Radio România Internațional

Tag: cohesion funds

  • July 10, 2024 UPDATE

    July 10, 2024 UPDATE

    NATO – On the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Washington, Allies have reached consensus on the final resolution of the summit. NATO will reassert its commitment to support Ukraine’s irreversible Euro-Atlantic trajectory, once all accession criteria have been met. The war in Ukraine ranked high at the NATO summit, marking 75 years since the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Five Allied presidents and Prime Ministers, including the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, signed a joint statement to donate Patriot missile systems and parts to Ukraine. Italy pledged to deliver an additional system. Denmark and the Netherlands will send F-16 jets to overfly Ukrainian airspace over the summer, Reuters reports. The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, called for increasing assistance for Ukraine, arguing that if Ukraine loses the war, “we all lose”. “Russia remains the biggest threat to European and Euro-Atlantic security. Facing the Kremlin’s hybrid attacks, NATO states need to be ready to defend themselves. Therefore, the decision we will take over the next days will lead to more efficient actions to consolidate our security”, Iohannis pointed out. The summit will spell critical progress for strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense posture, particularly in the Eastern Flank and the Black Sea region, the Romanian official added.

     

     

    FUNDS – Minister of European Funds, Adrian Câciu, said Romania has managed to absorb an additional 4 bln EUR from corresponding Cohesion Policy mechanisms as part of the 2021-2027 financial framework, taking the total value of contracts signed by Romania to 14 bln EUR. Another 6-bln-EUR worth of projects are still pending approval, the Romanian official wrote on social media. This rhythm of absorption will continue, making it the right approach for ensuring Romania’s sustainable development, Adrian Câciu added.

     

     

    OECD – Romania received the formal approval of the OECD for regional development, said the ministry for development, public works and administration. The statement also says that this confirms both the will and capacity of Romania to implement the legal instruments of the OECD and the alignment of Romania’s policies and practices to those of the OECD in matters of regional development. Romania’s efforts are thus recognized in terms of the consolidation of the regional development policy, especially with respect to the drafting of a solid system of territorial statistics, the adoption of a localized approach in the field of regional development and of strategic documents at regional, county and local levels, by means of consolidating governance at a number of levels and improving institutional and fiscal capacity of subnational governments. The formal approval also contains a series of recommendations for improving the policy, governance and financing framework in the field of regional development.

     

     

    TRADE – Romania’s trade balance deficit between January 1 and May 31 2024 stood at 12.288 bln EUR, 1.230 bln EUR more compared to the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Institute. In the first five months of the year, exports dropped by 2.9%, while imports rose by 0.2%. According to the National Statistics Institute, the areas accounting for the largest shares of exports and imports are represented by cars and transport equipment and other manufacture products.

     

     

    REPAIRS – Starting July 10 the Giurgiu-Ruse bridge over the Danube will undergo repair works on the Bulgarian section. Repairs are expected to complete in two years. According to the motorway company in neighboring Bulgaria, the works are divided into six stages, without closing traffic, with vehicles travelling on one lane only. Romanian citizens are advised to use alternative border crossings during the interval.

     

     

    FOOTBALL – Romania’s football champions FCSB defeated the San Marino champions Virtus AC 7-1 in an away match on Tuesday evening, in the first leg of the Champions League first preliminary round. The second leg is scheduled for July 16 in Bucharest. If they advance to the second preliminary round, FCSB will play Maccabi Tel Aviv. The other Romanian clubs playing in European competitions are Romanian Cup winners Corvinul Hunedoara, CFR Cluj and Universitatea Craiova. (CM & VP)

  • European recommendations for infrastructure development

    European recommendations for infrastructure development

    While on an official visit to Romania, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu warned the Romanian authorities against doing too little to develop the transport infrastructure. She said it was important for Bucharest to submit major projects to the European Commission, so as to be able to absorb more EU funds earmarked for this field. Corina Cretu also said that there are administrative problems, that bureaucracy has not been reduced, and that Romania is losing money. The European official also mentioned that since she took over the post in Brussels in 2014, Romanian authorities only submitted 4 major financing projects.


    Corina Cretu explained that there are problems that prevent the funding of projects that might have been eligible, and mentioned the example of the Sibiu-Pitesti motorway, which cannot be financed from the EU budget because construction works on 2 segments have been initiated without environmental permits.



    Corina Cretu: “In our opinion, there are substantial delays in this project, and we estimate that actual construction cannot begin sooner than in 2019. As you know, the motorway is divided into 5 lots, for which contractors have been invited to bid. Lots 2, 3, and 4 are the most difficult, in technical terms, because these motorway segments cut through the mountains. The contracts for Lots 1 and 5 have been awarded, and works have been initiated without first assessing the impact on the environment.”



