Should one look at the article dated „Status Report: Launch Forecast“, one will see that the ECo-C is expected to be launched in Romania sometime in 2011. It is therefore exactly the right time to wonder what sort of benefits Romania in general, and its denizens and citizens in particular, would be able to draw from this new educational offering.

According to multiple sources, the main problems of the Romanian labour market are:

1)       The emigration of young professionals. The country actually has a negative population growth rate, something that is attributed to both the aging of the population and the exodus of the people of an age to work.

2)      Red tape and bureaucracy, as well as corruption, which continue to pose many problems.

3)      An above-average share of people employed in agriculture: although that sector provides no more than 12.4% of Romanian GDP, it accounts for 29.7% of the workers.

4)      A smaller-than-average share for services: although providing about 52.6% of Romanian GDP in 2009, the service sector employs only 47.1% of the population. Even so, the sector needs to expand in both numbers and value, as services account for 71.9% of the European Union’s GDP.

5)      The financial crisis, which started in 2008, has caused unemployment to double (from 4.4% to 7.8% in a year) and the real growth rate to collapse to -7.2% in 2009, from +7.1% in 2008.

The above all shows that, the Romanian market is currently facing some pretty large upheavals. Not only will structural adjustments need to be made to favour the service sector and continue the restructuring of older or less efficient areas, thus ensuring a return to positive growth, but the deeper issues of high labour turnover, high emigration, but also, rising immigration from non-EU member states in the region will need to be taken into account. And this does not even begin to take into account complexities related to Romania’s minorities or Diasporas.

On the whole, however, the ECo-C should help. As a certificate, it is already well established in Germany and Austria and is about to be launched in Hungary, which are among Romania’s main partners. In turn, this means that certified people immigrating to these countries, or returning from these countries, would find some local recognition for their skills, enabling an easier integration into their chosen market, and common, recognisable standards and communication philosophies. It furthermore goes without saying that, as a communications certificate, the ECo-C is more likely to be useful in the expanding services sector, than in any agricultural concern.