Statements by Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting

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Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă: Good afternoon. This morning, I had a meeting with the Minister of European funds, Marcel Bolos, with the Secretary-General, with the Head of the Chancellery, and we analyzed together the measures which have been taken so far, and need to be technically addressed until next week so that we make sure that the payment request no. 2 will be approved. So far, all main elements, those related to the de-carbonization law, and whistleblowers law, have already been resolved. We still need a clarification linked to achieving the hydrogen-related milestone, which will be solved today, or tomorrow at the latest. Therefore, we make sure that payment request no. 2 will be approved and we will continue work on the reform program, making sure that we will also have a roadmap for payment request no 3. It is very important to ensure the absorption of European funds, because, in this morning's analysis, we were able to point out the advantages and all that the absorption of European funds meant so far. Here I am referring, of course, to PNRR. At least so far, there are approximately 8,500 signed contracts, worth approximately 11 billion euros. We have to ensure the whole process so that they are put into practice and become reality. At the same time, we analyzed the level of absorption from the financial framework 2014 - 2020. We are in the third year of complementarity of the financial framework.

So far, we can say that we are approaching 80% absorption and you probably saw a little earlier, before we started the Cabinet meeting, we had a discussion with Mrs. Secretary of State, Mr. Secretary General and Mr. Minister related to what we need to do further on and, if necessary, by the end of the week, we will have another government meeting, so that we can ensure the necessary legal framework for the absorption to tend to the maximum. At least as we analyzed this morning, it is very clear that by the end of the year, we will attain our assumed objective of absorption of at least 90% in the framework of 2014-2020 and we are very seriously preparing the absorption for the funds in the multi-annual framework 2021-2027. We are talking about 46 billion euros, money that, once we manage to attract and spend in accordance with the assumed objectives, will bring fundamental changes in Romania. What I want to emphasize is this need to maintain a balance between the reforms we have undertaken and the investments we can make through these funds.

I mentioned in the past meetings and each time when I discussed at the level of the Interministerial Committee, there is a further need for coordination between ministries and of course, maintaining the dialogue and the technical and technical clarification of all aspects at the level of the European Commission, so that there is no doubt or suspicions in the public space, regarding the readiness and ability of the Romanian Government to enact reforms and make investments by the objectives set out in the program for government.

You mentioned two very important areas, energy, and health. During the visit that the President of Romania made to the United Arab Emirates, government ministers or representatives of ministries and institutions subordinate to the Government also participated, thus ensuring the signing of a series of memorandums and bilateral commitments that will ensure this part of the cooperation, of collaboration to develop energy capabilities, new sources of energy, green energy. Some measures and decisions already complete the decisions that we have taken about REPowerEU. It adds to the 1.4 billion secured through this program and, therefore, we make sure that we will not encounter problems related to the energy sector.

At the same time, regarding healthcare, today we approve an emergency ordinance by which we ensure the completion and operationalization of the three burn hospitals. It is the "Grigore Alexandrescu" Children's Hospital in Bucharest, the county hospitals in Timișoara, and Târgu Mureș. We ensure the completion and continuity of the loan agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Tomorrow, alongside a governmental delegation, we will pay an official visit to the Republic of Moldova. We will have bilateral meetings with President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Dorin Recean, and with the President of Parliament, Igor Grosu. It is a visit through which we reconfirm the consolidation of bilateral relations and the support Romania will further grant to the Republic of Moldova for its European journey. Thank you.