The European Commission Okayed Romania’s National Plan for Recovery and Resilience, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen told a joint press conference with President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Florin Citu on Monday afternoon.
The European Commission is giving the green light to Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This is following a meticulous evaluation and a very good cooperation and I want to congratulate you for this and thank you for your cooperation, said the head of the Community executive.
She added that Romania’s Plan answered some “very exigent criteria”, arguing that 29 billion euros are put for investments, so all the projects undertaken must be implemented.
In his turn, President Klaus Iohannis stated that the negotiations lasted so long not because of an error, but because a plan was wanted that could be implemented immediately.
The first money from PNRR – 3.8 billion euros – would be received by Romania at the end of November, according to Prime Minister Florin Cîțu.
The main purpose of the EC President’s visit to Romania was to present the assessment of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Ursula von der Leyen met Romanian President and PM, Klaus Iohannis and Florin Citu and paid a visit to the Bucharest University Emergency Hospital.
“We applaud the medical staff, it is impressive to see what you have already achieved (at the University Hospital). Today, the EC is giving the green light for PNRR, congratulations. There will be investments in green energy, but also for a quality health system for modern hospitals. PNRR meets all criteria, at high standards: digitization, green energy, infrastructure. We must also work on the minimum wage to support those in need. There are 29 billion euros at stake. It’s good to be here today, but it’s not the end of the journey. We must implement these projects, all requirements must be met. I want you to know that I will be with you in all these steps”, said Ursula von der Leyen.
“PNRR provides us with resources for essential reforms in the medium and long term. It is a great opportunity to invest in highways, hospitals, digitalization, administration, education. The pandemic has shown us very clearly that vulnerabilities in the health system have major implications. Therefore, investments in health are a defining pillar in PNRR. By using these funds at the University Hospital, patients will benefit from the most advanced technologies,” said the Romanian President, in his turn.
“It’s just the begnining. We have a huge responsibility to make sure that this money will change Romania’s face. Mr. Prime Minister, Ministers, I ask you to make it an absolute priority in implementing the reforms provided for in the PNRR. It is a chance, it is a chance to leave a deeply modernized Romania to future generations,” the head of state concluded.
Romanian PM Citu also stated that Romania will receive a pre-financing of EUR 3.8 billion by the end of November for transports, the fiscal reform and for the Educated Romania programme. “The EC assessment was a positive one. We have got 10 ratings in 11. Now we have to pay attention to the implementation. I can guarantee that the Government will implement all assumed reforms so that Romania can draw all the PNNR funds. Overall, there will be 64 reforms“, Citu said.
Vaccination
Asked how can the EC help Romania on vaccination and if mandatory vaccination for certain categories is a solution, the EC President replied that vaccination is extremely important, while making a call on the population to get vaccinated. “Vaccination saves lives, we are very lucky in the EU that we had access to the anti-Covid jab. I ask all those who haven’t taken the jab yet to do it. I think it falls within the competence of the national authorities to convince people to get vaccinated, a good communication is needed. We have 73% vaccinated adults in the European Union”, said von der Leyen.
In his turn, Prime Minister Florin Citu said that the government will analyze the measures taken in the rest of the EU countries that have had the greatest impact on accelerating vaccination and will apply them in Romania.
“When asked how the European Union could help – it helped a lot by having access to the vaccine at the same time as all the EU countries. We had a discussion today with Ms. President of the European Commission about the vaccination campaign in Romania. There are several options in the EU and as you know, we are also taking these options into account in order to accelerate the vaccination campaign. We have seen an increase in the number of people getting vaccinated during this period. We have always said that the only solution to overcome the pandemic is vaccination. Any other measure will only slow down, but will not eliminate the pandemic. We are looking to see which are the measures that had the biggest impact in the rest of the European Union countries and we will use them here as well,” Florin Citu explained.
President Iohannis also pointed out that hadn’t been for the EC President’s involvement, Romania would have not benefited of these vaccines doses. “There are around 5 million Romanians vaccinated. It’s pity there are so less of them. Denmark gave up all restrictions for about all citizens have got the jab. I talked tot he PM to have a meeting this week to see how we can get the vaccination campaign going.”
EC Head: Energy prices will be discussed with focus on low-income households
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Bucharest on Monday that the issue of high energy prices will be discussed next week, with a focus on low-income households and businesses.
“Next week we will discuss the whole topic at the informal meeting of the European Council in Slovenia. Indeed the Commission will obviously come up with proposals on what we can do on a European level, how we can relieve, for example, vulnerable households, low-income households, small businesses, of the pressure of high energy prices. That is the goal, that we address that topic not Member State by Member State, but as a European Union together, because the experience of the last years showed that whatever the crisis is we are stronger when we act together, and here the leverage of 450 million Europeans should be used to find a solution for people,” said Ursula von der Leyen.