Convergence between the Romanian and the EU RD/I Systems

The globalisation of economy and communications, quick technological progress and its social implications led to the creation of the European Research Area, an important objective for the convergence of national RD&I systems. The monitoring of convergence process is achieved, since 2000, through a system of indicators, developed and refined every year, in order to make them consistent with new trends and requirements for relevant and systemic expression of the progress made in the RD&I field, in relation to both inputs and outputs and RD&I contribution as a determinant factor of improving national and European competitiveness. This paper analyses the progress made in the last six years in achieving the convergence of European RD&I systems, the factors that have accelerated or slowed down the process, laying the stress on Romania's position in closing the gaps that separate it from European average and from the leaders in this area. For this purpose, we tested a model for estimating the degree of convergence of the Romanian RD&I system with the EU27 system by the clustering method.