Commissioner Cretu:Not all Romanians benefit from economic growth;poverty increased significantly among children,rural environment

Not everybody benefits from the sustained economic growth of Romania and poverty among children and in the rural environment increased significantly, European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu stated on Friday within the presentation conference of the Country Report for Romania, published by the European Commission on 27 February. "There are four points in the country report that concern me. Firstly, poverty remains an important problem for Romania and regional inequalities increase. Although there is a sustained economic growth and new jobs are created, it is obvious that not everybody benefits from these results. Poverty among children and in the rural environment has increased significantly, which particularly concerns us," Cretu stated. She added that, in the European Commission's view, no region or person should be left behind, especially children. "Secondly, development is hampered by the lack of administrative capacity. As the report shows, bureaucracy, responsibilities and fragmented resources impede the efficiency of public administrations and jeopardizes investment. For the 2021-2027 period, we proposed 80 simplification measures for accessing European funds. The reform of the public administration is a topic we have talked about and which, in our opinion, could progress more quickly," the European official said. Thirdly, investments are needed in education, healthcare, social inclusion, transport, energy and environment infrastructure, she continued. "Investments in these areas would strengthen Romania's growth potential and improve the standard of living. The citizens also feel and understand these things," according to the European Commissioner. Fourthly, regions and local particularities matter. "Cohesion and competitiveness cannot be achieved by implementing a single recipe. Everyone should improve their weaknesses. We need differentiated investments at regional level and adapted, flexible policies to meet the local needs and challenges," Cretu stated. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Cernat, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Rodica State, editor: Adina Panaitescu)