The activity of the enterprises from industry, construction, trade and market services, in 2018
Compared to 2017, the total number of enterprises of the total active enterprises from the economic sectors (industry, construction, trade and market services) increased by 4.2%. At the end of 2018, there were 57756 enterprises in the industry sector, namely 10.5% of the total active enterprises from the economic sectors (industry, construction, trade and market services). The highest share was that of the active enterprises from the market services sector, namely 47.7%.
The structure of gross investments by economic activity sectors is the following: industry 38.2%, market services 32.8%, construction 14.9% and trade 14.1%. As regards the turnover, the highest share was that of the enterprises having trade as their main activity (40.1%), while the share of construction enterprises was only 5.9%.
Industrial policy – recommendations
The European Commission published on 5th of November the recommendations by a group of experts, the Strategic Forum on Important Projects of Common European Interest, to boost Europe’s competitiveness and global leadership in six strategic and future-oriented industrial sectors: Connected, clean and autonomous vehicles; Hydrogen technologies and systems; Smart health; Industrial Internet of Things; Low-carbon industry; and Cybersecurity.
The EU has put in place flexible State aid rules to facilitate IPCEIs. In December 2018, the Commission approved, under the State aid IPCEI framework, €1.75 billion of public investment, which will unlock an additional €6 billion of private investment for research and innovation in microelectronics.
Developments in inflation
The National Bank of Romania has published the Inflation Report for November 2019. As shown in the report, the annual CPI inflation rate returned to the upper bound of the variation band of the flat target of 2.5 percent ± 1 percentage point, ending 2019 Q3 at 3.49 percent (0.35 percentage points below the June level and 0.2 percentage points below the latest forecast). Behind the disinflationary trend stood mainly the declines in vegetable prices amid a good harvest across the EU. Opposite influences stemmed from tobacco product prices and the slightly faster growth of the adjusted CORE2 inflation rate, indicating the persistence of inflationary pressures from fundamentals.
The average annual inflation rate continued to fall during Q3 to 3.8 percent for the CPI inflation calculated based on the national methodology and to 3.9 percent for the HICP inflation calculated in accordance with the harmonised structure. At the same time, the average annual indicator further recorded the highest level among the EU Member States for the 14th month in a row, with the differential versus the EU average remaining above 2 percentage points.
€200 million to promote European agri-food products
The European Commission will allocate €200.9 million in 2020 to fund promotion activities for EU agri-food products at home and abroad. The 2020 promotion policy work programme adopted by the Commission outlines the main priorities for support. EU policy on the promotion of agri-food products is designed to help the sector take advantage of the expanding and increasingly dynamic global agri-food market, raise awareness on quality schemes including organic produce and help producers should they face market disturbances.
The calls for proposals for the upcoming 2020 campaigns will be published in January 2020. A wide range of bodies, such as trade organisations, producer organisations and agri-food groups responsible for promotion activities are eligible to apply for funding and submit their proposals.