 2014-2020” (OPC-RDI) 

  The  Operational  Programme  Human  capital  –  the  component  “Education  and 

training” 

  The  Regional  Operational  Programme  –  the  component  “Competitiveness  and 

business environment for SMEs”  

  The  Operational  Programme  Rural  development  –  the  component  “Investment  in 

agriculture and rural development” 

  The Sectorial Plans of different ministries 

  The Research Plan of the Romanian Academy and its institutes 

  Other sectorial policies (coordinated by NCSTIP, not specified in the Strategy). 

13 The motivation provided by the president states that “the GO has been elaborated in view of increasing the 
efficiency of material, financial and human resources” and that there is a risk of legislative void. 
14 The  motivation  report  provided  on  April  2nd  states  that  “the  GO  results  in  the  centralization  of  the 
management  of  research  programmes”  and  “UEFISCDI  cannot  be  at  the  same  time  evaluator  and 
implementer  of  research  programmes”  (despite  RAS’s  previous  explicit  mention  that  UEFISCDI  is  not 
implementing research projects). 

- 9 - 

 
                                                        
NP3 will be the main implementation instrument of the Strategy and the responsibility for 
its  management  and  execution  belongs  to  MESR,  which  “may  outsource  management  to 
financing agencies or other service providers”. Hence, UEFISCDI, the agency implementing 
the previous plan has now a very uncertain position as a possible outsource, with the risk 
of breaking the learning process of professional programme management in Romania. 

Draft  forms  of  NP3  and  of  the  RDI  component  of  The  Operational  Programme 
Competitiveness  have  been  elaborated  together  with  the  Strategy,  as  part  of  the  same 
large  project  in  2013.  While  the  OP  is  close  to  adoption,  the  NP3  proposal  has  been 
postponed and a substantially changed version has been subject to different consultations. 

As part of ex-ante conditionality, Romania has adopted a set of additional strategies which 
provide a broad range of research and innovation objectives. It is the case of The National 
Strategy  for  Competitiveness  2014-2020,  which  intends  to  be  an  umbrella  strategy  and 
The  Governmental  Strategy  for  the  SME  sector  and  business  environment  Horizon  2020, 
which  has  very  ambitious  objectives  in  supporting  innovation  in  SMEs  (see  chapter  4.1). 
However, these strategies are not followed by clear action plans with dedicated resources 
and the very commitment for their implementation seems to fluctuate with the change in 
the  coordination  of  the  responsible  ministries.  Often  these  strategies  are  reiterated  as 
support  for  very  specific  programmes,  some  of  them  integrating  good  international 
practices,  which  however  remain  very  restricted  in  scope  compared  with  the  strategies 
themselves. 

2.3 National Reform Programmes 2013 and 2014 

The  National  Reform  Programme  2014  (NRP,  Romanian  Government  2014)15 represents 
“the  framework  for  the  definition  of  the  reforms  and  priorities  for  the  economic 
development  of  Romania  for  the  period  July  2014-June  2015,  in  conformity  with  the 
Strategy Europe 2020 and the European Semester 2014”.  

In the evaluation of the recent progress (year 2013), the NRP does not refer to the targets 
of the National RDI Strategy 2007-2013 in terms of public expenditures (four times lower 
that  the  1%  level)  or  of  output.  Instead,  support  by  project  funding  is  only  expressed  in 
terms of number of projects.  

The  NRP  refers  to  raising  the  tax  deduction  for  R&D  expenditures  from  20%  to  50% 
(Government  Ordinance  8/2013),  and  does  not  mention  that  the  lack  of  implementation 
norms  made  any  tax  deduction  practically  non-functional  until  March  2015.  The  reasons 
for  the  delay  can  only  be  subject  to  speculations,  but  a  clear  matter  of  dispute  was  the 
eligibility  for  deduction  of  the  R&D  expenditures  made  by  the  multinationals  in  foreign 
countries (a clause which was maintained in the adopted form).  

Among  the  achievements,  the  NRP  mentions  the  start  of  the  project  the  Extreme  Light 
Infrastructure  –  Nuclear  Physics  (ELI-NP)  and  also  the  elaboration  of  the  White  Paper 
meant to include a new pan-European research infrastructure financed by structural funds 
on the ESFRI roadmap – The Danube International Centre for Advanced Studies for River-
Delta-Sea Systems (Danubius-RI, www.danubius-ri.eu).16  

15 http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2014/nrp2014_romania_ro.pdf  

- 10 - 

 
 
                                                        
 
 
For  the  following  period  (by  June  2015),  the  NRP,  which  was  released  several  months 
before  the  launch  of  the  new  RDI  strategy,  briefly  mentions  the  following  action  lines: 
support  for  private  R&D  investment  (without  further  details);  IPR  training  for  researchers 
and engineers (a dedicated project was launched in this direction); the continuation of the 
investment  in  human  resources  for  RDI  (probably  by  means  of  the  structural  funds  for 
doctoral  and  post-doctoral  schools);  the  concentration  of  national  R&D  institutes  under 
MESR (achieved by Government Decision), the elaboration of a National Roadmap for RDI 
Infrastructure  (still  pending  by  March  2015),  access  to  scientific  literature  for  a  broad 
spectrum of research organisations (achieved by means of the project ANELIS PLUS).  

2.4 Policy developments related to Council Country Specific 
Recommendations 

There were no Council Country Specific Recommendations for Romania related to R&I for 
2013-2014. 

2.5 Funding trends 

2.5.1 Funding flows 

The  1%  target  for  public  R&D  expenditures  set  for  the  period  2007-2013  was  de  facto 
abandoned in 2009. Consequently, the National RDI Plan 2007-2013 received only a third 
of the programmed allocation. This situation resulted in the continuation of the brain-drain 
and  adoption  of  stand-by  strategies  for  the  research  organisations.  The  lack  of 
predictability also affected the system in structural terms, e.g., the investment in research 
infrastructure  has  not  been  complemented  by  relevant  resources  for  projects,  while  the 
large number of PhDs supported by SF did not find opportunities for a research career. 

As  mentioned  above,  NS  2014-2020  again  set  out  the  ambitious  target  of  1%  public 
expenditures  by  2020.  However,  the  multiannual  planning  has  already  had  a  very  poor 
start, as the estimated figure for 2014 (0.41% of GDP) proves to have been overestimated 
(more  likely  0.3%,  but  final  figure  will  be  cheeked  when  Eurostat  data  are  released). 
Moreover, the allocation for 2015 is 2.17 times lower than planned. 

Previous  experiences  show  that  very  often  the  multiannual  commitments  made  with 
respect to the public budget are simply overlooked (this is also the case for educational or 
military expenditures).  

The  allocation  of  structural  funds  for  R&D  is  surprisingly  low  when  compared  to  the 
ambitious  target  of  1%  public  R&D  expenditures.  For  the  period  2007-2013  structural 
funds  (SF)  provided  approx.  20%  of  public  R&D  expenditures.  For  the  next  programming 
period  the  sum  allocated  from  SF  has  not  been  substantially  increased  despite  the 
renewed  target  of  1%  of  GDP  public  expenditures,  the  commitment  for  ELI-NP,  and  the 
fact  that  the  absorption  rate  for  R&D  structural  funds  is  three  time  higher  than  the 
national average.  

The €805m allocated from structural funds for 2007-2012 position Romania somewhere 
in the middle in terms of prioritisation of R&D among East European countries: much less 

- 11 - 

 
 
 
than  Poland  (€4928m) or  the  Czech  Republic  (€2928m),  but  still  considerably  more  than 
Bulgaria (€196m) and Hungary (€85m) (Data source: RIO elaboration on DG REGIO data). 

Figure 2: Targets for public R&D expenditures (% GDP) 

0.97 

0.83 

0.72 

0.63 

0.56 

0.57 

0.41 

1.2

1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Data source: NS 2014-2020 

Romania  managed  to  attract  €55m  in  EC  contributions  from  FP6  and  €144m  from  FP7 
(Data  source:  RIO  elaboration  on  DG  REGIO  data).  These  figures  are  relatively  low  when 
compared  to  other  countries  (e.g.  €442m  Poland,  €294m  Hungary,  €289m  the  Czech 
Republic from FP7), but they are fairly close when considering these sums per number of 
researchers in the country.  

BERD is even lower than public expenditures, reaching only 0.12% of GDP in 2013 (down 
from  0.19%  in  2012).  While  this  figure  may  be  underestimated  (mainly  because 
companies are not stimulated to declare their R&D expenditures), the low base is related to 
the fact that the economy is dominated by multinationals, only few with R&D activities in 
Romania (see section 1.3), while the still young SME sector carries out predominantly low 
value-added activities.  

The target for BERD included in the national RDI Strategy is 1% of GDP in 2020. This very 
high increase is expected to be leveraged both by the public expenditures and the 50% tax 
deduction.  

In terms of R&D performers, it is not only business that has registered a decreasing trend 
(correlated  probably  with  their  R&D  investment),  but  also  higher  education  institutions 
(HEIs),  which  are  most  exposed  to  the  limitations  in  project  funding.  In  this  respect, 
Romania is on a divergent trend compared to the EU average. 

- 12 - 

 
 
 
 
 
 
GBAORD - Total R&D appropriations (€ million) 

0.74  

0.71  

0.68  

0.6b  

0.6b  

Table 1: Basic indicators for R&D investments  

GDP growth rate 
GERD (% of GDP) 

GERD (euro per capita) 

R&D  funded by Business Enterprise Sector (% of 
GDP) 
R&D funded by Private non-profit (% of GDP) 
R&D funded from abroad (% of GDP) 

R&D performed by HEIs  (% of GERD) 
R&D  performed  by  Government  Sector  (%  of 
GERD) 
R&D performed by Business Enterprise Sector (% 
of GERD) 
Share  of  competitive    funding  for  R&D  in  total 
R&D governmental funding17 
Employment 
in  high-  and  medium-high-
technology  manufacturing  sectors  as  share  of 
total employment  
Employment 
sectors as share of total employment  

in  knowledge-intensive  service 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

EU28 
(2013)** 

-7.1  
0.46 

-0.8  
0.45 

1.1  
0.49 

0.6  
0.48 

3.5p 
0.39 

0.0 
2.02 

27.2 

28.2 

32.5(b) 

32.1 

27.9 

0.19  

0.17  

0.18b  

0.19  

0.12  

0  

0  

0b  

0  

0.04 

0.05 

0.06(b) 

0.07 

23.9% 

24.4%  22.4% 

20.8% 

0  

    0.02 
0.2 
(2012) 
20.5%  22.8% 

0.06 

34.8% 

37.8%  40.8% 

41.7% 

48.7%  12.4% 

41.3% 

37.8%  36.7% 

39.6% 

30.8%  63.9% 

54% 
4.6 

56% 
4.6 

56% 
4.6 

54% 
4.6 

41% 
4.6 

5.6 

19.8 

19.9 

20.6 

20.3 

20.1 

539.2(e) 

1.41 

    1.29 

39.2 

13.4  
(EU27, 
2010) 

Turnover from Innovation as % of total turnover  

14.3 

b = break in time series; e = estimated. 

