Romanian PM Asks Ministers To Explain Missed EU Fund Absorption Targets – Sources

The Cabinet meeting on Thursday was attended by the ministers of Communications, Interior, Education and Regional Development. The other ministries were represented by state secretaries; this also displeased the prime minister, the sources said.

Data analyzed in the meeting showed the Development Ministry, through the Regional Operations Program, has a high EU fund absorption ratio, while the ministries of Economy and the Environment have lower ratios.

The Environment Ministry ranks third in the Cabinet by EU funds attracted in the first half of the year, behind the ministries of Development and of Labor, minister Laszlo Borbely said Tuesday, adding that he is not satisfied with this state of affairs.

A statement, released by the Government after the meeting, said Boc requested quick answers to the preliminary reports drawn up by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional Policy, following last year’s audit missions. The prime minister put the Structural Instrument Coordination Authority (ACIS) in charge of this process.

In addition, ACIS will be responsible for implementing measures to improve the verification mechanisms for public procurement auctions using structural funds, says the statement.

The prime minister also requested that the role of each verification structure be clarified, keeping in mind the faults found by the Commission in its audit of the auction management and control system.

In a Government meeting in June, President Traian Basescu asked the ministers to think whether they can still be members of the Cabinet after June 30, in case data on the first half of the year indicates poor EU fund absorption and low investments in the fields they manage.