European Commission Report: Romania Isn’t Ready to Adopt the Euro

Romania does not currently meet the necessary criteria for joining the eurozone. This is according to the 2026 Convergence Report published by the European Commission. Four other EU countries that are legally committed to adopting the euro in the future find themselves in a similar situation: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Sweden, reports libertatea.ro. “None of these countries currently meets all the criteria for joining the eurozone,” the European Commission’s document notes. More than 27 years after the introduction of the euro, the currency has become a key element of European integration and is used daily by more than 350 million people across 21 countries. However, the expansion of the eurozone continues to be governed by strict economic requirements. A key obstacle for all countries remains their non-participation in the ERM II exchange rate mechanism. Under EU rules, a country must have been part of this mechanism for at least two years without significant exchange rate fluctuations before it can adopt the euro. Despite the overall negative conclusion, the level of preparedness varies from country to country. The Czech Republic and Sweden already meet the criteria for price stability, public finances and long-term interest rates. The report also notes that countries outside the eurozone remain economically integrated into the EU; however, some of them, including Romania, face macroeconomic vulnerabilities and challenges relating to their institutional environment.