The European Green Deal Industrial Plan: Risks and Opportunities. The Chances of the Romanian Economy

The European Green Deal Industrial Plan (EGDIP), announced by the European Commission to the other institutions and bodies of the European Union on 1 February 2023, aims to achieve a carbon-neutral European community by 2050 by transforming production and consumption paradigms. Main objectifis of the study aimes to describe the objectives, methods, and means of the EGDIP, to assess its chances of success about the challenges and risks it entails, to analyze the geopolitical and international policy implications of the European Union and to provide a case study on the stage Romania is in assuming and implementing this plan. The most important results are to nuance the official text, drawing attention to the needs for coordinating objectives and means with other major global industrial players, distributing efforts in a fair proportion to the current carbon emissions of national economies in the European Union, and adjusting national contributions (financial in the first place) to the real possibilities of economies in crisis. In the case of Romania, we will note the incipient degree of addressing the EGDIP objectives by the central authorities and the relatively more advanced level of involvement of economic agents, in a context in which Romania already produces low carbon emissions - correlated with the small size of the industry in question and the systematic closure of coal mines. The significance of the results obtained is summed up in completing and refining the theoretical foundations on which EGDIP is based, formulating signals and warnings regarding risks and challenges in the implementation of the project – which can help decision-makers and their advisors, university professors, and researchers in the formulation of policies, but can also contribute to additional information for journalists and public opinion.