2.5.2 Project vs. institutional allocation of public funding 

In 2013, 59% of public funding was allocated institutionally, increasing from approx. 45% 
in the period 2009-2012.  

Institutional funding is directed towards: 

  The  programme  of  the  Romanian  Academy,  having  as  recipients  the  institutes  of 
the  Romanian  Academy.  The  allocation  is  highly  proportional  to  the  number  of 
researchers (the full procedure is not available on the institution’s website). 

  The  Nucleu  programme,  having  as  recipients  the  National  R&D  Institutes.  Each 
institute  has  its  own  Nucleu  programme  (portfolio  of  projects),  reflecting  the 
specific  R&D  strategy  of  the  institute,  also  including  objectives  related  to  the 
development of the economic sector/ branch corresponding to the institute’s profile. 
The funding decision taken by MESR reflects a prioritisation of those specific Nucleu 
programmes,  based  on  the  joint  analysis  of  the  previous  performance  of  the 
institutes  and  the  relevance  of  their  R&D  portfolio  in  relation  to  the  development 

17 Based  on  own  calculations,  considering  the  Nucleu  and  Romanian  Academy  programmes  as  sources  of 
institutional funding. 

- 13 - 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
priorities of the corresponding sector/branch (the full procedure is not available on 
institution websites). 

Figure 3: The annual allocation of R&D expenditures by main programmes financed from the 
national budget (m EUR) 

 160  

 140  

 120  

 100  

 80  

 60  

 40  

 20  

 -  

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

Romanian Academy

Nucleu

National Plan

Data source: Zulean et al, 2015. 

Institutional  evaluation  is  extensively  discussed  in  Romania,  but  a  coherent  system  with 
clear implications for competitive funding has not been adopted yet.  

Hence,  an  evaluation  procedure  for  the  “entities  part  of  the  national  RDI  system”  was 
adopted by Government Decision 1062/October 2011. The procedure was applied only to 
the national R&D  institutes (32 in number), but the results  are questionable in  the sense 
that all institutes are included in the “A” category (which is further subdivided in A+, A, A-) 
and  no  institute  was  classified  in  the  B,  C  or  D  categories.  The  implication  of  this 
classification  for  the  funding  instruments  remains  unclear.  The  detailed  reports  of  the 
evaluation process are not publicly available. 

The  Romanian  Academy  uses  a  similar  structure  for  the  periodical  evaluation  of  its 
institutes,  but  the  results  are  not  public.  In  what  regards  the  universities,  these  do  not 
receive institutional funding for RDI. However, R&D related indicators have been used as a 
proxy for the evaluation of the quality of teaching activities. The system based on “quality 
indicators”  (i.e.,  17  composite  indicators  referring  to  the  teaching  process,  teaching staff, 
research etc.) was  used as a wave for  the universities’  per  student base  financing. While 
theoretically  they  could  wave  up  to  30%  of  the  financing,  given  the  indicators’  large 
number and their rather contradictory influences, their real impact has been rather limited. 
(UEFISCDI, CNFIS 2013).  

An  alternative  model  based  on  “university  classification  and  programme  rankings”  was 
implemented in 2011 and 2012, but it was contested by several universities, especially in 
what  regards  the  lack  of  transparency  (Hotnews  23  December  2013).  The  “university 
classification and programme rankings” were also not connected directly to R&D financing, 
but  rather  simply  conditioned  the  right  of  universities  to  organise  master  and  doctoral 
studies. 

- 14 - 

 
 
 
For the period 2014-2020, the institutional funding principles expressed in the NS attempt 
to  correlate  the  criteria  and  amounts  for  funding  going  to  national  R&D  institutes, 
Romanian  Academy  institutes,  and  universities.  A  dedicated  programme  for  institutional 
funding  was  included  in  the  draft  National  RDI  Plan  20014-2020,  which  can  de  facto 
integrate  the  resources  now  spent  through  the  Nucleu  programme  and  add  a  similar 
stream for universities, in correlation with the financing stream of the Romanian Academy. 
The actual structure of the programme was not available by March 2015. 

The main project-based funding programmes are:  

  The National RDI Plan 2007-2013 (coordinated by UEFISCDI), a set of project-based 
funding  schemes  with  a  structure  and  procedures  very  similar  to  FP7  (i.e.,  the 
programmes Ideas, Human Resources, Partnerships, Innovation, Capacities), open to 
all RDI actors. International peer review is the standard for these calls. The budget 
cuts decided by MESR not only affected the pace of the calls, but also translated in 
further budgetary cuts to projects under way.  

  The  RDI  axis  of  the  Operational  programme  Competitiveness  2007-2013 
(coordinated  by  MESR).  As  in  the  case  of  other  structural  funds,  the  level  of 
bureaucracy is high for these programmes, resulting in a relatively large number of 
interrupted contracts. The programme managed to gain the interest of the initially 
reluctant  business  sector,  but  it  is  doubtful  that  the  real  entrepreneurs  are  the 
remaining  clients.  Unlike  other  financing  lines  from  the  structural  funds,  the  RDI 
component exceeded the allocated budget (and not only because ELI-NP represents 
a large part). An evaluation of the programme is not available yet. 

Figure 4: The annual allocation by programmes under the National RDI Plan 2007-2013 (m EUR) 

90 

80 

70 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

2007 

2008 

Human resources

2009 

Ideas

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

Partnerships

Innovation

Capacities

Data source: UEFISCDI. 

The  budget  for  NP3  is  not  available  yet.  Regarding  the  structural  funds  for  RDI,  the 
following information is available: 

  The  Operational  Programme  Competitiveness  –  Priority  axis  1.  RDI  for 
competitiveness and business development was allocated €798m from ERDF. The 
action lines associated to this axis are: (a) Enhancing research and innovation (R&I) 
infrastructure  and  capacities  to  develop  R&I  excellence,  and  promoting  centres  of 

- 15 - 

 
 
 
 
competence,  in  particular  those  of  European  interest;  (b)  Promoting  business 
investment  in  R&I,  developing  links  and  synergies  between  enterprises,  research 
and  development  centres  and  the  higher  education  sector,  in  particular  promoting 
investment  in  product  and  service  development,  technology  transfer,  social 
innovation,  eco-innovation,  public  service  applications,  demand  stimulation, 
networking,  clusters  and  open  innovation  through  smart  specialisation,  and 
supporting  technological  and  applied  research,  pilot  lines,  early  product  validation 
actions,  advanced  manufacturing  capabilities  and  first  production,  in  particular  in 
key enabling technologies and diffusion of general purpose technologies.18  

  The  Regional  Operational  Programme  –  Priority  axis  1.  Technology  transfer  was 
allocated €165m for the “creation, modernization and extending the innovation and 
tech  transfer  infrastructure,  including  equipment”19.  The  OP  is  coordinated  by  the 
Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration. 

2.5.3 R&I funding 

An  important  source  of  indirect  funding  was  introduced  in  2010  with  the  R&D  tax 
deduction of 20%, raised in 2013 to 50%. However, in the period 2010-2012 BERD further 
declined. Informal feedback from the private actors indicates that the 20% tax deduction 
has  not  been  practical,  both  in  bureaucratic  terms  and  in  its  multiannual  format  of 
deductibility. The 50% introduced by law in 2013 stopped the 20% scheme de facto, as the 
new implementation norms have not been released yet. Starting March 2015, the 50% tax 
deduction can be implemented. 

For  the  period  2007-2013,  the  National  Plan  and  the  Operational  Programme  for  RDI 
structural  funds  had  a  large  spectrum  of  instruments  from  basic  research  to  market 
innovation.  However,  the  National  RDI  Plan  2007-2013  received  only  a  third  of  the 
programmed allocation. 

For the period 2014-2020, the draft National RDI Plan (NP3) elaborated in 201320 has the 
following main project-based financing lines21, covering the spectrum from idea to market 
and from short to long term:  

 

 

 

 

“Frontier” – supports fundamental and exploratory research, with large involvement 
of PhD students,  

“Concept” – supports technology development up to the phase of laboratory tests;  

“Prototype”  –  supports  prototype  development  for  the  technologies  with 
commercialisation potential; 

“Solutions”  –  calls  for  projects  with  demand  formulated  in  the  public  sector,  the 
beneficiaries being involved in the selection of projects and the validation of results; 

18

 http://www.fonduri-ue.ro/res/filepicker_users/cd25a597fd-62/2014-2020/po/Prezentare.POC.2014-

2020.pdf  
19

 http://www.fonduri-ue.ro/res/filepicker_users/cd25a597fd-62/2014-2020/po/Prezentare.POR.2014-

2020.pdf  
20 www.cdi2020.ro; a modified version of NP3 has been elaborated; seemingly giving up the segmentation of 
project based funding in relation to the value chain phases. 
21 The budget for the financing lines is not indicated. However, the draft plan states that the project financing 
is expected to represent 50-70% of PN3 funding. 

- 16 - 

 
 
                                                        
 

 

“Innovation  contracts” – a kind of innovation vouchers; 

“Competence centres”– co-financing up to 50% of 5-7 year-long projects in public-
private partnerships. 

A  recent  set  of  interviews  with  managers  of  R&D  institutes  (Pascu  and  Voinescu  2014) 
shows that financial constraints appear to be the main obstacle to competitiveness.  

2.6 Smart Specialisation (RIS3) 

In Romania, instruments of smart specialisations and support are integrated in the national 
RDI Strategy 2014-2020. The Strategy together with the main implementation instruments 
(i.e.,  the  National  Plan  for  budgetary  funds  and  the  Operational  Programme  for  SF)  were 
developed in the same large foresight project (www.cdi2020.ro).  

Four smart specialisations at national level were aggregated: (i) Bioeconomy; (ii) ITC, space 
and security; (iii) Energy, environment and climate change; (iv) Eco-nano technologies and 
advanced materials. 

