#romania2019.eu/Rovana Plumb: We hope decision on EU 2021-2027 budget to be made in October

A decision on the EU budget will hopefully be made in October, and for this reason today's meeting is extremely important to reaffirm the wish of ministers responsible for implementing European funds to urgently reach an agreement on the budget, Minister of European Funds Rovana Plumb told a Friday's press conference occasioned by the informal meeting of the ministers managing the European funds in the European Union (EU), organized in Bucharest. "Today's meeting [on Friday] is extremely important to reaffirm the wish of ministers responsible for implementing European funds to urgently reach an agreement on the budget by the end of this year. There are member states which, depending on the investment demands, lead to different points of view, and that is why our presidency seeks to harmonize all these points of view so that we can truly ensure cohesion, reduce development gaps. In this respect, the Romanian Presidency has had a flexible approach to respond to the investment needs in the regions. At the same time, the Presidency supports the modernization of the Cohesion Policy by channeling it towards concrete results: more social cohesion, more social inclusion, social justice, promoting convergence through innovation, that is investment favoring an increase in the quality of citizens' life," said Plumb. The Romanian Minister of European Funds added that the Presidency of Romania of the Council of the European Union has assumed the role of an impartial mediator during the six months, thus leading the negotiations at the level of the Council. "The budget proposed for the Cohesion Policy in Romania in the 2021-2027 financial exercise is 30.6 billion euro, of which 8.3 billion euro for the European Social Fund, 17.3 billion euro for the European Regional Development Fund, 4.5 billion euro cohesion funds and 392 million euro for territorial cooperation. Of course, these amounts will be negotiated within the multi-annual budget by the European Parliament and the Council. Romania has become a EU member and for 12 years has been benefiting from development also due to the way European money was put to work," Plumb said. The Presidency of Romania at the Council of the European Union takes place under the motto "Cohesion, a common European value" and emphasizes the unity between the EU member states and the importance of reducing the economic, social and territorial disparities at the Union's level.AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi; editor: Simona Iacob)

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