Romania must send refund requests to the EU for EUR6.5 billion in 2013. The country submitted reimbursement requests for only EUR770 million in the first six months and for an additional EUR135 million last week.
This means it has to submit more than EUR5.5 billion in reimbursement requests in the second half or else it will lose the entire amount not used as a result of the automatic decommitment procedure.
At the end of June, the absorption rate reached 15.3% of EUR19.6 billion in structural funds EU made available to Romania in 2007-2013, which is a disaster. While the economy is hurting for lack of investment, the authorities are unable to prove they are capable of getting the EU funds released, risking huge losses.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)