The Ministry of Education and Research (MEC) announces that it has had discussions with the European Space Agency (ESA) in recent days to reschedule commitments and redefine Romania's projects, pointing out that "various optional programs" have raised the annual contribution to the Agency to 250 million RON.
"Regarding ESA - a situation frequently discussed in recent days in the public space - Romania has consistently and without delay paid its mandatory membership fee. In recent years, however, a series of additional commitments have been signed for various optional programs, which have increased the country's annual contribution to ESA to approximately 200 - 250 million RON (almost as much as the funding for all annual competitions in PNCDI IV through UEFISCDI - held in 2025)," the MEC said in a statement sent on Saturday.
In this context, the National Research Authority (ANC) has had discussions with ESA in recent days to "reschedule these commitments and redefine the projects undertaken by Romania, for the greatest possible gain for the country, and ESA responded favorably to this approach".
Thus, the MEC emphasizes, the programs in which Romania participates "must be correlated with the needs of the Romanian state/Romanian society and with the capacity of the academic environment to attract and use the respective funds, so that the profit rate for Romania, in relation to the amounts subscribed, is at least similar to the European average".
The ministry recalls that in the most recent budget rectification this year, MEC-ANC received an additional amount "necessary both for renegotiating the relationship with ESA and for concluding this year's commitments to ELI-NP (Magurele Laser)".
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