Hi Damian,
The law states that 'an EU citizen who is not legally resident in Romania may buy land only after 2012.' Therefore, an EU citizen who IS "legally resident" in Romania CAN buy land now. The law then goes on to define a "legal resident" as a 'foreigner who has the right to live on Romanian territory' (in the case of an EU citizen, one who holds a 'certificat de inregistrare').
After 2012 you can buy land in Romania as an EU citizen whether you live in Romania or not.
If you are not an EU citizen, then it's bad luck - you'll have to set up a company.
Initially the law (312/2005) didn't define a legal resident and there was a lot of discussion amongst the legal community as to what defined 'legally resident' in this country. It seems to me that the law was modified within the last year or so to make in more specific and less of an implication. Sadly, many estate agents are unaware of this law (although, in their defence, the foreigners they are generally selling to are not in fact living in Romania, so it's not applicable to them) as well as many notary publics, who often prefer the purchaser to go down the company set up route as they feel more comfortable with it (especially in the more provincial regions).
As our government has now decided to implement a series of tax changes, meaning that even if a company doesn't earn anything it is obliged to pay a minimum amount of tax, setting up a company is getting less and less attractive, and is now completely unnecessary.