According  to  NS  2014-2020,  smart  specialisation  is  supported  by  a  set  of  instruments 
which cover the entire spectrum of activities, from the idea to the market, such as: projects 
initiated  by  companies,  competence  centres  and  transfer  infrastructure  and  innovation 
incubators.  

Given  the  dispersed  nature  of  PROs  in  Romania,  the  strategy  foresees  the  creation  of  a 
proper legal framework, including clear and simple procedures, supporting the initiatives to 
merge  public  research  organisations.  At  the  same  time,  NS  2014-2020  supports  actions 
for more correlated research infrastructure investments by means of an updated Roadmap 
and the concentration of the doctoral and post-doctoral topics financed by structural funds 
around  the  smart  specialisation  fields.  However,  the  correlation  with  the  Operational 
Programme for doctoral and post-doctoral study is not focused on these specialisations. 

An  important  component  of  the  smart  specialisation  process  is  the  “strategic  orientation 
mechanism”, whose purpose is to follow  and analyse the creation of competences in  the 
smart specialisation fields, and to periodically propose corrections and reorientations. The 
mechanism  includes,  among  others,  the  National  Registry  of  Researchers,  the  National 
Registry of Research Infrastructures, an Intellectual Capital Reporting for PROs, a Horizon 
scanning  system.  These  components  are  already  under  development  in  two  structural 
funds  projects  coordinated  by  UEFISCDI,  and  the  actual  integration  into  decision  making 
process will be possible starting 2016. 

The  National  RDI  Strategy  and  the  process  behind  it  have  undergone  a  S3  peer-review 
process in 3-4 July 2014 in Dublin.   

All the 8 development regions in Romania are also required to prepare their RIS3 strategy, 
and this process, coordinated by the Agencies for Regional Development, is expected to be 
finalised by the end of 2015. Given that regional autonomy is quite limited in Romania, the 
main  concrete  actions  resulting  from  these  strategies  will  most  likely  focus  on  the 
allocation of RDI funds under the Regional Operational Programme (17% of RDI structural 
funds for the period 2014-2020). 

- 17 - 

 
 
 
2.7 Evaluations, consultations, foresight exercises 

An integrated evaluation for the period 2007-2013 at programme level is difficult because 
for many programmes (e.g. Romanian Academy, Nucleu) the output-related information is 
not  available,  and  the  targets  set  in  2007  were  correlated  with  a  planned  budget  three 
times larger than the real allocation.   

The system is also poor in information at institutional level. Hence, at organisational level, 
out of 41 public universities, 42 national institutes subordinated to MESR and 52 institutes 
of the Romanian Academy, on average approx. 2 out of 8 have publicly available  annual 
reports for the period 2007-2013. (Zulean at all 2015, p52-53) 

The new National Strategy for the period 2014-2020 sets out the creation of The Council 
for  Statistics  and  Prognosis  in  Higher  Education,  Research,  Development  and  Innovation, 
which would support an integrated evidence base  on the performance of institutions and 
programmes.  

The  main  foresight  exercise  was  part  of  the  elaboration  of  the  NS  2014-2020 
(www.cdi2020.ro)  and  envisaged  the  identification  of  thematic  priorities  at  national  level 
(i.e.,  smart  specialisations  and  priorities  of  national  interest).  The  foresight  exercise  used 
extensively data analytics technologies for the evaluation of the current situation, while the 
future-oriented  evaluations  were  supported  by  13  expert  panels  and  over  4000  experts 
and  stakeholders  responding  online.  The  main  criterion  for  the  final  evaluation  of  smart 
specialisations was their economic relevance. 

Most  of  the  results  of  the  foresight  exercise  for  the  elaboration  of  the  National  RDI 
Strategy  2014-2020  were  integrated  in  the  final  Strategy  document.  Following  a 
supplementary  round  of  consultations  with  several  national  RDI  institutes,  several  other 
fields  were  added  to  the  final  list  of  smart  specialisations:  a  much  larger  stress  on 
materials  and  especially  nanomaterials,  energy  production  (complementary  to  energy 
efficiency) and a larger spectrum of space and security subfields. As a result, four smart 
specialisations  were  aggregated:  (i)  Bioeconomy;  (ii)  ITC,  space  and  security;  (iii)  Energy, 
environment  and  climate  change;  (iv)  Eco-nano  technologies  and  advanced  materials.  In 
addition,  the  so-called  “national  priorities”  include:  Health,  Heritage  and  Cultural  Identity, 
and  New  and  Emerging  Technologies  (the  latter  being  rather  a  framework  for  public 
procurement of innovation than a pre-determined set of technologies). 

Romania  does  not  have  a  macroeconomic  model  to  assess  R&I  impact  on  economic 
growth. 

- 18 - 

 
 
 
 
 
3. National progress towards realisation of ERA 

3.1 ERA priority 2: Optimal transnational co-operation and 

competition 

The main transnational cooperation in which Romania is involved is related to the Extreme 
Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), a pan-European infrastructure which will be 
built in Romania using structural funds. In December 2012 the contract for the first stage 
of the investment (€180m) was signed.  Access to the ELI-NP will be granted for most of 
the eligible time based on evaluation of the scientific cases by the international scientific 
board.  

In  addition  to  the  construction  of  the  laser,  a  1  billion  project  for  construction  nearby  of 
Măgurele  Science Park is now  high on the agenda. Măgurele Science Park (MSP) with the 
surface  of  40  hectares  is  already  part  of  Ilfov  County  Council's  strategy  for  promoting 
entrepreneurship  and  developing  the  research,  development  and  innovation22,  but  still 
needs  clear  internal  political  commitment  and  the  approval  of  the  European  Commission 
for being financed via structural funds. 

Other collaboration partnerships include (according to UEFISCDI 2014a): 

-  The  Swiss-Romanian  cooperation  programme  2011-2016:  Based  on  the  agreement 
between the Romanian Government and the Swiss Federal Council of November 2010, the 
programme  includes  thematic  research  calls  with  a  total  value  of  €8.6m  (85%  Swiss 
contribution,  15%  Romanian  contribution)  and  doctoral  and  post-doctoral  scholarships 
(total value €5.5m). 

- The  framework  for  research  collaboration  between  Romania  and  France:  Based  on  the 
agreement between the Ministry of National Education and the National Research Agency 
(France) in  2011, the framework supports  joint  research projects. 22 projects cumulating 
€5m were financed for the period 2011-2013.    

- The  cooperation  programme  Romania-Norway,  Iceland,  Liechtenstein,  under  the  SEE 
Financial  Mechanism  2009-2014,  supports  joint  research  projects  (with  a  budget  of 
€23.5m from the donor countries and 15% co-financing from the Romanian part, financed 
from the programme Partnerships). A number of 23 projects were financed in the areas of: 
Health  and  food  safety;  Social  sciences  and  humanities;  Environmental  protection  and 
management; and Renewable energy.  

Romania also allocated approx. €1m per year in the period 2012-2014 for the participation 
in  the  transnational  programme  Ambient  Assisted  Living (AAL).  In  2014,  UEFISDI  also 
hosted the 6th edition of the AAL Forum.                                                             

Romania  contributes  to  16  international  organizations:  International  Centre  for  Genetic 
Engineering  and  Biotechnology  (ICGEB,  Trieste), 
International  Seismological  Centre 
(Newbury,  UK),  European  Physical  Society  (Geneva),  International  Centre  for  S&T 
Information  (Moscow),   EUREKA,  ESF  (Strasbourg),  COST,  TERENA  (Amsterdam),  CEENET 
(Austria),  EUROGEOSURVEYS,  European  Space  Agency  (ESA),   ITER,  GSI-FAIR  GmbH,  CERN, 
Unified Centre for Nuclear Research (Dubna) and  SCAR. The contribution amounts to €25m 
per year, the largest contribution being to ESA (€16m) and CERN (€6m).  

22 http://www.bursa.ro/s=companii_afaceri&articol=267362.html 

- 19 - 

 
                                                        
For  the  period  January  2013-September  2014,  UEFISCDI  supported  6  JTI  Clean  Sky 
projects  (total  €7.6m),  3  ENIAC  projects  (€0.9m),  and  one  JTI  FCH  project  (€40,000). 
(UEFISCDI 2014a) 

For the programme EUREKA, 62 projects (approx. €11m) have been financed since 2008, 
out  of  which  10  in  category  CLUSTERS,  38  traditional  and  14  EUROSTARS.  (UEFISCDI 
2014a) 

For  the  period  2014-2020  the  National  Strategy  provides  for  the  following  measures  in 
support  of  internationalisation:  supporting  the  participation  in  Horizon  2020  projects; 
supporting  the  coordinated  participation  in  European  initiatives  –  Joint  Programming 
Initiatives  (JPIs),  Joint  Technology  Initiatives  (JTIs)  /  European  Innovation  Partnerships 
(EIPs)  –  and  the  cooperation  with  third  parties  (ERA-RUS,  ERA-LAC);  supporting  the 
participation in international bodies (CERN, ESA, etc.) based on an integrated participation 
plan; funding bilateral calls; twinning and teaming projects; establishing ERA-like chairs to 
attract renowned researchers or university teaching staff. Most of these action lines need 
to be supported by the programmes of the National RDI Plan 2014-2020, which had not 
been  adopted  by  March  2015.  The  realism  of  these  measures  needs  also  to  be 
reconsidered given the cuts in the public R&D expenditures.  

3.2 ERA priority 3: An open labour market for researchers. 
Facilitating mobility, supporting training and ensuring attractive 
careers 

3.2.1 Introduction 

“The  underfinancing  in  the  research  and  development  affects  the  system  in  structural 
terms,  resulting  in  a  brain  drain  and  decreased  quality  of  human  skills.”  (European 
Commission 2015) 

The  Romanian  research  and  innovation  system  is  very  small  considering  the  country's 
population.  The  number  of  researchers  (FTE)  per  population  is  four  times  below  the  EU 
average (27% in 2012, Eurostat data), and only 28% of these researchers were active in 
the business sector in 2013 (compared with 48% EU average in 2013, Eurostat).   

The  National  RDI  Strategy  2007-2013  had,  as one  of  its  key  objectives,  reaching  the  EU 
average in  researchers per  population, but as the allocated budget was  only one third  of 
the  programmed  one,  the  objective  was  de  facto  abandoned.  For  the  period  2014-2020 
the  new  objective  in  terms  of  researchers  is  to  double  their  number  and  simultaneously 
reach  45%  in  the  business  sector  (i.e.,  the  number  of  researchers  in  business  should 
increase almost four times). 

