Abstract. The economy of the European Union (EU) has left behind the downturn and is gradually recovering. In 2010, both the EU and the Eurozone posted economic growth, mostly because Germany did better than expected. All considered, the German economy is growing at a faster pace than in the last two decades. Recession, however, has persisted in states like Greece, Romania and Latvia, and analysts expect growth rates, especially in Eastern Europe, to remain low in the next period. Recovery in this part of Europe largely depends on a pickup in the activity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which were seriously affected by the credit crunch the economic crisis entailed. The adverse impact on most SMEs causes a decline in the development rate and a rise in the number of bankruptcies. But the growth of the German economy, however, has a beneficial effect on companies in Central and East European states as well.

Keywords: SMEs; economic crisis; Romania; Germany; Eastern Europe; economic developments.