by Andreea Marinas
Romanian road and railway infrastructures. If it’s one of the things that baffles you, then take a stand. Anything, from online petitions to marches and protests, is better than turning a blind eye. Why making a last ditch effort on the matter?
Stamina has always helped us accomplish great things, but the rule of law in Romania is the way it is and now, with the “innovation” in the next long-term EU budget proposed by the European Commission on May 2nd, which conditions EU funding on the rule of law, our country is again prone to lose ground. With a large amount of the EU funds going to infrastructure, this means even poorer roads in the near future.
In thorough antithesis with Europe’s rich states that are getting prepared to replace all water infrastructures and paying less to little attention to the road and railway ones.
There might be an “if” clause, the country holding the EU Presidency voicing a clear rejection of the EU funding conditionality. With Bulgaria against and Romania having rejected the idea since its inception, the developments are still to be seen.
Still, they say the conditionality could be applied in the case of Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, who refuse to be part of solidarity mechanisms to share the burden of the refugee crisis.
So, instead of keeping the pace with the developed world which thinks about measures to stop the waste of resources – the loss of water -, Romania is struggling to have done 15 km of highway per year.
Losing the EU funds would cause even a higher public deficit, which is already the highest in Europe according to the European Commission. And the lack of certainty in regards with the Romanian government actions does affect the economic growth, adds the EC in its spring economic forecast.
Romania doesn’t need yet another backlash and it’s a pity we cannot focus on esteemed and benefic initiatives such as the campaign for a worldwide ban on animal testing in the cosmetics industry. Because of these stringent issues that we have.