The  supply  of  human  resources  in  Romania  exceeds  the  capacity  of  absorption  by  the 
traditionally underfinanced R&D system. Hence, Romania has, among EU countries, one of 
the  largest  scientific  diasporas,  with  an  estimated  15,000  active  researchers  working 
abroad  (World  Bank  2011,  p.21).  While  the  new  doctoral  schools  (funded  by  Structural 
Funds  (SF))  provided  generous  financial  support  for  their  students,  the  latter  already 
experience difficulties in finding relevant jobs in Romania, becoming candidates for further 
enlarging the diaspora.  

- 20 - 

 
 
The  inter-institutional  mobility  at  national  level  is  quite  reduced  in  both  institutes  and 
universities. Very often, academic advance in their career in the university they graduated. 
This organisational culture in  both institutes and universities  makes recruitment often an 
internal affair, despite formal compliance with the steps of the procedure. 

The career progression in the public R&D sector follows rigid regulations. The same rules 
could represent a barrier for the access of foreigners. 

Figure 5: Number of R&D personnel by sector of performance 

18,000

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Business

Government sector

Higher education sector

Private non-profit sector

Data source: Eurostat. 

For  the  period  2014-2020  the  National  Strategy  sets  out  the  following  measures  in 
relation  to  the  “Labour  market  in  research”:  integrating  doctoral  students  and  young 
doctors  in  RDI  projects;  encouraging  the  attraction  of  researchers  with  advanced 
competences  from  abroad  to  be  in  charge  of  projects  in  a  host  institution  in  Romania; 
obligation  for  PROs  to  publish  all  vacancies  in  Euraxess  and  to  adhere  to  the  European 
Charter  and  Code  for  Researchers23;  introducing  policies  on  the  electronic  identity  of 
researchers  for  access  to  digital  services  for  research.  While  the  integration  of  PhD 
students in R&D projects is already encouraged under the existing National RDI Plan, and 
the attraction of researchers from abroad is supported by a dedicated financing line in the 
new cycle of SF, the rest of the measures still await implementation. 

3.2.2 Open, transparent and merit-based recruitment of researchers 

The Government Decision 286/2011 regarding the general principles of employment in the 
public sector allows for specific regulations by fields where such regulations are provided 
by the authorities coordinating public resources.  

Article  15  of  Law  319  /8.07.2003  Status  of  research  staff  stipulates  that:  vacancies  for 
positions  in  research  institutions  are  to  be  announced  publicly  including  in  a  national 

23 See http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/rights/whatIsAResearcher. 

- 21 - 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
newspaper;  the  deadline  for  applications  is  set  at  a  minimum  of  30  days;  the  selection 
panels include research or university personnel from within or outside the institution with a 
scientific  title  equal  or  higher  than  the  one  required  for  the  vacant  job;  the  examination 
format is approved by the scientific council of the institution; the dossier of the candidate 
includes,  among  others,  a  list  of  publications  and  a  copy  of  his  or  her  5  most 
representative publications. 

More specific  provisions for  obtaining the scientific  grades are given in  the Order 4478 / 
27.06.2011  of  the  Ministry  of  Education,  Research  and  Youth  (now,  MESR).  The  Order 
provides  for  the  specific  criteria  for  the  scientific  titles  in  Mathematics  and  natural 
sciences, Engineering sciences and Biomedical sciences. 

3.2.3 Access to and portability of grants 

International  access  to  grants,  in  the  sense  of  the  possibility  of  researchers  affiliated  to 
foreign  institutions  to  apply  for  grants  in  Romania,  is  restricted.  However,  Romania  has 
specific  financing  lines  encouraging  the  candidacy  of  foreign  researchers  affiliated  to 
Romanian institutions. 

3.2.4 EURAXESS 

The  Euraxess  Romania  portal  (www.euraxess.gov.ro)  supports  Romanian  and  foreign 
researchers in finding a job in Romania, provides information regarding the procedures for 
obtaining visas, residence and labour permits, provides information on taxation of research 
activities and the regime of intellectual property rights in Romania. 

Given the low number of job vacancies in Romania’s underfinanced R&D system, one could 
estimate that Euraxess is an important portal in the research labour market (see statistics 
below).  The  relatively  large  concentration  of  job  vacancies  (ten  organizations  cumulate 
48%  of  job  vacancies  IN  2013-2014)  seems  correlated  with  the  internationalisation 
activity of these organisations. 

Table 2: Statistics of the use of euraxess.ro    

Number of organisations with  
minimum one job vacancy 
72 
55 

2013 
2014 

Source: UEFICSDI. 

Number of job vacancies 

Number of unique viewers 

308 
203 

10150 
8076 

3.2.5 Doctoral training 

An analysis of the actual procedures of doctoral studies was carried out in 201124 showing 
a  large  diversity  of  practices.  In  the  meantime,  the  doctoral  studies  are  under  new  and 
more consistent regulation (Government Decision 681/201125).  According to this GD, only 
some  organizations  have  the  right  of  organising  doctoral  studies,  and  these  can  be 
universities,  university  consortia,  university-research  institute  partnerships  and  the 
Romanian Academy. These organisations can have one or more doctoral schools.  

24 http://www.studii-doctorale.ro/diagnoza/pe-domenii-sectoriale-si-tematice.aspx 
25 http://www.legalis.ro/2011/08/05/codul-studiilor-universitare-de-doctorat-hg-6812011-nou/ 

- 22 - 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
Regarding the list of universities which may organise doctoral studies, this is theoretically 
correlated with the classification of universities, i.e., in teaching, teaching and research, and 
research-intensive  categories,  with  only  the  latter  being  allowed  to  organise  PhD 
programmes.  Given  that  the  process  of  classification  has  been  cancelled  de  facto,  there 
are now unclear regulations in this respect. 

In  the  period  2007-2013,  15,000  doctoral  students  were  supported  (i.e.,  scholarships 
granted  through  the  doctoral  schools)  by  the  Programme  Human  Development  of  the 
Structural Funds (Romanian Government 2013).26 

The  application  of  the  principles  of  Innovative  Doctoral  Training  is  mentioned  in  the  NS 
2014-2020, but further implementation norms are required. In February 2015 the Ministry 
of Education and Scientific Research approved the methodology for the habilitation of PhD 
advisers. 

3.2.6 HR strategy for researchers incorporating the Charter and Code 

For the period 2014-2020 the National Strategy sets out the obligation of PROs to publish 
all vacancies in Euraxess and to adhere to the European Charter and Code for Researchers. 
Further implementation norms are required. 

3.2.7 Education and training systems 

The general government expenditure in education was 3.0% of GDP in 2012, the lowest in 
the EU with a negative impact on the quality of education, as proved among other by PISA 
surveys. According to the 2012 PISA survey, Romania was the second worst performer in 
the EU-28 in reading and science and the third worst performer in Mathematics (European 
Commission 2015). 

The  main  challenges  for  the  Romanian  education  system  are:  the  early  school  leaving 
(17%  in  2013  against  12%  EU  average)  and  the  quality  and  labour-market  relevance  of 
higher  education.  In  addition  to  the  disconnect  between  higher  education  and  the  labour 
market,  Romania  is  only  now  making  efforts  for  reinforcing  vocational  education  and 
training and apprenticeships schemes. These problems are currently reflected in  the high 
number  of  young  people  who  are  not  in  education,  employment  or  training  (Youth 
unemployment  reached  24  %  in  2014,  well  above  total  unemployment  level).  (European 
Commission 2015) 

The Romanian universities compete in the red ocean of high-income urban young student 
base.  Hence,  “rural,  poor,  and  under-represented  minority  attainment  in  higher  education 
are disproportionately lower than urban, higher income student attainment” and “Romania 
has currently the highest proportion of graduates in the social sciences in the EU. In 2008, 
72%  of  students  graduated  with  degrees  in  soft  disciplines,  with  58%  of  Romania’s 
graduates receiving degrees in the social sciences” (World Bank Group 2014). 

To this situation contributes an overly regulated system, in which “[i]nstitutions have little 
autonomy to make decisions at the programmatic and degree-granting levels, miring their 
operations  in  government  bureaucracy  and  providing  little  incentive  for  conforming  to 
greater levels of accountability” (World Bank Group 2014), while “the funding model is not 

26 http://www.fonduri-ue.ro/posdru/images/doc2014/rai2013.pdf. 

- 23 - 

 
 
 
                                                        
agile  enough  to  provide  incentives  for  modernization,  efficiencies,  innovation,  or  equity” 
(World Bank Group 2014). 

The  National  Qualifications  Framework  was  adopted  in  2013  (Government  Decision 
918/2013).  “The  higher  education  national  qualifications  framework  was  completed, with 
573  qualifications  described  in  terms  of  outcomes,  and  was  developed  in  line  with  the 
European  Qualifications  Framework  for  HE.  This  national  tertiary  education  quality 
framework  was  intended  to  be  integrated  with  the  National  Qualifications  Framework, 
which was then under development” (World Bank Group 2014). 

3.3 ERA priority 5: Optimal circulation and access to scientific 

knowledge  

3.3.1 e-Infrastructures and researchers electronic identity 

In  the  period  2006-2013,  the  academic  community  in  Romania  enjoyed  access,  free  of 
charge,  to  important  databases,  both  bibliographic  and  bibliometric,  through  several 
projects  financed  by  the  budget  or  EU  funds,  among  which  the  ANELIS  project  (2009-
2011), followed by the project ANCS-UEFISCDI (2012-2013). Since May 2013, the access 
to  scientific  literature  has  been  provided  through  the  publicly  funded  consortium  ANELIS 
PLUS (UEFISCDI 2014d).27 

3.3.2 Open Access to publications and data 

For the period 2006-2013, 5.3% of Romanian publications in scientific journals had green 
open  access  (compared  with  the  EU  average  of  9.4%),  and  9.5%  had  gold  open  access, 
which is above the EU average of 8.6% (Archambault et al 2014). 

The  National  RDI  Strategy  2014-2020  encourages  the  gold  open  access  standard  for 
publishing the results of publicly-financed research. 

A  National  Strategy  Regarding  the  Digital  Agenda  was  adopted  in  June  2014.  It  sets  out 
the regulation and facilitation of open data in Romania, including big data aspects. 

27 www.anelisplus.ro. 

