Romania coped with the economic fallout of COVID-19 better than the European
\naverage, reporting a GDP drop of only 5% compared to the EU-wide average of 6%,
\nthe EU Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, on Tuesday said on the sidelines
\nof a debate on Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The EU official
\nsaid Romania’s prospects of economic growth are good, warning, however, the sustainability
\nof public finance remains a reason of concern. Like most other European states,
\nRomania has its hopes pinned on this recovery plan after the economic and
\nsocial crisis generated by the pandemic. 30 billion Euro has been allotted to
\nRomania under the Plan, and the center-right government in Romania decided the
\nfunds would mainly be used for investments in road and rail infrastructure, the
\nbuilding of new hospitals, modernizing schools and digitization. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Minister for
\nEuropean Funds, Cristian Ghinea, also said the reform of the pension and
\ntaxation systems are is an equal priority, along with a new governance of
\nschools and measures to foster legal forms of employment. Minister Ghinea said
\nthat, in its current form, the plan has struck a balance between environment
\nprerequisites and digitization, also meeting Romania’s transport infrastructure
\nneeds. The Romanian official pointed out the Plan also provides for reforms of
\nthe justice system. Worth noting is that the European budget, as well as the
\nrecovery Plan, stipulate a new mechanism whereby accessing European funds is
\ntied to the observance of the rule of law. Commissioner Gentiloni warned that,
\nin order to access funds under the recovery plan, a new set of criteria and
\nintermediary targets has to be met, which will not be easy, considering Romania
\ndoesn’t fare well in terms of European fund absorption. The European official
\nsuggested funds shouldn’t be spread too thin in order to keep the Plan
\neffective, because Romania will absorb less funds and their impact will
\ntherefore be lower. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Social-Democratic Party in opposition says the Recovery
\nand Resilience Plan should be debated openly in Parliament and claims the
\nGovernment’s document lacks strategic vision, which is something the European
\nUnion expects. First vice-president of the Social-Democratic Party, Sorin
\nGrindeanu, says the plan has no underlying impact study, provides no coherent
\nmeasures with clear targets for each field and doesn’t ensure a balanced local
\ndevelopment at national level. President Klaus Iohannis last week said the plan
\npresents a huge development opportunity for Romania, which will allow the
\nRomanian economy and society to better cope with future crises. (V.P.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania has its hopes pinned on the European post-pandemic recovery plan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":88371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[40211,29966,35884],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-88370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-center-right-government","tag-european-union","tag-recovery-and-resilience-plan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n