Sustainable Development of Romania's Rural Areas in the Migration Context

The purpose of this research is to analyze the prospects of sustainable development in rural areas parts of Romania, at a national level, in the migration context of today. We start by describing the concept of sustainable development, with Romanian particularities, continuing with a review of the strategic documents and plans which drive this goal, an evaluation of the progress towards reaching these objectives - with the European Commission recommendations - and implementation of the National Rural Development Program, and ending by assessing Romanian migration and its effects on rural growth - alarming fresh data from the National Institute of Statistics on emigration are presented and explained. We offer a balanced approach, between the neo-liberal and neo-Marxists views on migration, and focus on facts. We try to quantify both the positive and the negative aspects of this phenomenon. Our findings suggest that the positive effects of external migration - on their own - cannot drive the rural development, but equally, negative effects cannot be blamed for the lack of it. Better implementation of public policies is needed to enforce reforms in administration, education, health and law, to plant the seeds of growth, which in return will bring immigration, be it returns, or new arrivals.