Brussels, 24/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 23 June, during the symbolic signing of the first operational Romanian programme for 2014-2020, the Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, explained that the cities would, for the first time, be in charge of managing a significant amount of structural and investment funds.
The Commissioner stated: “This a first: a significant part of the daily management of European funds will be delegated to the cities, to ensure sustainable urban development”. The Romanian government will effectively make around 39 cities in the country responsible for managing funding that could be worth as much as 20% of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), instead of the 5% advocated by the European Commission.
The Romanian operational programme is pursuing a number of different objectives: enhancing innovation and competitiveness in more than 5,000 SMEs; increasing labour productivity in the least developed regions by 50%; improving energy efficiency in public and residential buildings; sustainable urban development and social inclusion.
The Commissioner warned “With the signing of the programme, a particularly difficult stage now begins, namely, its implementation”. The Romanian Minister for Regional Policy, Sevil Shhaideh, was hoping for the first projects to be endorsed in December at the latest.
The Romanian operational programme represents one of the EU's most important projects and over the next seven years will cost €8.2 billion, with a contribution from the ERDF worth €6.7 billion. Under the terms of the partnership agreement adopted by the Commission in August 2014, Romania will receive €23 billion as part of Cohesion Policy for 2014-2020. (Pascal Hansens)