- 24 - 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
4. Innovation Union 

4.1 Framework conditions 

Except for the fluctuating RDI project co-financing under structural funds schemes and the 
National RDI Plan, the support for business R&D investment has been limited: the 50% tax 
deduction for R&D expenditures had no implementation norms until March 2015, while the 
more  general  access  to  credits  for  SMEs  is  very  limited  (including  that  for  co-financing 
structural funds projects). 

For the period 2014-2020, The National RDI Strategy sets out the following measures for 
the  “Creation  of  a  stimulating  environment  for  the  private  sector  initiative”:  adopting  the 
procedures for the 50% tax deduction;  creation, within the de minimis aid programme, of 
an investment fund with starting capital and seed capital for entrepreneurs with innovative 
ideas,  as  well  as  of  an  investment  fund  with  venture  capital  and  growth  capital  for 
innovative start-ups; creation, within the de minimis aid scheme, of a credit system (micro-
credit, credits for current capital, and credits for development investments) with interests 
subsidized  in  favour  of  innovative  SMEs.;  creation  of  an  individual  guarantee  system  to 
cover  the  technological  risk  in  favour  of  innovative  SMEs.  For  all  these  measures  the 
implementation plan is not available yet. 

4.2 Science-based entrepreneurship 

There are only few cases of university spin-offs in Romania. The situation is not surprising 
considering the strong teaching orientation of Romanian universities. 

Several  Romanian  technology  projects  have  received  financing  using  US  crowdfunding 
platforms.  In  2014  five  such  projects  managed  to  raise  thousands  of  dollars  on 
kickstrater.com  or  indiegogo.com.  The  highest  amount  ($95.000)  was  obtained  from 
platform kickstarter.com for a "board game" developed by NSKN Games.28 

In  recent  years,  the  technology  start-up  movement  has  shown  signs  of  awakening. 
Especially  in  the  ITC  field,  several  entrepreneurial  hubs,  clusters  and  accelerators  have 
emerged, doubled by co-working innovation spaces.  

The movement described above is featured so far only in significant urban agglomerations 
such  as  Bucharest,  Cluj,  Timisoara,  Iasi  or  Brasov,  but  there  is  good  potential  for  it 
spreading out throughout the country. 

The  “hubisation”  movement  led  to  several  business  plan  competitions,  acceleration  and 
pitching  sessions,  mostly  in  the  field  of  ITC/tech  (e.g.  How  to  Web,  Innovation  Labs  or 
RICAP). 

Similarly,  the  number  of  private  sector  sponsors  of  such  events  is  steadily  increasing, 
mainly as part of their CSR campaigns (Carrefour, Orange), but also as part of their internal 
innovation programmes (Microsoft, Intel, Cisco).  

28

 http://www.zf.ro/busi 

ness-hi-tech/proiecte-romanesti-de-tehnologie-care-au-primit-finantare-pe-

platformele-americane-de-crowdfunding-in-2014-13742000 

- 25 - 

 
 
 
                                                        
4.3 Knowledge markets 

The  legal  framework  for  the  protection  and  sharing  of  intellectual  property  has  been 
improved by the Law no. 8/2014 on service inventions, which was intended to clarify the 
rights  of  intellectual  property  revenue  sharing  between  employees  and  their  employers 
producing  such  inventions.  The  new  law  follows  the  complaints  of  the  multinationals 
regarding the endless conflicts with their employees about IPR and, in this respect, the law 
increases the rights of the employer.  

Romania  ratified  the  Unitary  Patent  in  February  2013.  The  Law  8/1996  regarding  the 
authors’ rights was updated in 2014.29  

The  national  patents  have  traditionally  a  very  high  proportion  of  physical  persons  as 
owners, a situation explainable both by the primarily reputational role of such patents and 
by the ambiguous IPR regime in Romania. However, the number of such patents has a clear 
descending  trend,  while  the  patents  owned  by  universities  and  research  institutes  have 
increased  in  number.  Unfortunately,  the  number  of  patents  granted  to  companies 
decreased by a factor of three in the last decade. (ERAWATCH 2012). 

Table 3: Number of national patents by main owners 2001-2012 

2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010  2011  2012 

Physical  

persons 

591 

377 

599 

423 

461 

528 

282 

327 

391 

307 

223 

216 

Companies 

252 

159 

205 

156 

210 

174 

153 

110 

140 

Research institutes  50 

38 

14 

31 

28 

20 

13 

24 

14 

13 

36 

14 

11 

33 

31 

6 

9 

4 

8 

55 

18 

5 

137 

66 

12 

29 

71 

89 

62 

89 

8 

97 

67 

87 

17 

88 

90 

83 

9 

993 

619 

865 

630 

732 

750 

478 

515 

746 

555 

491 

486 

Universities 

Other 

TOTAL 

Data source: OSIM (ERAWATCH 2012) 

4.4 Knowledge transfer and open innovation 

While the public innovation and tech transfer infrastructure is mostly outdated and limited 
in  results,  from  the  business  sector  there  are  signs  of  a  healthy  dynamics.  For  the  new 
cycle  of  structural  funds  the  challenge  is  that  of  connecting  the  financing  to  the  real 
interests  of  business  and  of  avoiding  the  formal  clusters  focused  more  on  absorption  of 
public funds than on building innovation-based competitiveness. 

The public network for innovation and technological transfer (ReNITT)30 has 45 accredited 
entities,  out  of  which:  12  technology  transfer  centres,  12  centres  for  technological 
information,  15  technological  and  business  incubators.  Four  scientific  and  technological 
parks  complement  ReNITT.  The  activities  of  these  entities  are  still  rather  modest,  but 
efforts  are  being  made  to  enhance  their  institutional  capacity  by  a  project  financed  by 

29

http://www.euroavocatura.ro/legislatie/1137/Legea_drepturilor_de_autor,_Actualizata_2014__Legea_8_1996 
30 The  methodology  for  the  accreditation  of  innovation  and technology  transfer  infrastructure  was  adopted 
by Governmental Decision 406/ April 2003. 

- 26 - 

 
  
 
                                                        
 
structural funds31 and through the introduction of the profession of “innovation manager” 
into the national classification of occupations (UEFISCDI 2012). 

“An interview with an official of the National Authority for Scientific Research revealed that 
a  survey  they  conducted  among  the  23  technology-transfer  entities  functioning  on 
University campuses or within research institutes in Romania has identified the technology 
transfer  activities  within  all  these  entities  to  be  limited  to  non-inventive  engineering 
services offered on a commercial basis to clients.” (Cioara et al 2013, p90). 

Business enterprises as a funding source allocated in 2012 most of their resources to the 
business  performers  (approx.  69%),  while  governmental  organisations  account  for  26% 
and  HEIs  for  5%  (Eurostat  data).  This  distribution  reflects  the  weak  linkages  between 
private  and  public  R&D  organisations,  as  well  as  the  poor  collaboration  with  the 
universities. 

For the period 2007-2013, the main inter-sectorial collaborations were supported by:  

  The  National  RDI  Plan  2007-2013  programmes  Partnerships  and  Innovation 
(underfinanced  starting  2011).  As  part  of  the  programme  Innovation,  two  new 
instruments  were  launched  in  2012,  namely:  Support  for  high-tech  export  (which 
received 8 applications and has an estimated increase by a factor  of  3.7 in  high-
tech export compared to the public contribution); Development of products, systems 
and  technologies,  having  received  88  applications  cumulating  over  €45m;  and 
Vouchers for innovation (UEFISCDI 2012). 

  The  RDI  Operational  Programme,  where  most  of  the  projects  are  based  on  inter-

sectorial collaboration. 

For  the  period  2014-2020  the  same  type  of  project  financing  is  supplemented,  among 
others, by: 

 

“Competence  centres”  (draft  NP3),  which  are  meant  to  support  longer  term 
collaboration  between  PROs  and  business;  and  by  an  inter-sectorial  mobility 
programme. 

  The  tech  transfer  infrastructure  supported  by  the  Regional  Operational 

Programme. 

  Venture capital funds (NS 2014-2020). 

The NS 2014-2020 sets targets in terms of activating the business sector and economic 
impact,  following  the  Innovation  Union  Scoreboard  indicators.  The  targets  are  very 
ambitious in comparison with the current situation, but for most of them the 2020 values 
are still considerably lower than the EU average. 

31 With  a  budget  of  €4m,  the  project  is  financed  under  the  Operational  Programme  “Developing 
Administrative Capacity (PO DCA), intervention field 1.2. Increase responsibility in public administration. The 
project site is http://www.romaniainoveaza.ro/  

- 27 - 

 
 
 
                                                        
Table 4: National targets for RDI activating business and economic impact 

Activating business 
BERD  (% din PIB)  

Number of researchers in the business sector (FTE)  

Public-private co-publication per 1 mil. Inhabitants 
Innovative SMEs cooperating with others (%) 
EPO patent applications / year 
USTPO patent applications / year 
Community trade mark applications / EUR 1 billion GDP adjusted to the 
purchasing power parity 
Economic impact 
Innovative companies with rapid growth 
SMEs introducing innovative products and services (%) 

Revenue from licences and patents from abroad as % of GDP 

Source: NS 2014-2020 

Last value 
(year) 

Target 
2017 

Target 
2020 

0,17  
(2011)  
3518  
(2011)  
8,3  
2,93  
40  
17  
2,14  

-  
13,17  
(2011)  
0,13  
(2011)  

0,6  

1,0  

7000  

14500  

12  
3,5  
80  
30  
3  

50  
16  

16  
6  
120  
60  
4  

150  
20  

0,15  

0,17  

However,  the  gap  between  business  and  PROs  has  a  structural  dimension,  which  is  not 
expected to be resolved on short term: on one hand, the young Romanian SME sector is not 
innovation  ready,  while  the  consistently  underfinanced  public  R&D  sector  is  oriented 
towards  career-promoting  publication.  Unfortunately,  the  structural  gap  is  deepening,  as 
the weight of high-tech exports decreased from a peak of 9.8% in 2010 to only 5.6% in 
2013 (EU28 average is estimated at 15.3) (Eurostat). 

4.5 Innovation framework for SMEs 

Romania  ranks  55th  out  of  143  countries  in  the  Global  Innovation  Index  2014:  better 
positioned  in  creative  outputs  (especially  online,  where  it  ranks  41),  the  country  has 
problems  in  terms  of  investment  (rank  120),    trade  and  competition  (rank  116)  and 
innovation  linkages  (rank  108).  The  Innovation  Program  (National  RDI  Plan  207-
2013)  was  launched  in  2007  with  a  single  instrument,  DPD  (Technologies  and  Product 
Development),  covering  all  types  of  innovation  resulting  from  research,  the  maximum 
financing being 80% of the budget for each project.  

