As the German economy sinks into defensive, short-term adaptations—ranging from side hustles to cheaper vacations—Romania is responding to the same challenges with an ambitious strategy of long-term integration. Two countries, two completely different responses to the same crisis.
A record number of 690,000 new companies in Germany in 2025 sounds like a harbinger of recovery. However, 70% of them are side-hustle activities, undertaken out of necessity to supplement household budgets. This is not an innovation boom, but a symptom of economic pressure.
While the German economy, under the weight of high energy costs and weak growth, sinks into defensive, ad-hoc adaptations, Romania presents an ambitious strategy of long-term integration as a response to the same global challenges.
Adaptation out of Necessity: Germany in Survival Mode. The German response to the crisis is fragmented, individual, and focused on the present. This is evident in Saxony, where the transport industry has found itself in a paradoxical trap. Rising diesel prices, driven by the war in Iran, are draining carriers' budgets but are not leading to investments in electric trucks, which are cheaper to operate.
Dietmar von der Linde from the Association of the Saxon Transport Industry points out that companies are using up cash reserves for the ongoing maintenance of their diesel fleets. The cost of a battery for an electric truck alone is equivalent to the price of a second internal combustion vehicle, which, in the absence of a nationwide charging network, makes transformation impossible. As von der Linde stated, „„W codziennym użytkowaniu diesel wciąż pozostaje bardziej niezawodnym systemem”” („In daily use, diesel still remains the more reliable system”) — Dietmar von der Linde via N-tv.
The same mechanism of adaptation through survival is visible in entrepreneurship data. A report by the state development bank KfW shows that the increase in the number of new companies from 585,000 in 2024 to 690,000 in 2025 is almost exclusively due to side-hustle activities. Their number rose from 382,000 to 483,000, reaching a record share of 70%.
Company Founders in Germany: 2024 vs 2025: Side-hustle activity 2024: 382, Full-time activity 2024: 203, Side-hustle activity 2025: 483, Full-time activity 2025: 207 The chief economist of KfW, Dirk Schumacher, has no illusions. This is not a wave of innovation, but a response to more difficult access to the labor market and rising living costs. „Der Zugang zum Arbeitsmarkt ist schwieriger geworden, auch kleine Nebenjobs sind nicht mehr so einfach zu bekommen. Da kann eine Selbstständigkeit eine Alternative sein, um zusätzliches Einkommen zu erzielen.” (Access to the labor market has become more difficult; even small side jobs are no longer so easy to get. Self-employment can be an alternative here to generate additional income.) — Dirk Schumacher via ZEIT ONLINE
Even the leisure activities of Germans are becoming a form of saving. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the camping industry expects a good season as tourists choose cheaper, domestic alternatives to foreign travel. Although prices have risen by 9%, an overnight stay for 40 euros for a family is still cheaper than the national average (41 euros), showing how consumers are adjusting their spending downwards.
The picture is completed by the labor market in Thuringia. Although the unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.6% in March 2026, seasonally adjusted data show a real increase in the number of unemployed by 200 people. Worse still, youth unemployment is rising (to 7.2%). Michael Rudolph from the DGB trade union confederation points to high energy prices, which are hampering the typical spring recovery. „Statt eines üblichen Frühjahrsaufschwungs drohe eine weitere Verschärfung der Lage.” (Instead of the usual spring recovery, the situation threatens to deteriorate further.) — Michael Rudolph via ZEIT ONLINEStrategic Leap: The Romanian Vision of the Future. At the same time that Germany is focusing on ad-hoc solutions, Romania is presenting a program based on a long-term strategic vision. During the „Economist Romania Government Roundtable” forum, President Nicușor Dan presented four priorities intended to anchor the country at the center of the European economy.
At the top of the agenda is accession to the OECD as early as 2026. This is a goal that, as Dan emphasized, enjoys „extraordinary consensus” across political divides. The next step is to be the adoption of the euro, which the president views not as a technical operation, but as a fundamental principle of competitiveness.
Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, has undergone a long path of transformation. The growth of GDP per capita from just 26% of the EU average in 2000 to nearly 80% today forms the foundation upon which today's ambitions are built. The OECD accession process is the next stage of modernization, requiring the alignment of institutions with the highest global standards. The third pillar is the reform of state institutions, which Dan identified as a „fundamental goal of the term.” The fourth priority is support for the integration of the Republic of Moldova into the EU, which demonstrates Bucharest's regional ambitions. The Romanian strategy is based on the assumption that deeper integration and strong institutions are the best insurance policy for times of crisis.
President Dan argued that the European single market cannot exist without a single energy market, and the future EU budget for 2028-2034 must reduce inequalities rather than just patching up their consequences. This is thinking in systemic categories, rather than just ad-hoc firefighting.The Trap of the Present. One could argue that the German model is proof of flexibility. The rapid increase in the number of self-employed could be seen as a dynamic response to changing conditions, and the caution of carriers as rational risk management. However, this is an optimistic interpretation contradicted by hard data.
Only 24% of new companies in Germany employed staff in 2025. At the same time, as Dirk Schumacher of KfW warns, by 2029 as many as 545,000 companies from the Mittelstand sector will be looking for a successor. The boom in micro-businesses does not solve this problem; it actually exacerbates it by drawing potential successors away from taking over established businesses in favor of less demanding, but also less promising, side activities.
70% — of new companies in Germany in 2025 are side-hustles, often out of necessity. Germany risks getting stuck in a loop where short-term cost pressures prevent strategic, long-term investments, such as the decarbonization of transport. This is the trap of the present, where the struggle for survival today prevents the building of prosperity tomorrow.
The Romanian strategy is risky and requires political determination. However, unlike German reactivity, it is an attempt to actively shape the future. Bucharest seems to understand that in unstable times, the best strategy is not to bury one's head in the sand, but to leap forward.
The real problem of the German economy is not just energy prices or a weak economic climate. It is a crisis of strategic imagination, in which survival tactics have completely replaced a vision for development. While Germany meticulously counts euro cents for diesel, Romania is investing in a harder currency: institutional trust and European integration.