Romania has a very diverse landscape and rich ecosystems (from wetlands to forests) which translate into an abundance and diversity of species.
While Romanian legislation accurately reflects EU environmental requirements, their implementation on the ground is a serious challenge in several areas, prompted inter alia by a lack of planning, coordination and appropriate funding.
Highlights
Romania has implemented some good practices in nature conservation and restoration. These include the creation of a wilderness reserve in the Southern Carpathians, the conservation of saproxylic beetles in the Eastern Carpathians and a cooperative approach for the good management of Natura 2000 grasslands in Southern Transylvania. There have also been successful LIFE projects aimed at sturgeon conservation.
Main Challenges
Circular economy
The country’s performance on waste and the circular economy remains insufficient. Further efforts are urgently needed to move away from Romania's reliance on waste disposal in landfills, which remains significant. Despite Romania having made some progress on closing substandard or illegal landfills, progress has been too slow, resulting in fines.
Pollution
Urban wastewater collected in Romania is also not adequately treated as required by EU law.
Air quality in Romania continues to give cause for concern in some parts of its territory, with severe consequences on the health of the population. Measures taken to address air pollutants are still insufficient. There is non-compliance with the 2020–2029 emission reduction commitments for NOx and PM2.5, exceedances above the limit values for NO2 and PM10, and, despite some progress, issues persist in the air quality monitoring.
Governance and investment
The current investment gap in Romania stands at an estimated €5.4 billion per year, representing around 1.9% of the national GDP, well above the EU average (0.77%).
Romania has developed national guidelines for the preparation of EIA reports specifically for hydropower projects. However, further effort is needed with regard to the information process concerning the SEA and EIA, as well as information to the public on their access to justice rights and improvement for the access to courts.