Some considerations about Romania's European monetary integration

Abstract

When joining the European Union in 2007, Romania was required to adopt the euro as legal tender in the foreseeable future, after meeting the Maastricht criteria. This paper aims at identifying the moment when Romania is ready to adopt the single European currency by introducing in a simulation model the values of nominal convergence indicators for the period 2007-2014. The model will allow to determine if the 2014 target is a realistic one-taking into consideration Romania's macroeconomic imbalances, the impact of the global financial crisis and given that future candidates to the euro zone are supposed to face more thorough supervision than their forerunners. Building possible alternative scenarios for Romania on its way towards the integration into the monetary union, the paper tries also to identify the present main obstacles in fulfilling the Maastricht criteria.