From 2012, three targeted funding instruments have been implemented: DPD, Stimulating 
high-tech  exports  and  Innovation  vouchers.  Since  2012,  private  funding  for  DPD  and 
Stimulating high-tech exports projects has risen to at least 50%, compared to 2007 when 
it  was  at  least  20%.  The  third  instrument,  Innovation  Vouchers,  aims  to  solve  specific 
problems  for  the  research/development/innovation  of  the  beneficiaries,  problems  which 
could not be solved internally but which, through the contribution of service providers, may 
generate innovative solutions that lead to the commercialisation of products, technologies 
or services developed by the beneficiary. The total budget for the period 2007-2013 was 
approx. €80m (523 projects). (UEFISCDI 2014c) 

The commercialisation component is seen as a priority for  the period 2014-2020. In this 
respect, the main  instruments in the draft Operational Programme include: access to risk 
capital for SMEs, credits with subsidised interest rates, and guarantees for credits.  

- 28 - 

 
 
 
The  main  structural  funds  for  RDI  for  the  period  2014-2020  are  connected  to  the  OP 
Competitiveness 2014-2020 (Ministry of Economy 2014c), the Priority axis RDI. The guide 
for  the  following  financing  lines  was  open  for  public  consultations:  Innovation  Clusters 
(Action  1.1.1  –  Major  R&D  infrastructures),  Innovative  start-ups,  R&D  Investment 
departments of enterprises; RDI Projects for spin-offs and innovative start-ups; Projects for 
attracting staff with advanced skills from abroad. 

The  Governmental  Strategy  for  the  SME  sector  and  business  environment  (Romanian 
Government  2014b)  was  adopted  in  2014  (GD 859/2014).  “In  the  view  of  the  Romanian 
Government,  building  a  viable  entrepreneurial  ecosystem  nationwide  by  2020  allows  for 
the  interconnected  operation  of  productive  enterprises,  spread  locally  throughout  the 
country,  regionally  or  globally,  with  priority  being  given  to  chains  with  an  increased 
potential  of  adding  value,  such  as,  for  example,  clusters  and  centres  of  excellence  or 
industrial  networks  or  services  of  high  quality”.  “The  relevant  statistical  data  show  that 
about 57% of current microenterprises are subsistence enterprises, which enable a certain 
standard of living only for the business owners and their family”.  

“Currently,  there  are  a  number  of  financial  instruments  for  business  from  internal  and 
external  financing  sources,  but  it  is  generally  difficult  for  them  to  reach  the  SMEs.  For 
example,  various  SMEs  do  not  meet  the  eligibility  conditions  for  European  funds  on 
projects,  as  they  do  not  have  the  necessary  funds  to  co-finance  the  project,  their  own 
obligatory  participation  of  15%  of  eligible  expenditures,  which  can  sometimes  be  a 
prohibitive  amount”.  “The  government  believes  that  an  increase  in  the  approximately 
41.23% economically active SMEs in the next seven years is a realistic strategic objective”. 

The action lines of this strategy include: supporting and promoting entrepreneurship; SME 
access to adequate funding; innovative SMEs, access to markets and internationalization of 
SMEs;  and  reactivity  of  public  administration  to  the  needs  of  SMEs.  The  action  line 
innovative SMEs includes a very broad spectrum of measures, many of them overlapping 
with  the  National  RDI  Strategy  (e.g.,  support  for  partnerships  between  SMEs  and  R&D 
institutes,  or  support  for  technological  transfer)  and  it  is  not  clear  if  there  are  additional 
resources  for  these  lines  or  if  there  is  an  inter-institutional  coordination  mechanism  for 
correlating their implementation.  

Other  lines  (e.g.,  business  consulting  services  for  SMEs,  support  for  integration  into 
productive chains, support for clusters, awareness campaigns on IP protection and support 
for certification of new products) are complementary to the National RDI Strategy, but the 
key implementation programmes and the resources behind remain also unclear. 

4.6 Venture capital markets 

The  venture  capital  (VC)  market  is  underdeveloped  in  Romania.  While  there  are  7  visible 
venture capital providers on the market32, in 2013 Romania registered only €3m in venture 
capital investment33. 

32 Advent  International  Romania  (credits  around  $5  millions),  AIG  New  Europe  Fund  (credits  around  $10m 
with a refund rate of 35 %), Global Finance International Ltd. (credits around $2-3m to the companies with a 
turnover  of  minimum  $6m),  Danube  Fund  offers  credits  between  $0.5-2ms,  refund  rate  of  30%), 
Environmental  Investment  Partners  offers  (credits  $1-3m to  the  companies with  minimum  sales of  $0.8m 
and  3  years  of  activity,  refund  rate  of  35%),  ORESA  Venture  Romania  (credits  $1m),  and  Romanian 
Investment Fund (Cyprus) LTD. 

- 29 - 

 
 
                                                        
Both  the  supply  and  the  demand  of  VC  are still  underdeveloped.  On  one  hand,  the  “local 
culture  does  not  favour  serial  entrepreneurs.  Most  of  the  people  who  start  a  company 
never consider selling it. Moreover, highly educated young people tend to prefer a position 
in  a  multinational  corporation  because  it  is  being  perceived  as  more  secure”,  “the 
entrepreneurs  tend  to  overrate  the  value  of  their  business”  and  “there  is  a  lack  of 
awareness related to the milestones that a company has to fulfil once it becomes part of a 
VC portfolio”. On the other hand, “a trend analysis would showcase that, rather than seeing 
more  international  funds  scouting  for  deals  in  Romania,  we  observe  more  and  more 
Romanian  entrepreneurs  raising  early  stage  financing  directly  abroad,  after  they  have 
relocated their business to Western Europe or North America”. (Cioara et al 2013) 

An  important  law  supporting  business  angels  was  adopted  in  April  2015:   it  sets,  among 
others that income earned as dividends by individuals transferee for  the shares acquired 
shall be exempt from tax for a period of 5 years. Also, the positive difference between the 
sale  price  and  the  purchase  price  resulting  from  the  transfer  of  ownership  of  the  shares 
obtained  by  the  assignee  is  exempt  from  tax,  if  the  transfer  occurs  after  a  period  of  3 
years  from  the  acquisition.  The  range  of  investment  is  from  3,000  to  200,000  euro  and 
most of the sectors are eligible (exceptions are: banking and financial services, real estate, 
steel  industry,  shipbuilding,  military  and  consulting).  The  promoters  of  the  law  have 
estimated  a  number  of  500  business  angels’  investments  for  the  first  year  after  the 
adoption.34 

The risk capital fund 3TS Catalyst Romania was launched via the initiative JEREMY of the 
European  Investment  Fund.  It  made  in  2014  its  first  investments  in  technology-based 
companies.35 Two other funds are announced for 2015 in support for risk investment of up 
€1.5m per SME.36 

For the period 2014-2020, both the NS 2014-2020 and the SMEs Strategy provide for the 
creation, within the de minimis aid programme, of an investment fund with starting capital 
and seed capital for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, as well as of an investment fund 
with venture capital and growth capital for innovative start-ups.  

4.7 Innovative public procurement 

The  public  procurement  for  innovation  is  not  yet  an  established  practice  in  Romania. 
Moreover,  the  corruption  scandals  associated  with  the  public  procurement  process  in 
general may restrain its applicability in the near future.The NS 2014-2020 has, as one of 
its key objectives, activating public sector demand (objective “Innovative solutions for the 
public sector”) with the following action lines: a programme for increasing the capacity of 
the public sector to formulate demand for innovation; a programme of thematic research 
on the researchers’ initiative, supported by the public institutions directly interested in  the 
results;  a  programme  for  supporting  public  procurement  of  innovative  products  and 
services; a programme for pre-commercial public procurement and for monitoring new and 
emerging  technologies;  establishing  a  national  target  concerning  the  weight  of  public 

33 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/finance/data/enterprise-finance-index/venture-capital/index_en.htm. 
34

 http://www.zf.ro/eveniment/pariul-antreprenorilor-care-au-lucrat-la-legea-business-angels-500-de-firme-

vor-primi-finantare-intr-un-an-14253343. 
35

 http://www.finantare.ro/initiativa-jeremie-patru-banci-vor-acorda-imm-urilor-credite-de-120-de-milioane-

de-euro-cu-dobanda-redusa.html. 
36 http://www.startups.ro/analize/se-lanseaza-doua-noi-fonduri-de-capital-de-risc-pentru-imm-uri. 

- 30 - 

 
 
                                                                                                                                                                            
procurement of innovative products and services within the aggregate public procurement; 
and a pilot programme for supporting social innovation. The implementation plans for the 
above mentioned action lines are still pending. 

- 31 - 

 
5. Performance of the National Research and Innovation 
System 

5.1 Performance of the National Research and Innovation 

system 

Romania has four times fewer researchers per population, a five times smaller GERD and 
19 times smaller R&D expenditures in euro per capita compared to the EU average. From 
this  perspective,  the  number  of  doctorate  graduates,  which  is  similar  to  EU  average  is 
simply  a  resource  not  used  by  the  system.  In  terms  of  productivity,  publication  per 
researcher is better than the EU average, while patenting is almost absent.  

In 2012, Romania produced 6.44 publications per 10,000 inhabitants on average, which is 
around the EU-28 average (13.8). International orientation is still quite low with 29.16% of 
publications  internationally  co-published.  In  2012,  Romania  had  about  177  international 
scientific co-publications per million population. In the period 2002-2012, a bit more than 
5%  of  the  Romanian  scientific  publications  were  in  the  top  10%  most  cited  publications 
worldwide  in  comparison  with  11%  of  top  scientific  publications  produced  in  the  EU28 
(Science Metrix, 2014)37. The share of public-private co-publications in Romania is 0.5% in 
the period 2008-2013 against 2.8% for the EU2838. 

37 These  publication  data  are  based  on  Elsevier's  Scopus  database.  ScienceMetrix,  Analysis  and  Regular 
Update  of  Bibliometric  Indicators,  study  conducted  for  DG  RTD.  They  represent  an  update  of  the  data 
displayed  in  the  table  below.  See  also  http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/index_en.cfm?pg=other-
studies. 
38 SciVal 2014, Scopus based publication indicators derived from Elsevier's SciVal platform, www.scival.com 
last accessed December 2014. 

