EU could ask Romania to reimburse the funds it had accessed, following an European Comission audit, the finance minister Sebastian Vladescu said. He blamed that on the lack of honesty of people accessing the funds.
He asked the population to come forward with information regarding individuals or companies that embezzle the EU funds promising the Ministry of Finance will take drastic measures to prohibit the behavior. "We do not want to arrive to a point where the EU will ask us for the money back, because they were stolen," added Vladescu.
On the other hand, he seemed optimistic that Romania, as a country, is not in danger to loose European funding, though the processing system is bureaucratic and cumbersome.
Vladescu said that at no point in time Romania gave more to the EU common budget than it had received: "Romania was a net beneficiary of EU funds since day one it qualified for receiving them
Translated by AAP