Romania has managed to absorb EU funds worth EUR 3.2 billion in the current programming period, according to Marius Nica, the Romanian minister delegate for EU funds.

“In 2014-2020, we are talking about amounts reimbursed by the European Commission of about EUR 2.6 billion for the National Rural Development Program and subsidies, as well as funds of about EUR 600 million managed by the Ministry of Development and European Funds,” the minister said, reports local Agerpres.

However, Nica also said that this level of absorption is not “satisfactory.”

“Compared with the allocation we have, the degree of absorption is not satisfactory from my point of view. The main cause was the year 2016, when the projects were launched late or when there was no launch of funding guides for the beneficiaries to be able to submit projects.”

Referring to the talks with representatives of the Inter-community Development Association (ADI) for Integrated Territorial Investments - Danube Delta (ITI–DD) and potential beneficiaries, Nica said that these discussions took into account the status of each project submitted on this financial mechanism and the urgency of the projects.

“There is significant progress, but a consistent effort must be made to avoid the loss of European funds in 2018 on the Regional Operational Program (ROP), where we have a target of about EUR 850 million, a figure we have to declare to the European Commission,” he said.

ITI-DD is the only territorial-integrated investment that is being implemented in Romania in the current programming period. This new European financial mechanism requires the allocation of funds from several operational programs to a geographically delimited area with a certain specificity, for development.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com