Romania has received, since joining the European Union until now, over 95 billion euros and contributed 30 billion euros to the budget of the European bloc, so the net financial balance shows us a plus of 65 billion euros, he wrote on Thursday , the Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloş, on his Facebook page.
“Romania is an important chapter in the story of the European Union. We are talking about a chance given with the money coming from Brussels for modernized infrastructure and opportunities for all Romanians. The fact that I have been close to this field since the moment of accession has made me a convinced promoter of the fact that European money really changes lives. The data shows this: for every 1 euro that I contributed, I received 3 euros back. Concretely, from accession until now, Romania has received over 95 billion euros and has contributed 30 billion euros to the budget of the European bloc. Thus, the net financial balance shows us a plus of 65 billion euros”, said the Minister of Finance.
According to the quoted source, thanks to these funds, in 2020 the country managed to cross the threshold of 30 billion lei invested from European money in a single year, and last year the record level of 80 billion lei was reached.
On the other hand, Romania’s entry into the EU also meant integration into the single market, the freedom of movement of goods, people, services and capital.
In this context, the head of Finance emphasized that foreign investments have doubled since joining the EU, from 42 billion lei in 2007, to approximately 108 billion euros in 2022.
“The fact that Romania became attractive for European companies did not only mean investments, but also the development of areas that were neglected in the past. For Romanians, it also translated into higher salaries. In the last 17 years, the minimum wage has been increased 20 times. Then, in 2007, the minimum wage in the economy increased by 390 gross lei, to 3,300 gross lei”, he stated on the social network.
Marcel Boloş also mentioned dozens of schools and kindergartens built from scratch or modernized with European funds, including in municipalities and small towns and over 1,300 km of roads built or modernized.
Also, through the European funds related to the period 2014-2020, more than 95,000 companies in Romania were supported to become more productive through investments in retrofitting, automation, increasing energy efficiency, training employees, the Minister of Finance also wrote.
Other projects carried out with European funds are regional airports modernized or in the process of being modernized and expanded, in the counties of Iasi, Cluj, Suceava, Sibiu, Bihor, Maramureş, the new bridge over the Tisa, to Ukraine, the largest construction site opened in Maramureş after 1990, with a financing of 30 million euros through the Large Infrastructure Operational Program and the development of the water and wastewater infrastructure – thousands of kilometers of network, which, according to the quoted minister, brought normalcy to millions of homes.
Every year, on May 9, the historic moment of the “Schuman Declaration” is celebrated, a turning point that marked the beginning of European integration and cooperation for peace and unity.
On May 9, 1950, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Schuman, proposed placing the production of coal and steel under the control of a common authority, thus avoiding the outbreak of a new military conflict between the nations of Europe. The proposal, known as the “Schuman Declaration”, is considered to be the cornerstone of the European Union.
On April 18, 1951, the Treaty of Paris was signed, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) between Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The idea of marking Europe Day was introduced by the Council of Europe in 1964. The European Communities took the decision, in 1985, to establish this day on May 9.
Over time, 22 more European countries joined this large project: Ireland, Great Britain and Denmark (1973), Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), Sweden, Austria and Finland (1995 ), the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland and Hungary (2004), Bulgaria and Romania (2007) and Croatia (2013), which led to the creation of a huge single market. On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland left the European Union.
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