prodi, has brought the much - desired peace after centuries of conflicts. boundaries have gradually been removed and people began to feel they belong to a much larger space than their own country, i. e. an area characterised by peace and democracy. from this perspective, one can say without the risk of being wrong that the history of europe has moved in a virtuous direction. no matter how hard times the european union is going through and no matter how many challenges must be adequately dealt with, an in - depth analysis shows that political, economic and social interests converging towards the continuation of this great project, namely the strengthening of the european union, are stronger and more motivated than bis central bankers ’ speeches those stemming from rather circumstantial fears, arising out of the difficulties and vulnerabilities brought along by the global crisis. in order to stick to the virtuous direction that i have referred to – or to return to it –, i personally think that in these difficult times for the european union, we should not forget to put things into perspective. this means that short - term policies must be harmonised with the long - term vision and policies. romania ’ s stance is to consistently support eu - wide economic and institutional reforms. we believe that efforts to strengthen governance in the european union and the euro area should be made without delay, and they should be understood and supported by all member states. at the same time, particular attention should also be paid to the small - and medium - sized enterprises. in any country of the european union, small - and medium - sized enterprises generate most of the turnover and provide jobs for most employees. romania is no exception to this rule. however, beyond any quantitative arguments, small - and mediumsized enterprises are an engine of economic growth, especially due to the fact that they are characterised by dynamism, flexibility and innovative power, which makes them able not only to adjust to the changes in the economy and quickly grasp market trends, but also to open up new avenues to economic and technological progress, as they are seen as tireless promoters of change. this is, in fact, the very essence of entrepreneurship. last but not least, we should all be aware that some of the best - performing small - and medium - sized enterprises today will turn into the large companies of the future ( as was the case of mobexpert and dedeman, two successful romanian companies that currently provide thousands of jobs after starting in the

mugur isarescu : some considerations of the impact of monetary policy on the economic convergence speech by mr mugur isarescu, governor of the national bank of romania, at the conference on europe economic integration 2018 " how to finance cohesion in europe? ", panel 1 " the role of monetary policy in catching - up ", organized by the central bank of the republic of austria ( oesterreichische nationalbank ), vienna, 26 november 2018. * * * as prepared for delivery ladies and gentlemen, i am honoured to join such a distinguished audience. after so many years spent as the governor of the national bank of romania, today ’ s discussion gives me yet another opportunity to look back at the role that monetary policy has played in supporting nominal and real convergence in romania. it is almost two decades since the romania – eu accession negotiations had been opened ( back then, in 2000, i served as the prime - minister ). romania has been an eu member for more than 10 years already. allow me to share with you my view, shaped by the lessons learned over all these years, on the relationship between monetary policy and economic convergence. let me first make a couple of considerations about economic convergence. first, while the nominal convergence criteria are deeply rooted in the minds of policymakers, the maastricht treaty also explicitly stipulates that “ a high degree of sustainable convergence ” is needed. yet, this requirement seems to have been overlooked sometimes. second, practical experience with euro adoption so far has proved that real convergence is also critical for success. even in the absence of a clear definition and a consensus on a numerical benchmark, it became clear that a high - enough level of real convergence is a prerequisite for minimising the costs associated with losing monetary policy independence after euro adoption. recent years have shown that the euro area is not a cosy place for economies with lagging competitiveness or rigid markets. we should not forget that euro adoption involves a permanent commitment, as otmar issing, the first ecb chief economist, pointed out. romania made significant progress in terms of real convergence, with growth resuming and gaining momentum after the global economic crisis. this led to a rise in gdp per capita as a percentage of euro area average ( based on pps ) from 31. 7 percent in 2005 to 58. 6 percent in 2017. the advance was the fastest within the group of peer countries which recorded similar trends. clear prospects for eu entry favoured