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Investment and European funds minister Adrian Caciu in Craiova on Friday said that after the decentralisation of European funds, the next step will be the decentralisation of national funds, regardless of the source of funding.
"This is the first time that European funds are officially decentralised to regional and local communities. It is a first step, in my view, because the next step will be the decentralisation of national funds, regardless of the source of funding. And here the role of the Regional Development Agency is a very important one, one of increasing administrative capacity, on the one hand to implement programmes with European funds, to receive new sources of funding from programmes that are at the national level such as the Health programme or the Just Transition, but also to become a regional financier for the counties in the region," said minister Caciu, during an event organised by the South-West Oltenia Regional Development Agency to mark its 25th anniversary.
He also said that Romania has a problem with regional disparities because "it has always been dictated from the centre in terms of funding and development, even though the problems were at local level," and while he is minister, he will support the decentralisation of European funds, "because yhe cohesion policy is about regions, not states."
"Romania's South-West region has a lot of catching up to do compared to other regions of Romania, at least compared to the regions of Transylvania. And history has been more adverse in these places, not only here, but also in the Eastern part of Romania, where there have been many complicated situations throughout history and we have a lot of catching up to do. But what has been done in recent years in this region can be seen: the region has developed, the contribution to the national economy has increased and the investments are not only visible, but they bring benefits to the citizens of this region. It is very important that in the coming period we increase the speed and consistency on what means new investments and new resources to attract in the development of the regional economy," said minister Adrian Caciu.
