A law being voted is not necessarily a law being implemented. But Romania’s new law on education has taken its first steps. For the interest of adult educators a broader definition of non-formal learning is adopted, adding the sentence “this type of learning depends on the learners’ intention” and omitting the previous policy that non-formal learning “should be organized within specialized units and institutions”.

This hopefully indicates a policy of increased confidence in civil society organizations, informal networks, youth clubs and unorganized youth. The latter previously being discriminated in Youth in Action projects despite the Commission’s white paper urging them to participate.
An entire chapter, 5 pages, is dedicated to lifelong learning. This differs from the previous law in which lifelong learning activities were divided on several different chapters and not treated as an integral policy.
On an intentional level the steps are in the right direction, in what measure it will make life easier for adult educators remains to be seen.