Inside the European Union: A Macroeconomic Diagnosis of Romania At the Moment of Integration

22 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2007

See all articles by Constantin Zaman

Constantin Zaman

Centre for Social and Economic Analyses (CASE)

Date Written: January 2007

Abstract

Romania joined the European Union after many years of uneven efforts and uncertainty about the effective date of integration. In this paper we try to evaluate the economic situation of Romania at the moment of joining the European Union. We try to identify the main macroeconomic developments over the last years prior to integration, which will show the extent to which the country has prepared this integration from an economic point of view. This diagnosis will serve as a basis for inquiring about the possible future consequences of membership, as well as about the perspectives of the Romanian economy after the integration. The regional characteristics in terms of development are equally analyzed. Economic growth has resumed since 2000, but its drivers have gradually shifted from investment towards private consumption, while the level of development is still significantly lower than the EU average. Most of Romania's social indicators lag behind EU ones. Persistent macroeconomic imbalances have slowed down the real and nominal convergence process. The economy is still affected by low competitiveness, incomplete restructuring, modest productivity in agriculture, a high level of employment in subsistence agriculture and slow disinflation.

Keywords: Macroeconomics. Production, Macroeconomic Policy

JEL Classification: E01, E22, E23, E60

Suggested Citation

Zaman, Constantin, Inside the European Union: A Macroeconomic Diagnosis of Romania At the Moment of Integration (January 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=959895 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.959895

Constantin Zaman (Contact Author)

Centre for Social and Economic Analyses (CASE) ( email )

Al. Jana Pawła II 61/212
00-944 Warsaw, 01-031
Poland

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