Romania and the Eurozone – Nominal Convergence Criteria

The aim of this paper is to analyze the extent to which our country meets the nominal convergence criteria according to the latest Convergence Report issued by the ECB (European Central Bank) in June 2022. The research is predominantly conceptual, also containing elements of empirical testing. The data used to analyze the extent to which our country fullfills the convergence criteria was mainly extracted from the Convergence Report issued by the European Central Bank in June 2022. The nominal convergence criteria are mentioned in the Maastricht Treaty and detailed in a protocol attached to it. The aim of the criteria is to ensure a sustainable process of nominal convergence regarding the evolution of prices, the exchange rates and long-term interest rates, as well as the budget deficit and public debt. We would like to mention that, for an exhaustive analysis of a country's accession to the Eurozone, analyzing the nominal convergence criteria is not sufficient for determining whether a country is ready to adopt the euroor not. Such an analysis should take into account at least the following three elements: the fulfillment of the nominal and real convergence criteria, the fullfillment of the optimality criteria, as well as the costs versus benefits analysis. However, in this article we will focus exclusively on the extent to which Romania fullfills the nominal convergence criteria.