PLUS's Ciolos: This is first time when EU heads of state, gov't acccepted European public debt

PLUS (Liberty, Unity, Solidarity Party) leader Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday stated, after the agreement concluded in Brussels, that this is for the first time in the history of the European Union when the heads of state and government accepted a European public debt.

"This is a decision, I would dare to say, almost historical, because in such a short while we already have an agreement from the heads of state and government and I am sure that the discussions will go pretty fast in the European Parliament as well," Ciolos told RFI, with respect to the agreement in Brussels regarding the economic recovery plan in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that the amount stipulated for Romania was "substantial."

"There are positive things and negative ones compared with the initial proposal made by the European Commission and backed also by Parliament. The positives are that we do have an agreement and we have it after only a couple of months since this crisis started and not after years as it happened in the case of the financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009, in which case the EU only managed to take some measures in 2011-2012. That's why we can say that this time things moved quite fast and this is a positive thing. Then, this is the first time in the history of the EU when heads of state and government, upon the request of Parliament and upon the insistence of the European Parliament, accepted a European public debt. So, basically, through this recovery programme of the EU we will borrow money from the capital market to finance the economies of the Member States to recover, but this debt, most of it, will no longer be considered with the public debt of the Member states, but it will be a common European public debt, which the states will reimburse together," explained the PLUS leader.

Ciolos also said that there will be a mechanism of the rule of law that will be related to the manner in which this money is going to be spent.

"We will get sure in the European Parliament that this mechanism will be strengthened. The Member States, which benefit from European funds but do not observe justice, do not observe the rule of law, do not strengthen the fight against corruption, they will be affected, meaning that the EU will block the money in the case of the respective governments until they prove such key institutions in democracy really function," showed the MEP.

The PLUS leader highlighted the fact that Romania "has a substantial amount, of more than 79 billion euros in grants, plus the possibility of getting loans for the next five-seven years."

"An important part of this amount will be invested in the next three years and we will need to have a high absorption capacity, we need to prepare for it. Unfortunately, I don't think that what the Government has prepared until now is sufficient. We will have to work together in the next weeks, months until the end of the year, before the parliamentary elections that we will have at home, and the Romanian Government will have to propose to the European Commission a recovery plan, which will address our capacity of absorption of these significant funds. And we have to work together for this to happen, together with the business milieu, the government, to get sure that Romania doesn't miss this unique chance in history. For we don't just need projects here and there, we need a vision, this time, to use this money," concluded Dacian Ciolos.