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Ministry of finances : 2029 is a viable target to access the euro zone; the most important is real convergence
2029 is a viable target to access the euro zone, but the most important is real convergence about which very few people speak, said on Thursday the minister of finances, Adrian Caciu.
‘From my point of view, 2029 is a viable target (to access the euro zone). Beyond the nominal criteria for convergence which clearly we can cover on a medium term, the criterion of debt – we are happy by comparison to other European states which cannot cover it anymore’ Caciu said.
At half December 2021, Florin Georgescu, prime-vice governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) stated, when launching ‘Capitalism and capitalists without capital in Romania’ that all the targets to access the euro zone were missed, the next deadline being 2029.
According to the Report of convergence for 2020 published by the European Commission (EC), access to the euros one is an open process, which relies on certain norms. Among the criteria for convergence there is stability of prices, solidity of the public finances, and stability of foreign exchange and convergence of the interest rates on a long term. There is also under analysis, the compatibility of the national legislation with the norms of the economic and monetary union.
The conclusions of the report show that Sweden and Croatia meet the criterion referring to stability of prices, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Sweden meet the criterion referring to public finances, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Sweden meet the criterion of the interest rates on a long term.
No one of the member states mentioned does meet the criterion regarding the stability of the foreign exchange, as none of them is a member of the exchange rate (ERM II). Thus, Croatia and Sweden meet all the criteria for economic convergence, but for the criterion regarding the exchange rate due to the reason mentioned above.
In the case of Romania, the document shows the fact that our country does not meet any of the four economic criteria necessary to adopt the euro, namely : stability of prices, solidity of the public finances, stability of the exchange rate and the convergence of the interest rates on long term.
The reports for convergence must be made once every two years, irrespective of the possible stage of accession to the euro zone.