Brussels, 21/03/2013 (Agence Europe) -European Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn has endorsed the Romanian authorities' intention move towards greater regionalisation. The Commissioner highlighted the importance of efficient European fund redistribution. He met with Liviu Dragnea, the Romanian deputy prime minister in charge of regional development and public administration to discuss this issue in Brussels On Tuesday 19 March.
Dragnea presented the main outline of his government's regionalisation project. This involves reforming the way in which European structural funds are distributed in the country. A more concrete strategy is expected to be presented to the Commission very shortly for its analysis, in an effort to identify the best ways of implementing European funds in Romania. European fund absorption rates in Romania are a matter of some concern because they are the lowest in Europe. Hahn therefore laid great stress on the efficiency of fund delivery and the need to establish an administrative capacity that can operate effectively at regional level. At the end of the meeting, on his twitter account, the Commissioner underlined that the main priority is that “the benefits of EU investments are felt by Romanian citizens”. (MD/transl.fl)