The European Commission called on Romania on Tuesday to maintain its efforts to reduce its sky-high budget deficit, as it reiterated its warning that any fiscal backtracking could trigger the suspension of EU funds.
EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters that it is “important” for Bucharest to “stay the course” on easing its deficit, which stood at 9.3% of annual GDP in 2024. This was the highest in the EU and more than three times the bloc’s 3% fiscal limit.
“As we look forward, we need to keep a solid performance on public finances and economic growth,” Dombrovskis said in the capital, Bucharest, after a two-day visit, where he met with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and other senior Romanian officials.
“Continued effort and political commitment will be vital for this,” Dombrovskis added.
The comments come after the Commission and Romania agreed last month that the country should reduce its deficit to 8.4% this year, well above the initial 7% target proposed by the country’s centrist coalition government earlier in 2025.
The strategically located nation, which borders EU candidate countries Moldova and Ukraine, has been marred by political instability in recent months, as well as protests over the government’s sweeping austerity measures aimed at slashing the country’s deficit to just 6% in 2026.
Standing alongside Bolojan, Dombrovskis said that “the scale and nature of measures taken” by Bucharest “were fully in line and appropriate to bring Romania back on [a] sustainable track”.
He added that a formal assessment of Romania’s budget measures will be provided by the Commission in November, and that a “positive assessment” would help avoid the potential suspension of vital EU funding for Romania, as threatened by the EU executive in June.
Romania is one of Europe’s poorest countries and a major beneficiary of the EU’s regional financing, with €31.5 billion earmarked for the country in the bloc’s current multiannual budget.
In its assessment, Brussels will primarily focus on determining whether Romania’s net expenditure growth target, which tracks public spending growth after subtracting interest payments, does not exceed 2.8% this year, a Commission spokesperson told Euractiv.
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