Social Inequality and Solutions to Sustainable Development in the European Union

Although the process of accession to the European Union supposed the fulfillment of certain conditions, called the “Coopenhagen Criteria†, although there were economic, social and cultural differences, the fact that accession was based on democratic impulses determined development to evolve differently. Differences between countries have intensified over time, being determined by the fact that not all EU countries are in the Eurozone or in the Schengen area. Romania has not been able to raise the living standards of its citizens since its accession to the European Union. Although the number of employed people has increased, one-fifth of them remain poor. This shows that the measures taken so far have not been effective or sustainable. In order to understand the effects on sustainable development that Romania could fully feel in this difficult period that the world is going through as a result of the pandemic generated by Covid-19, in this analysis we considered the global assessment of social disparities in conjunction with the particularities of the "multi-speed" European Union. Results show that Romania is struggling with a social situation inferior to the Member States, and, without concrete measures to recover and counteract, social inequality will continue to deepen.