- 32 - 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
Table 5: Assessment of the Performance of the National Research and Innovation System 

1. ENABLERS 
Human resources 
New doctorate graduates (ISCED 6) per 1000 population aged 25-34 

Year 

RO 

EU 

2011 

1.70 

1.70 

Percentage population aged 30-34 having completed tertiary education  2012 

21.80 

35.80 

Open, excellent and attractive research systems 
International scientific co-publications per million population 
Scientific publications among the top 10% most cited publications 
worldwide as % of total scientific publications of the country 

Finance and support 
R&D expenditure in the public sector as % of GDP 
Venture capital (early stage, expansion and replacement) as % of GDP 
2. FIRM ACTIVITIES 
R&D expenditure in the business sector as % of GDP 
Linkages and entrepreneurship 
Public-private co-publications per million population 
Intellectual assets 
PCT patent applications per billion GDP (in PPS€) 
PCT patent applications in societal challenges per billion GDP (in PPS€) 
(climate change mitigation; health) 

2012 

177.45  343.15 

2009 

3.50 

10.95 

2012 
2012 

0.30 
0.02 

0.75 
0.08 

2012 

0.12 

1.31 

2011 

8.33 

52.84 

2010 

0.17 

3.92 

2010 

0.04 

0.85 

3. OUTPUTS 
Economic effects 
Contribution of medium and high-tech product exports to trade balance  2012 
2011 
Knowledge-intensive services exports as % total service exports 
License and patent revenues from abroad as % of GDP 
2012 
Source: European Commission, IUS Database (2014). 

0.38 
45.22 
0.14 

1.27 
45.26 
0.59 

The number of ISI-indexed publications increased by 87% in the period 2007-2013, being 
correlated with the temporary improvement of project funding, the increasing importance 
of ISI publications for promotion in the academic career, and the emergence of Romanian 
ISI-indexed publications. The proportion of publications in the young Romanian ISI journals 
reached its peak in 2009 (44%) with a clear decreasing trend afterwards (32% in 2013). 

Table 6: Number of journal articles with Romanian authors indexed in ISI-Web of Science during 
2002-2013 

Year 

2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010  2011  2012  2013 

ISI-indexed 

2,417  2,506  2,667  2,985  3,568  4,907  6,482  7,653  8,506  8,064  8,444  9,197 

   out  of  which 
in  Romanian 
journals 

Percentage  of 
papers 
published 
in 
RO ISI journals  

444 

551 

557 

746 

921 

1,683  2,660  3,356  3,490  2,991  2,710  2,946 

18% 

22% 

21% 

25% 

26% 

34% 

41% 

44% 

41% 

37% 

32% 

32% 

Data source: InCites, retrieved April 2014. 

- 33 - 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
The national patents have traditionally had a very high proportion of physical persons as 
owners, a situation explainable both by the primarily reputational role of such patents and 
by the ambiguous IPR regime in Romania. However, the number of such patents has a clear 
descending  trend,  while  the  patents  owned  by  universities  and  research  institutes 
improved.  Unfortunately,  the  number  of  patents  granted  to  companies  decreased  by  a 
factor of three in the last decade. (ERAWATCH 2012). 

Table 7: Number of national patents by main owners 2001-2012 

2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010  2011  2012 

Physical  

Persons 

591 

377 

599 

423 

461 

528 

282 

327 

391 

307 

223 

216 

Companies 

252 

159 

205 

156 

210 

174 

153 

110 

140 

89 

97 

88 

Research 
institutes 

Universities 

Other 

TOTAL 

50 

29 

71 

38 

14 

31 

28 

20 

13 

24 

14 

13 

36 

14 

11 

33 

31 

6 

9 

4 

8 

55 

18 

5 

137 

66 

12 

62 

89 

8 

67 

87 

17 

90 

83 

9 

993 

619 

865 

630 

732 

750 

478 

515 

746 

555 

491 

486 

Data source: OSIM (ERAWATCH 2012). 

5.2 Structural challenges of the national R&I system 

The Romanian RDI system faces the following structural challenges: 

1) The RDI system is underfinanced. The public R&D expenditures are not only very low but 
continuously at odds with the official targets. This discrepancy creates uncertainty (or false 
hope)  for  the  different  actors,  crisis  in  the  multiannual  project  financing  and  more 
generally supports unrealistic strategic planning. At the root of this political inconsistency 
may lay a limited pressure from the civil society, as  the awareness regarding the role of 
innovation for wealth creation is still low. 

2)  The  business  sector  is  not  innovation  ready.  The  economy  is  dominated  by 
multinationals,  while  the  young  SME  sector  carries  predominantly  low  value-added 
activities. Activating the business demand for RDI is not only an innovation policy issue, but 
also  needs  to  be  seen  in  the  context  of  a  broader  effort  (e.g.,  by  supporting 
entrepreneurship in general, or by access to credits for technology acquisitions) to support 
globalisation and the repositioning of Romanian companies in the value chains.  

3) The public RDI sector needs reorganisation. The number of public institutes and centres 
is  disproportionate  to  the  number  of  researchers;  the  thematic  orientation  has  limited 
interdisciplinary character and is not well correlated with the smart specialisations or the 
societal  challenges.  Research  in  the  universities  is  financed  almost  exclusively  by  the 
intermittent project funding of the National Plan, or supported by the need for publication 
in view of advancing the academic career. In general, the public system is oriented towards 
publication and much less towards innovation. Very often the term “basic research” (which 
usually  denotes  remarkable  outcomes)  is  used  to  mask  the  low  relevance  of  results  for 
business or the public sector.  

- 34 - 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
3)  Dominance  of  supply-driven  research.  The  research  carried  in  the  public  organisations 
supported by institutional funding is quite autarchic and with low relevance for business. At 
the same time, the public institutions are not able yet and do not have clear mechanisms 
to formulate specific calls for policy support or for public interest research.  

5)  The  innovation  infrastructure  (i.e.,  tech  transfer  centres,  innovation  incubators)  is  not 
mature.  The  current  innovation  infrastructure  is  dispersed  and  captive  to  a  naive  linear 
mode  of  innovation.  Romania  needs  real  commercialisation  skills  and  services  for  the 
innovation infrastructure to be able to support competitive business. 

5.3 Meeting structural challenges 

Table 8: Policy measures addressing structural challenges in Romania 

Challenge 

RDI 

The 
underfinanced 

system 

Current policy 

The budgetary allocation of public R&D expenditures for 2015 is less than half 
of the value specified in the National RDI Strategy adopted only a few months 
earlier.  Hence,  a  credible  multiannual  allocation  is  missing,  maintaining  the 
uncertainty in the system. 

The  clarification  of  the  50%  tax  deduction  for  R&D  expenditures  may  be  a 
trigger  for  increasing  BERD.  However,  additional  efforts  are  necessary  for  a 
massive behavioural change in the business sector. 

The  business  sector 
not innovation ready 

The  Competitiveness  Strategy  is  not  a  consistent  document  with  real  action 
lines and budgets, a fact that reflects the low  political commitment behind it. 
Similarly, the Export Strategy is more a diagnosis than a real strategy. 

The  National  RDI  Strategy  provides  for  a  large  spectrum  of  instruments 
oriented towards companies, but the actual financing remains problematic. 

Smart  specialisations  are  only  related  to  R&D  policy  and  chances  are  it  will 
remain limited unless inter-ministerial innovation governance is built. 

The  tax  deduction  provided  by  the  business  angel’s  law  is  an  important,  yet 
isolated instrument in support for tech entrepreneurship.  

The  public  RDI  sector 
needs reorganisation 

A vision-building process will be carried out in 2015. Political will is critical for 
both reorganisation and  for  a more competitive institutional funding.  Also the 
chance of a positive change based on leadership is clearly correlated with the 
credibility of the existing chronic underfinancing. 

Dominance  of  supply-
driven research 

The activation of public sector demand is set out under the National Strategy. 
Capacity building is necessary for well-articulated top-down calls and this also 
depends on real inter-ministerial collaboration. 

While  envisaged  by  the  national  RDI  strategy  2014-2020,  competitive 
institutional funding needs a strong political commitment in order to become a 
reality. 

The relevance of the innovation infrastructure is not connected with the proper 
financing of innovation activity.  

Romania  needs  to  concentrate  innovation  infrastructures  (one  big  facility  per 
region) and to professionalise the personnel involved. 

Private innovation infrastructure should  be encouraged and public support for 
clusters should focus on real economic potential. 

Underdeveloped 
innovation 
infrastructure 

Source: Author’s summary 

- 35 - 

 
 
 
 
 
Annex 1 – References 

Andreescu L., Gheorghiu R., Irimia A., Curaj A. (2014), Mergers and classifications in 

Romania: Opportunities and obstacles, in Curaj A., Georghiou L., Casingena J.H., 
Egron-Polak E. (Eds), Mergers and Alliances in Higher Education: International 
Practice and Emerging Opportunities, pp.41-67,  Publisher: Springer. 

Archambault E., Amyot D., Deschamps P., Nicol A., Provencher F. , Rebout L., Roberge G. 

(2014), Proportion of Open Access Papers Published in Peer-Reviewed Journals at 
the European and World Levels—1996–2013 RTD-B6-PP-2011-2: Study to develop 
a set of indicators to measure open access, Science-Metrix Inc., http://science-
metrix.com/files/science-metrix/publications/d_1.8_sm_ec_dg-
rtd_proportion_oa_1996-2013_v11p.pdf.   

Cioara L., Pislaru D., Ivanof R., Neagu F., Citu F., Angel I., Bobirca A., Popovici A., Postelnicu 
A.. (2013),  SME Access to Finance Preliminary Study for Romania,  S.C. GEA 
Strategy & Consulting S.A., Romania. 

ClusterRo (2013), Analiza competitivității clusterelor din România (The competitiveness of 

Romanian clusters), November 2013, http://clustero.eu/wp-
content/uploads/2011/11/analiza_competivitatii.pdf.   

Corlan  A., David D., Frangopol P., Trache L., (2014) Grupul de Analiză, Atitudine şi Acţiune în 

Politica Ştiinţei din România. Raport 2014 (Think Tank Scinece Policy in Romania. 
2014 Report), Revista de politica ştiintei si scientometrie – serie noua Vol. 3, No. 4, 
Decembrie 2014, p. 255 – 277. 

European Commission (2015), Country Report Romania 2015. Including an In-Depth Review 

on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances, Brussels, 
26.2.2015, SWD(2015) 42 final, 
http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2015/cr2015_romania_en.pdf.  

European Commission (2014), Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2013. 

European Commission (2014b), Innovation Union Scoreboard 2014. 

