Halfway through
\nthe 2014-2020 financial framework, Romania’s rate of absorbing EU funds is zero,
\nthe European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu has warned during
\nher latest visit to Bucharest. Under the circumstances, the authorities must
\ntake immediate action to see that the funds Romania has been allotted by the EU
\nare accessed. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Following talks
\nwith Romania’s Prime Minister, Sorin Grindeanu, Commissioner Cretu said it is
\nkey that EU funds should be spent strategically while observing Romania’s
\ninvestment priorities stipulated in the country’s Partnership Agreement. She
\nnoted that under the 2007-2014 financial framework, Romania’s absorption rate
\nstood at over 90%, which means 17 billion euros of the total of 19 billion made
\navailable for Romania. The money was invested in Romanian economy and this can
\nbe seen at local level. The European Commission expects Bucharest to appoint
\nnew management and control authorities. According to Corina Cretu, EU
\nstructural and investment funds should go hand in hand with financing Romania’s
\nlocal development programme. Prime Minister Grindeanu firmly argued in favour
\nof unblocking certain areas that would allow attracting EU funds:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Over the past
\ncouple of months we have taken measures so that all management authorities
\nshould obtain certification by the end of the year. Additionally, over the
\ncoming period, we will be signing financing IT contracts under the
\nCompetitiveness Framework Programme. You will be seeing a large number of
\nguidelines for financing being published. These things will be ready to launch
\nin April. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On the other
\nhand, Romania can absorb some 250 million euros worth of funds for the
\nmodernisation of 280 hospitals and healthcare units, Commissioner Corina Cretu
\nalso said. The funds are mainly aimed at rehabilitating and expanding 42 county
\nhospitals. One goal is to help the population in rural areas get direct access
\nto quality healthcare services. Commissioner Corina Cretu also met Romanian
\nMinister Delegate for European Funds, Rovana Plumb. The latter said Romania’s
\nobjective this year is to absorb 5.2 billion euros from the funds available
\nunder the Cohesion Policy, the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common
\nFisheries Policy. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Commission will support Romania in its efforts to improve absorption of EU funds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":72664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[36915,30011,19347],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-72663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-absorption","tag-eu-funds","tag-romania"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n