More than 60pct of the public investments in Romania are achieved through European funds, on Monday said the European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu at the "Structural Funds Gala" event.
"It is our duty to fight for this cohesion policy which from where I stand, is the most visible in the peoples' daily life. If you ask me to talk about the until now results, of course a lot of negative things surface but I believe that several achievements are there, as well. These 129 projects represent only a part of the accomplishments we have recorded. Like I said, to Romania the cohesion policy is a decisive element for the country's progress, over 60pct of the local budget is allocated, available for the public investments, and Romania was confronted with quite huge difficulties in 2007 - 2013. In the cohesion policy we have benefited three more years, because this +3 rule, exists," the EU Commissioner said.
Moreover, Corina Cretu asserted that Bucharest's gross domestic product (GDP) has exceeded the EU countries' average due to European funds.
"All indicators show economic growth. I count on the Romanian authorities to understand these aspects' significance, to speed up access to the European money, and yet also to back the proposals of the Commission for a strong cohesion policy," Cretu stressed.
For the current planning period, Romania has been allocated rd EUR 23 billion, from the cohesion policy funds (10pct higher than the 2007-2013 planning period).
AGERPRES .