An Over View Of The Book Industry In Romania

The strength and stability of a national economy are guaranteed by the existence of a large number of small and medium enterprises (SME). This contemporary truth is accepted by the majority of economics specialists. In a recent research “The socio-economic environment from Romania in the perspective of the integration in the European Union” made in the period 22nd February -22nd March 2006 by The Gallup Organization Romania, at the request of the National Union of the Romanian Employers, it can be seen that the main problem that SMEs have to tackle with is the lack of investments which brings as consequences the impossibility of renewing their technology and thus effects in the work productivity and in the costs but also difficulties in complying with the norms and standards of the European Community. The conclusion of the research is that the surveyed people (428 persons from the SME leadership with employees from 0 to 250) are aware of the fact that the SMEs are not ready to cope with the bitter competition of the market after the integration of Romania in the European Union. The European Commission (EC) initiated a new policy document of the SME published in 11.11.2005 named “The Implementation of the Common Program Lisbon, Modern Politics for the Development and Employment of the Work Force” (2005)551 final, which has the role of integrating the company’s existing policy instruments, that is the European Book of the Small Enterprises and the Action Plan for the Contractors, and of assuring the transparency of the European policies regarding the SMEs and the synergy with the other policies of the Community [www.mimmc.ro]. The book industry from Romania has to cope with two major issues nowadays: the assimilation of the integration shock felt by the Romanian economy and the solving of a crucial problem that all the book industry is confronted with nowadays, namely the dramatic drop of customers. The predictable effect will be the rise of the average price of books, which will result in a decrease of the book demand.