The lucky side of joining the EU later than others

Because a majority of the EU countries that constitute Romania's export market are in the midst of a recession the country's exports and domestic production have been affected by the crisis. The daily Gandul points out that the situation in Romania is nonetheless considerably better than in its neighbouring countries. "Romania joined the EU in 2007, so there was little time for the speculation bubble in the real estate, stock market and bank sectors to spread here. Had we been in the first wave of EU expansion in 2004 we would now be in a similar predicament to Hungary. Romania's situation would be much better still if it had a competent government. But the worrying budget deficit has left the Romanian economy extremely vulnerable to external shocks. Now those in power don't know how to get out of the crisis because their predecessors behaved like Sunday children: They sprayed each other with water when it was raining and now that it's dry they've realised that there's no water left."

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