Government measures

The Minister for European Funds, Aura Răducu, wants Romania to absorb 70% of the funds made available by the EU by the end of the year.

Daniela Budu, 27.11.2015, 13:53

Romania wants to increase its European fund absorption rate to 70% by the end of the year, according to the Minister for European Funds, Aura Răducu. The Romanian official said that any projects with EU funding still ongoing by December 31 might be co-funded, also by involving local authorities. Aura Răducu said the Government was making efforts to refund the costs for 5,500 ongoing projects.

Aura Răducu: “We are trying to come up with a solution so that any projects finalized by December 31 should start getting European funding, especially those projects managed by local authorities. Local authorities must cover what funding the remaining projects need in order to be finalized”.

Aura Răducu however warned that these costs would be refunded only if the projects in question are half-complete and have observed all public procurement rules and procedures. The Romanian official has explained there are nearly 80 projects that risk not being finalized by December 31.

Aura Răducu: “In order to save certain projects we have the so-called phased projects, 77 projects that cannot be finalized, especially those referring to large water or transport infrastructure programmes. We will try to finance these projects in two phases, part of them in the current financial framework and the other part in the next framework”.

In turn, Finance Minister Anca Dragu has warned that any failure to observe deadlines for public procurement might lead to withholding payments for all projects with EU funding. That’s why the Government in Bucharest has made reforming the public procurement system a top priority. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Dacian Cioloş has called on Transport Minister Dan Costescu to draw up an analysis on the functioning of the Road and Highway Administration and other companies operating within the ministry. As regards investments in infrastructure, Cioloş said all construction works provided in the Transport Master Plan and agreed upon with the European Commission would continue.

Dacian Cioloş: “The efforts to formalize and adopt the Master Plan have not been in vain. We are also working on a list of very exact goals that we want to pursue over the coming year, such as starting or continuing works for the Pitesti-Sibiu highway. Also, there are express roads and highway segments linking Comarnic to Busteni and Transylvania to Moldavia where we can make headway with feasibility studies and technical projects. As for Bucharest, we can advance with construction works for the Bucharest ring and the segment linking the city to the Ploiesti motorway”.

The Prime Minister promised these projects would be carefully monitored, ranking high on the Government’s agenda.