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European Commissioner for Regional Policies Corina Cretu has invited Prime Minister Viorica Dancila to officially say in Brussels if all the attacks in the last period against the European Commission represent the official position of the Romanian state.
On a visit to Bihor county, Corina Cretu was asked about how she comments on a series of accusations made against her on Sunday evening by Darius Valcov, advisor to the prime minister, and she indicated that it is not the first time when representatives of the ruling party, including from the Government, attack the Executive in Brussels.
"Not only I noticed this last night, but also the President of the European Commission, Mr. Jean Claude Junker. You also know that Mr. First Vice-President Timmermans has been attacked and offended for weeks by members of the ruling party in Romania. (...) The Government of Romania will be in Brussels on Wednesday and will present within the College of Commissioners the programme of Romania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union and I would invite madam prime minister to provide details - if all these attacks on the EC represent the Romanian's state official position," the European commissioner declared.
According to the commissioner, the public-private partnership is encouraged in all European Commission regulations and she specified that her statements related to this way of carrying out projects only referred to the fact that Romania has a historic chance of having non-reimbursable funds from the EU.
Corina Cretu urged Darius Valcov to read all the recommendations in the reports of the European Court of Accounts regarding countries that have no experience in public-private partnerships but also about the way Romania needs to carefully tackle these matters so as not to have penalties or expensive negotiations for the population later on.
"It is not my problem, it is the Romanian state's decision, but I have not received any notification from the European Commission that a public-private partnership is in the works. I have found out from the media about the Targu Mures - Iasi - Ungheni Motorway, about which our specialists are saying that we have money for feasibility studies to carry it out in this programming period and to commence construction as of 2021. In any case, as an average, it is said very clearly in these reports of the European Court of Accounts that a public-private partnership lasts between 20 and 30 years and that is why the EC recommends to consult with international financial institutions, such as the European Investment Bank or the World Bank. So, this politicizing is detrimental to the citizens," the European commissioner said.
Commissioner Corina Cretu "lies by omission" regarding the public-private partnership, state advisor Darius Valcov stated on Sunday evening, for a television station.
