The Romanian Competitiveness Crisis In The European Context: A Comparative Approach At The Central And East European Level

For a while now, we are witnessing a period of great uncertainty and economic turmoil, for which it seems that a proper solution can no longer be found. In the recent years, Europe faced countless social and economic problems, in addition to the financial difficulties of the member states, to the growing sovereignty of some nations parallel to the deterioration of the other’s position on the market, and to the increasing unemployment and social discontent in most of the European economies. All these problems led to questioning the very viability of the EU concept, and to the amendment of the fundamental principles that assure the European Union’s functioning. Hence, the EU is now taking steps towards balancing the unevenness of economic power inside the union and bringing afloat some states which seem to be already too exhausted to fight. On this background, talking about economic growth, business excellence, management revolution, innovation, creativity and all the factors that generate a country’s competitiveness seems ironic, as long as the state’s economic system is struggling to survive and to assure a decent standard of living. On the other hand, is it not a paradox to talk about rebalancing the already weary economy without assuring a high competitive level between states, isn’t this actually the impulse economies need and the key to the problems we deal with?Our goal through this paper is to bring forward the tremendous significance of the economic competitiveness and competition between states, as a solution to the troubled economy, by analysing and discovering the role Romania is playing, in comparison to other Central and East European states. Furthermore, we will try to explain Romanian current position and give recommendations for boosting its economic performances through healthy competition.