European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, has confirmed on Tuesday that in Brussels it is considered that the allocation of funds to be conditioned on observing the rule of law by the beneficiary countries.
“There is talk now, not necessarily about Romania, to condition the allocation of European funds on observing the rule of law. It may be enforced after 2020. Currently, there is no legal provision to condition the allocation of European funds. In a German newspaper I was criticized for approving a project for expanding the subway in Warsaw, given the (political) skidding in Poland. If Poland goes to the Court of Justice of the European Union, it will win,” Commissioner Cretu has told Europa FM.
Cretu warns PM Dancila: Romania risks losing large funds
European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, said on Tuesday that if Romania does not “make major efforts”, it risks losing important European funds this year. Corina Cretu met Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă at Victoria Palace on Tuesday.
“From our point of view, of the European Commission, we will have a good relationship and permanent dialogue. (…) Romania has made progress, especially in the last months, after the authorities for the management and control of European funds have been accredited. In fact, from August up to now, an absorption rate of EUR 1 billion has been reached, as you know, from scratch. Previous steps have been recovered, but even so, the rhythm must not be lowered , on the contrary,” Corina Cretu said at the end of the meeting with Prime Minister Dăncilă.
The European Commissioner mentioned that Romania has an allocation of EUR 20 billion from the funds she coordinates.
„EUR 1 billion has been paid since August, and EUR 2.8 billion are on the way for retrospective road projects that should have been completed in the previous financial period. Unfortunately, it was not possible and then we took this decision, in order not to lose the money, to faze them in two periods. So the good news is that all these roads will be completed, the bad news is that, unfortunately, it consumes from the 2014-2020 budget. I told the Prime Minister that this year, if no major efforts are made, Romania risks losing important funds, unused in recent years, despite the progress made last year,” Commissioner Cretuu pointed out.
She expressed confidence that the new Government will address the outstanding issues and will act swiftly.
At the same time, Corina Cretu congratulated Viorica Dăncilă for her “responsibility” and for being “the first woman to be appointed as head of a post-Revolutionary government.”
‘I am not at all questioned about the justice issues in Romania’ – European Commissioner Corina Cretu says
European Commissioner Corina Cretu says she was never asked in Brussels about the justice issues in Romania, but points out that the exchange of letters between the European Commission and Bucharest is a “practice” to “express some concerns”.
Corina Cretu (PSD) made the statements in the context in which the social-democrat Chairman, Liviu Dragnea, repeatedly said that the European partners have not been correctly informed regarding the amendments brought to the laws of justice. Dragnea claimed the European Commission representation in Romania has delivered fake information to Brussels to ‘all the European commissioners’.
Corina Cretu said for TVR public broadcaster: “Personally, I was not at all questioned about the justice issues in Romania, nor was the Foreign Ministry. I am regarded as Commissioner for Regional Policy. Of course, it’s obvious that a political battle is taking place in Romania and an additional effort should be made to continue the dialogue. I believe it’s not fair to associate Romania with Poland at this time, in terms of political skidding.”
The European Commissioner also commented on the exchange of replies between the European Commission and the Speakers of the two chambers of Parliament, Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu.
“It was an exchange of letters, one that is a practice between the EC and the Member States, in order to express several concerns. Now, that the new Government is in place, it has all the levers to send correct information on the developments. I cannot judge this, I have 27 Member States, and it’s the duty of the MPs, the Government, to do this. From this point of view, I see no war,” Corina Cretu said.
She also expressed confidence that the new PM Viorica Dancila “will have the ambition to prove she can deal with all the new responsibilities, given that she has the experience of the eight years in the European Parliament.”
Corina Cretu is paying a visit to Bucharest these days and is expected to meet PM Viorica Dancila on Tuesday, at Victoria Palace.
On Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis is expected to pay a visit to Brussels in order to have talks with the EC President Jean-Claude Juncker about the justice system in Romania.