Romania asks France for support to join Schengen Area

Romania has sent to France and French investors a request for support for its accession to the visa-free Schengen area, which would lead to a substantial reduction in the costs on companies and citizens, Romanian Minister for Business, Trade and Entrepreneurship Stefan-Radu Oprea said Thursday. 

He met on Wednesday Michele Ramis, the French ambassador to Romania, and a group of French investors. 

According to a press statement released by the Ministry for the Business Environment on Thursday, the main topics of the conversations were improving the business climate in Romania, increasing the attractiveness for investments, and deepening co-operation between the two national economies. 

"We appreciate the French companies for their suggestions to improve the economic climate in Romania. We have sent a request to France and French investors for Romania's accession to the Schengen Area, which would lead to a substantial reduction of costs on companies and citizens. For example, the Dacia-Renault company, the largest local exporter, has sustained significant losses due to the wait times at the customs - up to 10 hours," Oprea is quoted as saying in the statement. 

Ramis commended Romania for its substantial achievements for the time it held the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and welcomed prospects for intensifying co-operation, given the high degree of compatibility between the two economies. 

The Romanian minister has asked large companies running on French capital to integrate as many suppliers from Romania, including SMEs, in their production chain. 

"An increase in the degree of integration would have positive effects on several levels: lowering production costs, developing industry horizontally, increasing competitiveness and narrowing the trade deficit. The Ministry for Business, Trade and Entrepreneurship is available for mediation between large companies and SMEs and for screening to find suppliers that work up to the required standards," the statement says. 

Representatives of Dacia-Renault, Michelin, Carrefour, Auchan, Timac Agro and of the Business France office in Romania participated in the meeting. 

In the first four months of 2019, total bilateral trade was 3.189 billion euros, up 2.67pct from the same period of 2018. Exports posted an increase of 3.76pct, to 1.703 billion euros, while imports totalled 1.486 billion euros, up 1.45pct y-o-y. The trade balance recorded a surplus of 217 million euros favouring Romania.