It will take two more decades for Romania to be able to reach that stage of development that will secure it a greater competitiveness, attractiveness and a GDP closer to the European average, but it is, nonetheless, heading to the right direction, European Commission for budget and human resources Gunther Oettinger told a conference held at the headquarters of the National Bank of Romania (BNR).
He said that, over the past ten years, Romania recorded an enviable economic growth. The dynamics that it recorded on its market and also at regional level compared with the neighboring states' make it a model. And all this because Romania took advantage of the funds made available by the EU for building its railway infrastructure and so on, said Oettinger.
According to him, Romania absorbed a lot of fund, although not enough. In the next ten years, Europe needs to invest more in infrastructure, especially in the new member states like Romania. This is why he fights for stabilization and for the continuation of the cohesion programmes, in what the European Union budget for the next ten years concerned. It's only been ten years since Romania become an EU member and that's why, said Oettinger, the politicians, investors, ministers, trade unions, companies, all need to have patience. In order to achieve that kind of development that will lead to a greater competitiveness, attractiveness and a GDP closer to the EU average, Romania needs to wait for two more decades to pass, but the country is, nonetheless, heading to the right direction. Also, Oettinger pointed out that the current generation needs to do everything in its power to be certain that its children will be able to say their parents acted in a good way and assumed the democratic values, that they worked with social partners and invested in the future, in research, and also that they did not consume more than they should, for this is another responsibility of the European budget.