Romania`s Eurozone Entry and the Fulfillment of the Institutional Criterion

The nominal convergence criteria is a necessary condition but insufficient for Romania’s entry into the Eurozone. In addition to quantitative economic criteria, Romania must also fulfill the institutional criteria which are as binding as all the others. As the latest convergence report considers that Romanian legislation,,does not meet all the requirements for the independence of the central bank, the monetary financing prohibition and institutional integration of the central bank into the Eurosystem", the article analyses the compatibility of Law no.312/2004 with the current European legislation, given the fact that Romania must comply with all adaptation requirements set out in Article 131 TFEU. Thus, the aforementioned article examines the central bank’s independence in terms of functional independence, institutional, financial and personal, identifying the articles and paragraphs that are not consistent with EU legislation and the Statute of the ESCB and which are to be amended, modified or removed. At the same time, it states that the provisions of national law which contravene EU secondary legislation have to be abolished or amended. Since Romania aims to adopt the euro on 1 January 2019, will mean that up to January 1, 2017 (deadline for entry into ERM II) Romanian law must be fully compatible with EU law.