State secretary takes over as Romania’s new EU funds minister

President Klaus Iohannis signed on Thursday, October 27, the decree appointing Dragos Dinu as Romania’s new EU funds minister. Dinu is a specialist in public management, including EU funds management. He has been state secretary within the EU Funds Ministry since May this year. From this position, he was focused on major processes concerning the management of European funds, such as the designation of the management authorities for the period 2014-2020 or lifting and closing the ex-ante conditionalities related to the Partnership Agreement 2014-2020. The new change in the Dacian Ciolos government came afterCristian Ghinea resigned from the position of EU funds minister to run in the parliamentary elections in December. This represents the tenth change in the technocrat government led by Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, in one year. Labor minister Ana Costea was the first to resign after controversies on the new law on wages in the public sector. Dragos Pislaru replaced her in mid-April this year. Then, just a week later, Aura Raducu resigned from the position of EU funds minister, being replaced by Cristian Ghinea. Next, culture minister Vlad Alexandrescu resigned after a three-week scandal at the Bucharest National Opera, which has had a strong echo in the country and abroad. Corina Suteu was the one who took over the seat. Then, in May, health minister Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu decided to leave the Government because he didn’t agree with the way the authorities decided to manage the hospital disinfectants crisis. Vlad Voiculescu, a young Romanian who has founded a network that has been helping cancer patients in Romania source their cytostatic drugs from abroad was appointed in this position. In early-July, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos changed four ministers in his cabinet, namely the ministers of transport, communications, education, and the minister delegate for the Romanians abroad. They were replaced by Mircea Dumitru (education), Sorin Buse (transport), Delia Popescu (communications), and Maria Ligor (minister for Romanians abroad). Interior minister Petre Toba also left Dacian Ciolos’ cabinet in early September after the anticorruption prosecutors charged him with favoring the perpetrator by refusing to help a corruption investigation targeting several of the Interior Ministry’s employees. Dragos Tudorache was named the new minister