European Commission (2014c), 424 final, COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on Romania’s 2014 

national reform programme and delivering a Council opinion on Romania’s 2014 
convergence programme, 
http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2014/csr2014_romania_en.pdf.  

European Commission (2014d), 575 final, Snapshots Member States of the European 

Union, Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO 
THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, European Research Area Progress 
Report 2014, 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/pdf/era_progress_report2014/era_snapshots_2014.
pdf#page=90.  

Dachs B., Stehrer R., Zahradnik G. (Eds) (2014), The Internationalisation of Business R&D, 

Edward Elgar Pub.  

EVCA (2013), Tax Benchmark Study 2012, 

http://www.evca.eu/uploadedFiles/Benchmark2012.pdf?dm_i=1GLS,1K23D,827W8K,
5C4G8,1.  

- 36 - 

 
 
Gheorghiu R., Gheorghe D., Roman I. (2014), Romania: Towards an RDI strategy with a 

strong smart specialization component, S3 Peer Review Workshop 3-4 July, Dublin. 

Kaminski B. (2011), Snapshots of R&D Intensive FDI in Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland and 
Romania, Background paper for the high-level Policy Workshop on "Innovating 
through the Crisis – How to Do It?", June 8-11, 2011, Dubrovnik, Croatia. 

Ministry of Economy (2014a), National Export Strategy 2014-2020 (Romanian language), 

adopted by Governmental Decision 395/ May 2014. 

Ministry of Economy (2014b), Romania – National Strategy for Competitiveness 2014-

2020, June 2014, 
http://www.minind.ro/strategie_competitivitate/Strategia_Nationala_de_Competitivit
ate_iunie_2014-en.pdf.  

Ministry of Economy (2014c), Operational Programme Competitiveness, 

http://www.fonduri-ue.ro/res/filepicker_users/cd25a597fd-62/2014-
2020/po/VO.POC.2014-2020.18.12.2014.pdf. 

Ministry of Education and Scientific Research (2014a), National Strategy for Research, 

Development and Innovation 2014-2020, www.research.edu.ro. 

Ministry of Education and Scientific Research (2014b), Governmental Research, 

Development and Innovation Policies. 2013 Report, 
http://www.research.ro/uploads/politici-cd/politici-nationale/politicile-cd-i-
guvernamentale-raport-2013.pdf. 

Ministry of Information Society (2014), National Strategy regarding the Digital Agenda in 

Romania, June 2014. 

National Commission of Prognosis (2013), Rolul sectorului privat in dezvoltarea competitiei 

in sistemul cercetarii-dezvoltarii şi inovarii. Rezumat (The role of private sector in 
supporting competition in the RDI system. Summary), 
http://www.cnp.ro/inovatie/docs/conferinta-finalizare-studii-05-12-
2012/Rolul%20sectorului%20privat%20in%20CDI%20REZ_RO.PDF.  

National Commission of Prognosis (2014), Proiecţia principalilor indicatori macroeconomici 

pentru perioada 2014 –2018 (The forecast for main macroeconomic indicators 
2014-2018), 
http://www.cnp.ro/user/repository/prognoza_2014_2018_varianta_de_toamna_201
4.pdf.  

Romanian Government (2015), Strategia Guvenului României de integrare a cetăţenilor 
români aparţinând etinei rome pentru perioada 2014-2020 (The Strategy of the 
Romanian Government for the Integration of Roma Population with Romanian 
Citizenschip) http://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/roma-
integration/romania/national-strategy/national_ro.htm.  

Romanian Government (20141), National Reform Programme, April 2015, 

http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2014/nrp2014_romania_ro.pdf.   

Romanian Governemnt (2014b), Strategia guvernamentala pentru dezvoltarea sectorului 

intreprinderilor mici si mijlocii si imbunatatirea mediului de afaceri din Romania. 
Orizont 2020 (Governmental Strategy for the development of SME sector and 
improving the business environment in Romania. Horison 2020), 
http://www.dreptonline.ro/legislatie/hg_859_2014_strategia_dezvoltarea_sectorului

- 37 - 

 
_intreprinderilor_mici_mijlocii_imbunatatirea_mediului_afaceri_Romania_Orizont_2
020.php.  

Romanian Government (2013a), Fiscal and Budgetary Strategy 2014-2016 (Romanian 

language), 
http://discutii.mfinante.ro/static/10/Mfp/strategbug/Strategiafiscal_bugetara2014_2
016.pdf      

Romanian Government (2013b), Programul Operational Sectorial „Dezvoltarea resurselor 
umane” 2007-2013, Raportul anual de implementare 2013 (operational 
Programme Human Resources 2007-2013. 2013 Report)  http://www.fonduri-
ue.ro/posdru/images/doc2014/rai2013.pdf. 

Pascu C., Voinescu R. (2014), Starea actuală, tendinţele şi factorii schimbării în cercetarea 
publică din România (Current assessment, trends and drivers of change in 
Romanian public research), UEFISCDI. 

Serbanica C.M., Popescu T. (2013), University Knowledge Transfer in Romania: Getting 

Ready for the U-Multi-rank, Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and 
Information Technology, http://www.scientificpapers.org/wp-
content/files/1365_University_Knowledge_Transfer_In_Romania_Getting_Ready_Fo
r_The_U_Multirank.pdf. 

UEFISCDI, CNFIS (2013), Starea finanţării învăţământului superior şi măsurile de 

optimizare  ce se impun (The currest state of the higher education financing system 
and the optimization challanges), http://www.cnfis.ro/wp-
content/uploads/2012/08/CNFIS-Raport-public2013-final.pdf.   

UEFISCDI (2014a), Programul COOPERARE INTERNATIONALA (International coopration 

Programme), September 2014, 
http://uefiscdi.gov.ro/userfiles/file/RaportActivitate_Uefiscdi/Raport_INTERNATIONAL
E.pdf. 

UEFISCDI (2014b), Program CAPACITATI (Capacities Programme), September 2014, 

http://uefiscdi.gov.ro/userfiles/file/RaportActivitate_Uefiscdi/Raport_%20CAPACITATI.
pdf. 

UEFISCDI (2014c), Program INOVARE (Innovation Programme), September 2014, 

http://uefiscdi.gov.ro/userfiles/file/RaportActivitate_Uefiscdi/Raport_INOVARE.PDF. 

UEFISCDI (2014d), Scientometrie, September 2014,  

http://uefiscdi.gov.ro/userfiles/file/RaportActivitate_Uefiscdi/Raport_Scientometrie2.p
df.  

Zulean M., Ioniţă I., Vîiu G.A. (2015),  Raport de evaluare a guvernanţei  sistemului public de 

cercetare, dezvoltare şi inovare din România 2007 – 2013 (The assessment of the 
RDI governance in Romania 2007-2013), UEFISCDI. 

World Bank (2011), Romania Research, Development, and Innovation Sector. Functional 

Review. Final Report, May 31, 2011. 

World Bank Group (2014), Final Draft of a Strategic Framework for Tertiary Education. 

Attainment, Quality, and Efficiency in Romania, Assistance to the Ministry of 
National Education, June 2014. 

- 38 - 

 
World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, 

http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2014-2015/.  

The Global Innovation Index 2014. The Human Factor in Innovation, 

https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/userfiles/file/reportpdf/GII-2014-v5.pdf.  

- 39 - 

 
 
 
Annex 2 - Abbreviations 

ABRDI 

NCSR 
NCDI 

CNFIS 

ELI-NP 

IMF 
MESR  
NASRI 

NIS 
NP3 

NS 2014-
2020 
OSIM 

RDI 
SF 
UEFISCDI 

Romanian 
Colegiului Consultativ pentru Cercetare, 
Dezvoltare si Inovare 

English 
Advisory Board for Research, Development 
and Innovation 

Consiliul National al Cercetarii Stiintifice 
Consiliul National pentru Dezvoltare si 
Inovare 
Consiliul National de Finantare a 
Invatamentului Superior 
- 

Fondul Monetar International 
Ministerul Educatiei  si Cercetarii Stiintifice 
Autoritatea Nationala pentru Cercetare 
Stiintifica si Inovare 
Institutul National de Statistica 
Planul National de Cercetare, Dezvoltare si 
Inovare 2014-2020 
Strategia Nationala de Cercetare, Dezvoltare 
si Inovare 2014-2020 
Oficiul de Stat pentru Inventii si Marci 

Cercetare, dezvoltare, inovare 
Fonduri structurale 
Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea 
Invatamantului Superior, Cercetarii, 
Dezvoltarii si Inovarii 

National Council for Scientific Research 
National Council for Development and 
Innovation 
National Council for Higher Education Funding 

Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear 
Physics 
International Monetary Fund 
Ministry of Education and Scientific Research 
National Authority for Scientific Research and 
Innovation. 
National Institute of Statistics 
National RDI Plan 2014-2020 

National Strategy for Research, Development 
and Innovation 2014-2020 
The State Office for Inventions and 
Trademarks 
Research, Development and Innovation 
Structural funds 
Executive Agency for Higher Education, 
Research, Development and Innovation 
Funding 

- 40 - 

 
 
 
Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union 
Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 

(*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed. 

A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. 
It can be accessed through the Europa server  http://europa.eu. 

How to obtain EU publications 

Our publications are available from EU Bookshop (http://publications.europa.eu/howto/index_en.htm), 
where you can place an order with the sales agent of your choice. 

The Publications Office has a worldwide network of sales agents. 
You can obtain their contact details by sending a fax to (352) 29 29-42758. 

European Commission 
EUR 27303 EN – Joint Research Centre – Institute for Prospective Technological Studies 

Title: RIO Country Report Romania 2014 

Author: Radu Gheorghiu 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 

2015 – 46 pp. – 21.0 x 29.7 cm 

EUR – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424 (online) 

ISBN 978-92-79-48959-4 (PDF) 

doi:10.2791/925233 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
L
F
-
N
A
-
2
7
3
0
3
-
E
N
-
N

JRC Mission 

As the Commission’s  
in-house science service,  
the Joint Research Centre’s  
mission is to provide EU  
policies with independent,  
evidence-based scientific  
and technical support  
throughout the whole  
policy cycle. 

Working in close  
cooperation with policy  
Directorates-General,  
the JRC addresses key  
societal challenges while  
stimulating innovation  
through developing  
new methods, tools  
and standards, and sharing  
its know-how with  
the Member States,  
the scientific community  
and international partners. 

Serving society  
Stimulating innovation  
Supporting legislation 

doi:10.2791/925233 

ISBN 978-92-79-48959-4