ROMANIA’S BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF ENTREPRENEURS IN SMEs

The comparative analyses from the Eurobarometer 2000–2012 data bases dedicated to entrepreneurship at the level of the European Union member states and of the United States of America highlight that the three main obstacles in starting up a new business are the lack of financial support, the complexity of administrative procedures and the lack of information. But which is the situation for Romania? The purpose of the paper is to investigate the perceptions of the entrepreneurs from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Romania regarding the business environment. From the methodological viewpoint, the paper is based on secondary analyses of data provided by the databases of the White Charter f SMEs 2004–2018 published by the National Council of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises from Romania. The paper consists of four parts: perceptions about the evolution of the business environment in Romania, business opportunities accessible to SMEs from Romania for the current year, major difficulties faced by the SMEs in Romania, and the main contextual developments with negative influence on the activity of SMEs. The business environment 2004–2018 was evaluated by managers from SMEs as preponderantly hindering for business development. The economic environment evolved during the current year also hampering regarding businesses’ support. The evolution of the economic environment in the subsequent year is preponderantly neutral. The first three business opportunities available to SMEs in the current year were: the increase of demand on the domestic market, the assimilation of new products and the penetration on new markets. The first three major difficulties faced by the SMEs in our country are: excessive taxation, red tape, and the decrease in domestic demand. The first three elements of contextual evolution with negative influences on SMEs are: the evolution of the legal framework, excessive bureaucracy and the world economic crisis