Isarescu: Attracting EU funds is a priority for Romania

“These funds are not being given to us, they must be accessed, they and are not just dropped,” Isarescu said during a seminar on EU funds. He explained that poorer areas can experience more difficulties in benefiting from this money, as “accessing these funds means qualification, not poverty.”

Romania was entitled to €2 billion in EU funds in 2007, of which it attracted only €440 million, or 21 percent of the entire amount made available by the European Union, and in a single field alone did the country access all the funds, namely the European fund for fishing.

Of the overall funds for agriculture and rural development, only 3 percent were accessed. As far as regional development and social funds are concerned, the degree of access was about 30 percent, which is relatively low, Isarescu added. (NewsIn)