Romania unlocks all EU funded programs

The country can request the reimbursement of costs in all the operational programs, after the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, approved on Tuesday the unlock of payments in the program increasing economic competitiveness (POS CCE).

Prime minister Ponta said Romania was set to absorb another EUR 500 million under the competition program by year end, further increasing the current absorption rate of 24 percent in EU funds.

The program enhancing competitiveness, which aims to develop local R&D and ICT infrastructure and increase energy efficiency, has EUR 2.5 billion of funding in the current financial framework 2007-2013.  

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Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, said: “We can now concentrate more on planning in the next financing period.”

The EC pre-suspended in late 2012 the large part of three operational programs on transport regional development and economic competitiveness with combined funding worth EUR 10.5 billion, citing weak fraud prevention mechanisms.

Payments under the environment operational program were unblocked after more than one year in late November 2012. The human resources program (POS DRU) was unlocked this February, after the government agreed to take in corrections of 25 percent on reimbursement requests.

Eugen Teodorovici, minister of EU funds, said authorities started this summer to assess roughly 4,000 financing requests which go as back as 2011, with the help of private specialists.

“There have been over 500 signed contracts with beneficiaries in the private sector this autumn, amounting to over EUR 100 million. In the next period, we will sign financing contracts worth EUR 200 million in the next period,” said Teodorovici.  

The government approved on Wednesday a new Treasury loan worth RON 820 million (EUR 184 million) to pay the beneficiaries of EU funds, in a bid to enhance absorption. In the year to date, around RON 7 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) worth of loans have been granted to management authorities for this goal.

Ovidiu Posirca