May 9 (SeeNews) - Marcel Ciolacu, leader of Romania's Social Democrat Party (PSD) which is part of the governing coalition, said on Monday that the country is not ready to join the eurozone at the moment, and the main priorities now are membership of the Schengen area and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
"At this moment, considering not only what is happening in Romania and Romanian political forces, we are still looking at what is happening in Ukraine and at the recession in Europe, so I do not think that Romania will have the necessary indicators for joining the eurozone," Ciolacu said during a live-streamed news conference.
"Our priorities at the moment are the Schengen Area and the OECD. I think these are two ambitious objectives," Ciolacu added.
In its last Convergence Report issued in June 2020, the European Central Bank said that Romania needs stability‑oriented economic policies and wide‑ranging structural reforms in order to meet the convergence criteria for eurozone entry. Romania committed to adopt the euro upon its accession to the European Union in 2007.
Romania's parliament gave its backing to a coalition government of National Liberal Party (PNL), PSD and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (UDMR) led by liberal Nicolae Ciuca in a vote of confidence on November 25 last year.
In February 2021, the then prime minister Florin Citu said he hoped Romania will be able to adopt the euro in 2027-2028 and predicted the country will enter the Schengen area in 2021.
The European Parliament gave the green light for Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen area in June 2011 and has reiterated its position several times since then. Currently, Bulgaria and Romania apply the Schengen acquis partially and checks are carried out at their borders. The final decision on whether the two countries can become full members of the Schengen area has to be made through a unanimous vote in the European Council by EU ministers.
In January, OECD's Council announced that it has decided to open accession discussions with six candidates for membership, including Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
(1 euro = 4.9469 lei)