“Our economy can be much stronger if we cooperate more on industrial policies,” Rompuy said.
Competitiveness programs across Europe must be stimulated. We need to be aware that generally in Europe we are all suffering from too low investment, Rompuy added. The EU saving more than investing has led to negative interest rates, which reached the lowest level in 40 years. Invest now while the money’s cheap, the former president of the European Council said.
The economies in the EU continue to grow and hopefully recession is far away. Yet low growth rates will continue for a while. They will stand at some 1% in the euro zone and not just next year but also in the years after that. Romania is not in the euro zone yet but is affected by everything that happens in the euro zone. Therefore, we must consolidate the euro zone and the Schengen area, because an international financial crisis is not out of the question on long-term, Rompuy added.
Alexandru Reff, Country Managing Partner Deloitte Romania and Moldova, who attended the conference, talked about the difficulties has Romania has with EU funds, as the country relies on this source of funding. the EU is now debating the ‘two-speed’ Europe project. “This approach entails a paradigm shift, a departure from the current cohesion policy, where funds are allocated to narrowing the gaps between member states.”
However, Romania will get 8% more cohesion funds in the 2021-2027 period, than in 2014-2020, said Mihaela Toader, secretary of state with the European Funds Ministry.
Sergiu Manea, CEO of Erste Bank-held BCR, said he was optimistic about Romania’s future in Europe.
“I think that in ten to twenty years, if we do our homework right, we will be able to not only sit at the table but also create directions.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)