Romania is retorting to the recent statement of Austria’s chancellor who asked for the eastern European countries opposing mandatory migrant quotas to be fined. Werner Faymann suggested these states to be restricted from accessing the structural funds. Romania, next to the Czech Republic, Denmark or Poland dismissed the idea of mandatory quotas, pleading for the refugees’ redistribution on voluntary bases.
The EC commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu (Romania) issued a press statement on Sunday, saying that the cooperation agreements and the operational programmes don’t stipulate any provisions on fining or restricting the member states’ access to the European structural funds or to the investment funds if a member state rejects the migrant quota proposed by the European Commission.
“As European commissioner for Regional Policy, I state that in the cooperation agreements and operation programmes for the current programming period (2014-2020) there are no provisions stipulating the fine or the restriction of the member states’ access to the European structural funds of a member state that rejects the quota submitted by the European Commission regarding the immigrants,” Cretu pointed out.
“During programming period 2014-2020, over EUR 20 billion out of the European regional development fund allotted to all member states are intended to generate economic growth and development and to implicitly support the social integration, including of the legal migrants, such as development of the infrastructure necessary to host and raise children or revitalizing the disadvantaged urban areas,” the EU Commissioner also said.
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also retorted to the Austrian chancellor’s statement, arguing that no EU member state can be fined if it doesn’t have the capacity to receive and integrate an imposed number of immigrants due to objective reasons.
“The structural funds allotted to a EU member state are not part of the discussions related to immigration and to the way European states involve in the process of immigrants’ taking over. According to the EU Treaties, there is no connection between the position that Romania will support at the Home Affairs Council on September 14 or in any sectoral council and the structural funds allotted to our countries,” reads a MAE press release.