CIBR Blog

A number of 19 financing contracts for investments into local and regional transport infrastructure, in value of EUR 300 million, were concluded within the Regional Operational Programme (ROP), by December 10, announced the director general of ROP Management Authority Gabriel Friptu in a seminar on the European funds absorption topic. "A number of 1,244 projects were submitted on all ROP axis by December 10. At present, 740 are active, with a total value of EUR 2.5 billion. The overall ROP allocated budget is EUR 3.72 billion over 2007-2013. On the local and regional infrastructure projects zone a number of 19 contracts in value of EUR 300 million were concluded", said Gabriel Friptu. A number of 21 projects in value of some EUR 200 million of the almost 2,400 submitted within ROP Competitiveness and Employment were approved till present, according to representatives of ECC/SOP Management Authority. "Two years since Romania's EU accession no bill was signed with the European Union for the spending of these allocated amounts. The big challenge next year is to spend the assigned European funds.
 
The European funds absorption degree is ways too low", said the secretary general of the Romanian Employers' Association (AOAR), Cristian Parvan. AOAR representative proposed the separation of the management authorities from the ministries they are subordinated to and the setting up of a single management unit of the European financing programmes in charge with the management of all these programmes. Eu-Ro Clearing Funds platform of the Europe House has launched an appeal to the new Government and Parliament through which it asked them to do everything in their power to improve the absorption of the EU funds. Eu-Ro Clearing Funds maintains that for a better absorption of the European funds a unitary political coordination is needed, a higher creativity and innovation capacity of the applicants and simplification of the process of granting the national co-financing to such projects. As well, the organization proposes that the public institutions track down the vulnerable fields which might be affected by the financial crisis.
Source: Agerpres.