    Corina Cretu also said that the latest Romanian infrastructure project submitted to the European Commission is the one concerning the extension of the underground line connecting the city of Bucharest to the Henri Coanda International Airport. The European Commission will fund this project, which will also benefit from a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and funding from the state budget.



    Corina Cretu: “We are prepared to finance all these projects. As I have already said, the total eligible costs are yet to be figured out in detail, but we estimate around 350 million euros. The Japan International Cooperation Agency is interested in co-financing this project, and we are waiting for the Romanian authorities to inform us of the stage of negotiations.”



    The European Commissioner for Regional Development mentioned that the cohesion policy is, for the first time in the history of the European Union, the field with the largest funds earmarked in the forthcoming budget, for 2021-2027, and that Romania, Bulgaria and Greece are to receive 10% more money than at present. Corina Cretu advised the Government and local authorities to prepare projects for this period. Romania must take full advantage of the opportunities entailed by its EU membership, must spend European funds as quickly as possible, and it must simplify procedures and reduce bureaucracy, the European official concluded.


    (Translated by Ana Maria Popescu)

  • February 19, 2018 UPDATE

    February 19, 2018 UPDATE

    PARLIAMENT – The Chamber of Deputies Monday discussed a simple motion tabled by the Liberals in Opposition against the Labour Minister, Lia Olguta Vasilescu. The Liberals criticise the drop in salaries for certain employee categories further to the introduction of the unified wage scheme and the transfer of social security payments from employers to employees. In turn, the Labour Minister says there are no statistical data to verify the claims that 2 million Romanians have seen their incomes drop further to the “fiscal revolution. MPs will vote on the motion on Wednesday.




    EIB – Romania is interested in further benefitting from the variety of financing instruments offered by the European Investment Bank, especially those that help improve the absorption of non-reimbursable EU funding, the Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said in Bucharest on Monday, after a meeting with the EIB vice-president Andrew McDowell. In turn, the EIB official pointed out that the banks products are designed to reduce the investment deficit in Romania, to contribute to the countrys economic growth and to help create new jobs. According to an EIB report made public on Monday in Bucharest, over the past 25 years the group has granted loans of over 13 billion euros to Romania. Official data indicate that in 2017 alone, the EIB Group, which comprises the EIB and the European Investment Fund, provided support to Romania amounting to 1.9 billion euros.




    TRANSPORT – The European Commission announced on Monday that 1.3 billion euro in cohesion funds will be invested in upgrading a section of the railway corridor connecting Curtici, on the Romanian – Hungarian border, to Constanta on the Black Sea Coast, reads a news release issued by the EC Representation in Bucharest. The works will target a significant improvement of speed and safety on the segment between Curtici and the town of Simeria, where 13 railway stations will be upgraded, the improvement of the signalling and passenger information systems and the building of related infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels.




    FLU – Another 3 people died from the flu in Romania, with the death toll reaching 35, and more than 500 cases reported, the authorities announced on Monday. Most of the cases are reported in Bucharest, followed by the counties Constanta (in the south-east), Olt (south), Brasov (centre) and Iasi (north-east). The authorities recommend vaccination, and the Healthcare Ministry announces around 80,000 shots are still available. So far more than 920,000 people have got flu shots. The Healthcare Minister Sorina Pintea says Romania is not facing a flu epidemic. She added that prevention measures are of the utmost importance, while hospitals and public health authorities must implement all the necessary measures.




    JUDICIARY – The High Court of Cassation and Justice will pass a final ruling on March 5 in a case where Ludovic Orban, the president of the main Opposition party, the right-wing National Liberal Party, was tried for influence peddling with a view to obtaining undue benefits. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate is seeking a one-year imprisonment sentence in the case. Orban was found not guilty by the court of first instance, but an appeal has been filed. According to prosecutors, in March 2016 Orban contacted a businessman requesting financial support for the local election campaign, in which he was running for Mayor General of Bucharest.




    DEFENCE – The Senate of Romania Monday endorsed a bill on the procurement of multiple rocket launchers for the Romanian Army. Under the document, the Government of Romania is awarding to the US Government the contracts for the procurement of 3 sets of 18 launch systems each, including the ammunition, control elements, sensors, logistic support as well as personnel training. The funds will be taken from the Defence Ministry budget. The Chamber of Deputies is to make the final decision on this bill.




    AmCham – Investments must be a priority in this years public budget, the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania states in a report made public on Monday. According to AmCham, it is only through investments that economic growth can translate into wellbeing, modern infrastructure, high performance administration and high quality public services. The report says that in 2017 compliance with the deficit target was the main concern in public budget execution, but this was at the expense of investments, which hit a 12-year low. AmCham argues that authorities have sacrificed public investments in order to be able to increase public sector salaries and pensions. AmCham also recommends better absorption of European funds, fiscal stability, increased productivity and a focus on high value-added economic activities.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)