Dana Milea
The head of the European Commission Delegation in
Romania, Jonathan Scheele, said yesterday in a press conference during his visit
to Mures County in which he visited several projects financed by European funds,
that Romania tops the list of investigations regarding alleged frauds with
European funds, according to two European reports on the issue. "Romania is a
big country, with a lot of funds and a mass media that is very careful with
cases of alleged fraud," Scheele said explaining the reports are based on the
information provided by the local authorities and the press.
"Of course,
there are certain cases of fraud. At the moment, OLAF, and if there is need, the
Prosecutors' Office are doing what is necessary to avoid fraud. Local
authorities also have the task of ensuring a more transparent process that obeys
the regulations," Scheele said, adding that things will improve if both the
local authorities and the press "do a good job." "Do not be afraid of speaking
out if there are problems," Scheele told journalists.
On June 13, the
Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Commission made public two reports
that place Romania first among monitored countries as far as the number of
irregularities and investigations is concerned. The commission's report for 2005
regarding the fight against fraud and the protection of EU financial interests
has monitored 12 states - the ten new EU member states and Romania and Bulgaria,
which are currently undergoing the accession process.
The report showed that
regarding SAPARD funds, Romania has almost the same number of irregularities as
all the eleven countries together, specifically 82 compared to 85. Concerning
ISPA funds, there were 22 cases of irregularities in Romania compared to three
in the other countries. These irregularities regarded suspicions of fraud, funds
used for other purposes, missing, incomplete or forged files, infringing the
public acquisition laws, the contract's terms, deadlines that were not respected
and poor management.
The OLAF report, which takes into account the period
between July 2004 and December 2005, also places Romania at the top, with 13
investigations.
"Low Euro-enthusiasm proves seriousness"
Jonathan Scheele explained the decrease in people's enthusiasm for joining the European Union, stating that there is now a "more serious approach to the accession effects and what they involve." He said that when he arrived in Romania the rate of euro-enthusiasm in the country was near 85 percent, judging it as "a little high and unjustified by the knowledge of the real implications." Scheele underlined the importance of informing people on what accession really is and urged the media to inform and inform correctly, reflecting reality.
"There will be problems regarding construction workers"
The head of the EC Delegation to Romania forecasted that Romania may face problems regarding the labor force in construction for European projects. Additionally, he said that Romania has managed to have a rate of 92-95 percent capacity for absorbing European funds. "I would say that Romania manages to use these funds even if it is done during the last hundred meters. I hope it will be able to continue it." He said that, in his opinion, there are two problems, the first being the beneficiaries' capacity to manage more than one project and the second being the labor force, especially in construction. "In Bucharest there has been a shortage of labor force. In the first quarter of 2006 there have been 20 percent more jobs in construction than in the same period of 2005. This development will lead to such problems and there will be a need for the private sector in construction to increase its capacity," Scheele said.
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