Political disputes on National Recovery and Resilience Plan
The Romanian Government says the goals of its recent visit to Brussels, focusing on the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, have been reached.
Daniela Budu, 14.05.2021, 13:50
8,5 billion euros to transport, 3,7 billion euros to education, 2,5 billion de euros to healthcare, are some of the figures the Bucharest Government included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) discussed in Brussels this week. The plan includes reforms in key sectors and the commitments taken by the Bucharest Government have been well received by Brussels. Romanias plan has credibility and can be implemented, says PM Florin Citu.
Talks with the European officials will continue in the upcoming period. Romanian ministers must submit to the European Commission the best version of this plan. PM Florin Citu: “We will have to convince the European Commission that we can attract the 29.2 billion euros, based on the reforms we carry out. This was the first discussion. The second discussion was that Romania has some top priorities, such as road and rail infrastructure. The challenge, for ministers in the next two weeks, is to submit detailed technical projects, in keeping with the required standards, that for the Commission to approve them.“
The Prime Minister assured the European officials that reforms included in the governing programme, the fiscal-budgetary strategy and the convergence programme are being implemented. In his turn, European Funds Minister Cristian Ghinea says all the goals of the visit to Brussels were reached. He said that major reforms were clarified and agreed on with the European Commission and it was decided that Bucharest will apply for the entire amount of 29 billion euros. The minister explained that Bucharest committed to a sustainable and mature policy as regards the pension reform, and that modifications will be brought to special pensions as well. Also, he said that state owned companies will be reformed and bonuses in the public administration salary system will be limited.
PM Florin Citu said that he will also discuss with the representatives of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), in opposition, to win their support to pass the document in Parliament. PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu, however, said that the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is far from being completed and that the government cannot hide the fact that their visit to Brussels was a failure.
“They did not return with a finalised plan. For instance, there are big cuts for local authorities and education. The biggest problem is that they did not manage to convince the Commission they can implement the plan by 2026“, Ciolacu said. Previously, PSD blocked the vote on increasing Romanias contribution to the EU budget and asked the government to present and discuss the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in Parliament. (EE)
