Ability to Assume the Obligations of Membership 4. The Commission considers that, at the moment, Romania still fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria although this position will need to be re-examined if the authorities do not continue to give priority to dealing with the crisis in their child care institutions. The Commission will monitor closely recent decisions by the government to provide the necessary budgetary resources and to carry out a structural reform which puts child care in Romania on a secure and decent basis, and in full respect of human rights. The increased use of ordinances is a cause of concern and further measures are needed to ensure the independence and efficiency of the judiciary. Romania cannot be considered as a functioning market economy and it is not able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union in the medium term.
Macroeconomic imbalances remain problematic, and financing problems have increased.
Progress has been made in privatisation of several large companies and in restructuring and privatising the state-owned financial sector, albeit at a very high cost for the budget. However, macroeconomic instability and legal uncertainty continue to deter foreign private investments which are necessary to modernise the supply side of the economy. The reduction in exports, despite the large real depreciation of the currency, is worrying. The government is committed to restoring a stable macroeconomic framework and addressing the structural problems in the economy. The agreements reached with the International Financial Institutions were important achievements, but it is too early to judge whether the new programme will put the Romanian economy back on the path of sustainable development.