EC representative: Romania, not ready to join euro zone

Romania hasn’t finalized the structural reforms it committed to, which are extremely important, and can’t think about joining the euro zone before doing that, said Angela Filote, head of the European Commission’s Representation in Romania. She added that there was no deadline for Romania joining the euro zone and that the country would do this when it is ready. “We are not talking only about meeting nominal criteria but more about real criteria. Take for example the living standards,” Filote said, reports local Mediafax. She added that Romania has closed much but not all the gaps to the European averages in the ten years since joining the European Union. “For example, now it is at 60% of the average GDP per capita in the EU, compared to 38% ten years ago.” Filote pointed out that the countries that joined the euro zone more recently had a GDP per capita between 67% and 70% of the EU average. editor@romania-insider.com