Romania and the Euro: The State of the Debate

Abstract

As a member of the European Union (EU), Romania is required to adopt the European single currency once it fulfils all the convergence criteria. As of June 2017, the national currency has not yet joined the preparatory two-year phase (the Exchange Rate Mechanism -ERM) necessary for the adoption of the euro and a certain target date has not been established. Over the years, different target dates have been officially set and communicated to the public, only to be later deemed unrealistic and postponed.The aim of this study is to present the state of the debate regarding the adoption of the euro and to describe how the main arguments have developed in recent years. To this end, academic studies both by Romanian and foreign specialists that treat the issue of euro adoption by Romania are reviewed and analyzed. Also, a number of recent typical popular press articles on this subject are presented and investigated. In addition, public positions recently taken by important political players and appointed officials such as the ones in the Central Bank are discussed and the core arguments found in these discourses are highlighted.Insights from the political discourse analysis body of literature are used to decipher the policy-related meaning of the text and context that accompany public declarations of some key political actors. The main storylines that can be found in this literature are identified and analyzed in terms of economic and political reasoning as well as rhetoric.