EU financing of human resources programs,"interrupted"

The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Cioloş explained that the program beneficiaries will not suffer, reimbursements having been the responsibility of Romania.

"This is about a financial relationship between government and the European Commission and that any such decision shall not affect the management authority to continue to reimburse payments, requests for payment from the beneficiaries of this program.

"Thus, the procedure, normally : is the beneficiary of a program developing the project, comes to demand payment from the paying authority of the program, paying authority shall refund the expense, makes payment after Romanian payment authority claims back that payment from the European Commission "said Dacian Cioloş.

The Agriculture Commissioner said that the interruption of payments from the European Commission is a precaution until the management authority of this program will take appropriate measures in order to correct problems reported by the audit authority in Romania.

Government tries to avoid possible suspension of payments under one of the most important European programs which provide funding for human resources development.

The overall strategy in this field should be reconsidered, considers the executive and the management of the National Management Agency (ANM) changes for the second time in less than a year.

In just a few days in the development of this program in Romania several problems that were identified should be rectified in which 3,000 projects were selected and 2500 have already been contracted.

The total value of contracted projects through the sector operational program human resources development is 3.5 billion, out of 4.25 billion Euros, money allocated by 2013.

Absorption rate is 5.47%, however, weaker in this standing there are transports and environment.

The premier Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu demanded the resignation of MA SOP HRD( AM POSDRU) Director, Carmen Ionel for poor management authority.

Audit Authority had identified certain deficiencies in the management

Irregularities seem that covers the period 2009 - 2010, when the ruling was Anca Zevedei, she was also dismissed last year.

Director of Transparency International, Victor Alistar, says that the small number of staff that have management authority makes the monitoring to be excessive, thus trying to compensate for thus the lack of staff, which led to some bureaucratic procedures that worst tangled worse the demarches.

Victor Alistar says that "in general, lack of transparency arises bureaucracy on the one hand, and on the other hand the way in which applications are evaluated in the selection process of contracts".

Asked how easy it is to experience some irregularities in the management of European funds, Victor Alistar said that "as is bureaucratic system on so many vulnerabilities exist.

The simpler, the clearer, the more obvious the system is, the derailment or hiding by subterfuge and procedure is less".

Moreover, Victor Alistar said that "it is true that there have been initiatives to simplify, but unfortunately ended with spectacular results. Bureaucracy is still very high in these funds, which, ironically, just should justify reducing vulnerabilities, but due to not always the best solutions were found, it was a situation where the bureaucracy is generating irregularities".

European Affairs Minister Leonard Orban, said earlier this week that currently threaten us the risk of suspension of a program, but only in early March will be known with certainty about the decision of European Commission experts regarding interruption of payments on SOP HRD( POSDRU).

Translated by Denisse-Meda Bucura
MTTLC, Bucharest University