PM meets EC President, voices confidence new commitments made by vaccine providers will be observed

Prime Minister Florin Citu on Friday had a meeting in Brussels with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the occasion of his visit to the European institutions, in which context he reiterated the importance of maintaining a coordinated approach at the EU level considering the current epidemiological situation at the European and international level and voiced confidence that new commitments made by the vaccine suppliers will be observed.

According to a press release of the Government, the two high officials had a detailed discussion on relevant aspects related to the European agenda, with an emphasis on the management of the crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic relaunch process and the objectives in fighting climate change and digital transition.

"With respect to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister reiterated the importance of maintaining a coordinated approach at the EU level in the context of the current epidemiological situation at the European and international level, especially considering the recent mutations of the virus, and hailed efforts made by the Commission, under the coordination of Ursula von der Leyen in this respect," reads the same press release.

On the same occasion, the head of Executive presented the current stage of the vaccination campaign at the national level, which places Romania in a top spot among the member states, and voiced confidence that "the new commitments made by the vaccine suppliers will be observed," so that the vaccination campaigns will continue to go well.

In her turn, the President of the Commission thanked Romania for its decision to donate 200,000 vaccines doses to the Republic of Moldova.

In terms of the economic relaunch process, according to the same source, the Romanian PM presented the national efforts to complete the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), with an emphasis "on the importance of investments in infrastructure, including from the perspective of the country's contribution to the ecological and digital transition."

"He thanked the Commission for the cooperation with the national institutions in charge with the drafting of the Plan, and he specified it will be submitted to the Commission within the agreed calendar," reads the press release.

On the same topic, the President of the Commission hailed the close cooperation existing between the representatives of the Government and those of the Commission during this time on the topic of completing the PNRR.

Moreover, PM Florin Citu mentioned that Romania takes the meeting of the recommendations by the European Commission in respect to the conclusion of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism as a priority and he recalled the constant dialogue and close cooperation between the Government and the Commission on this topic. He also reiterated that Romania's top priority is to enter the Schengen Zone.

"The President of the Commission also voiced her appreciation with respect to the determination showed by the Romanian Government in completing the CVM, as well as her strong support for Romania's accession to Schengen," said the same source.

On Friday, PM Citu also had a meeting with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People.

During this meeting, the Romanian high official showed that one of the key objectives of his Government, besides that of combating the pandemic, has to do with "the launch of the economic relaunch process and ensuring a fiscal-budgetary stability."

"He also mentioned how important it is for Romania to complete the National Recovery and Resilience Plan as grounds for supporting these objectives, with the European Commissioner showing that the technical dialogue between the Romanian side and the Commission went very well," read the same press release.

Moreover, the head of the Bucharest Executive made a presentation of the draft budget for 2021, as well as of the main reforms considered by the Government, which depend on the budget draft, in which context Commissioner Dombrovskis appreciated the efforts made by the Government in this regard.

In this context, the Romanian PM showed that the use of such mechanisms in the fiscal field to encourage the ecological transition must take into account "the specific circumstances" of each member state, in order to avoid "an excessive budgetary impact" on some of these.