Over 400 SAPARD Projects In Romania Still Benefit From EU Funds

The SAPARD program should have been completed at the end of 2008, but the European Commission adopted a decision on December 2, 2008 allowing both Bulgaria and Romania to extend the deadline for payment of SAPARD funds by one year, from 31 December 2008 to 31 December 2009.

"The extension of the deadline will give the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities extra time to ensure all problems are properly addressed before final payments are made," the Commission’s press release in December read.

Alice Batu, secretary of state within the country’s former Ministry of Economy and Finance, said late August 2008 that Romanian authorities halted payments to the beneficiaries of the SAPARD program until all technical deficiencies signaled by the Commission in an audit report in June 2008 were fixed.

The Commission sent a letter to Romanian authorities on October 25 requiring further information enabling it to make a decision on whether or not to continue SAPARD payments.

APDRP said it implemented the plan and resumed payments from the state budget in October 2008, but the Commission required more information on the matter and has yet to decide whether or not to resume reimbursements.

Romania hasn’t yet replied to the European Commission’s letter of end-November requiring new information on the action plan regarding SAPARD funds and the matter will be discussed again Monday, when Romanian agriculture minister Ilie Sarbu meets with EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.

EU sources told MEDIAFAX Thursday that “following the Commission’s letter end of November asking for further information regarding the action plan and a meeting with Romanian authorities early December, no new information has been received from the Romanian independent audit body (the Audit Authority with the Romanian Court of Accounts – e.n.) regarding the implementation of the action plan”.

The total amount committed by the European Commission to the SAPARD Program of Romania is EUR1.1 billion until the end of 2009. The amount actually paid up to now is EUR843 million, of which EUR768 million are reimbursements and EUR75 million represent downpayments from the state budget, to be reimbursed by the EU.

By the end of December 2008, Romania requested reimbursements by the Commission of EUR910 million, of which the Commission has paid EUR768 million so far and EUR142 million has been put on hold from being reimbursed, awaiting the observance of the conditions of the Romanian Action Plan.