Vladimir Spidla, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities commissioner, had talks with the Romanian authorities, in Bucharest, on rroma’s condition, labor law, social dialogue and social inclusion.

The commissioner boasted Romania for its efforts but he mentioned the aspects still to be enhanced, such as the minorities’ status, European funds management and absorption capacity, and employment rate.

In Romania, the employment rate of 63.7% is lower than the European average of 71.3%, while the unemployment rate in Romania stands at 7.9%, higher than the European average of 7.5%. Spidla says that the unemployment rate is not very high though, but it is long termed. However he suggested the Romanian Government to approach a more active social politics, education and SMEs oriented.

Spidla also tried to calm down the population’s fears that after the accession to the EU the prices of the residences will boom and the SMEs will go bankrupt, by giving the Czech Republic as an example of normality, where things did not derail after accession. The SMEs did not suffer a shock and the real estate experienced an increase in the prices only before the accession.