PM Dancila assures Commissioner Cretu of gov't commitment to increase Romania's intake of European funds

On a visit to Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu voicing strong commitment on the part of the Romanian government to increasing the country's intake of European funds.

According to a press statement released by the government, Dancila thanked Cretu for the support from the European Commission to Romania for a better management of European funds.

"Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has reassured the European Commission of the firm commitment of the Romanian government to increasing the intake by Romania of European funds allocated for the financial programming 2014-2020."

Dancila added that the government will keep up the sped-up pace of project appraisal and contracting in 2018 so that the proposed target of hundred percent absorption at the end of the programming period can be achieved.

"It is important to secure accelerated implementation of projects so that the volume of payments will increase in 2018 and 2019. Thus, the efforts of the Romanian government are focused on accelerating the implementation of the projects already admitted for financing, and on supporting the beneficiaries throughout the duration of the investment projects," according to the statement.

Dancila said Romania has been concentrating its efforts on accelerating the implementation of projects already approved for financing during the year 2018, primarily by supporting the beneficiaries throughout the running of the investments, but also by opening all available credit lines. Dancila also indicated that the target set for 2018 is to reach an absorption rate of about 25 percent, including pre-financing.

At the same time, she added that Romania is also making efforts to ensure quality projects qualifying for European funding.

The discussions also addressed the post-2020 cohesion policy negotiations, including from the position of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2019.

Dancila pointed out that Romania would appreciate greater flexibility for member states in allocating the budget to the objectives defined by the new regulatory framework so as to reduce the gaps in infrastructure development in key areas: telecommunications, transport, environment, energy, healthcare and education, says the statement.

The meeting also focused on how the EU member states and Romania will define and transpose after 2020 thematic priorities such as innovation, digitisation, transport, social affairs and infrastructure.

"Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said that Romania is proposing a constructive approach that will lead to a compromise that will reflect both the needs to meet the new challenges and the needs for achieving real convergence at the level of the European Union, by providing adequate funding for cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy," the statement says.

Dancila and Cretu also discussed the latest developments in projects such as the M6 subway line in Bucharest City and three regional hospitals, as well as the submission of additional projects in the field of transport and road infrastructure.

Cross-border policy, migration, co-operation with Moldova, regional co-operation in the four-way format and the Danube Strategy were other topics addressed during the meeting.

Dancila invited Cretu to attend an international conference on the future of the cohesion policy to be held in Bucharest at the end of October.

In her turn, Cretu welcomed the legislative changes in the area of public procurement that set a deadline for the resolution of litigations. She also said that cohesion would be another priority of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council.

"As far as floods are concerned, Corina Cretu gave assurances that experts from the European Commission will be sent to Romania to contribute to the assessment of the situation caused by the heavy rainfall of late."