Ministries must rethink their organizational and operational structure, so that the relationship with local authorities and settlements, especially through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, become a priority, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu told the General Assembly of the Association of Romanian Communes on Monday.

According to the PM, 2025 and 2026 must be the years with the largest investments carried out in Romania, and the investments from the PNRR should be a priority.

„Furthermore, there is a big difference between urban and rural areas. That is why I believe that 2025 and 2026 should be the years with the largest investments carried out in Romania, really. I would really like investments from the PNRR to be a priority, considering the fact that the implementation deadline is the end of 2026. That is why I urged my colleagues at the Government meeting, I will also make an appeal to you that the dynamics of relations with each ministry change. I was discussing earlier with minister Fechet, who said that there are too few people implementing programmes through the PNRR. I will allow myself today, not to scold Mr. Fechet, to make a recommendation to all ministers. There are hundreds of people in each ministry, we should not be sitting around hiring other people specifically for the implementation of European funds and, especially, for the PNRR. Think quickly, and that means in a few weeks, rethink the organizational and operational structure of each ministry so that the relationship with local authorities and settlements, especially on the PNRR, are a priority,” Ciolacu said.

He underscored that meeting the 7% deficit target negotiated with the European Commission for this year cannot be achieved without the involvement of local authorities.

„I say this as a politician who has been through a lot, a politician who has managed both administratively and politically and a very ambitious coalition and party and many of you know this and I believe with all my heart that we still have a chance, a chance that we cannot miss and we must all really get involved. We will not succeed under any circumstances without you. I would very much like to ask for your help to overcome these two years financially. It is out of the question that Romania, this year, will not meet the 7% deficit target. It is a deficit negotiated with the European Commission, that much-maligned European Commission, which takes away our independence, sovereignty and all the nonsense that is said, which understood very well that reducing the deficit in Romania must be done over a long period of time, not over a short period, so that Romanians suffer, and we had a negotiation for seven years,” explained Marcel Ciolacu.

The head of the Executive also referred to the need to continue reforms in the administration. He underscored that Romania can no longer continue with an administrative system, the last in Europe, on a communist skeleton.

„I don’t think we will succeed this year in making the reforms that you and I would like, reforms to reestablish both the central and local administration. But I tell you, even if I will upset some of you, we can no longer continue with an administrative system, the last in Europe, on a communist skeleton. Romania’s administrative system must align itself with an administrative system like the one in the United States of America. We cannot always pretend that nothing is happening in the world. (…) We cannot continue to have a digitalisation system, each on its own, a digitalization system that is not interconnected with the central centralization system. There are things that do not represent costs, there are things that can be done through political and administrative will, there are things that should unite us, there are things that should give us the strength to move forward,” Ciolacu stated.

Present at the meeting, among others, alongside the prime minister, are ministers Cseke Attila, Bogdan Ivan, Simona Bucura-Oprescu, Mircea Fechet and the governing coalition’s candidate in the presidential elections, Crin Antonescu.

AGERPRES