Marcel Ciolacu: "Payment request number 3 will be approved only partially, due to the non-fulfillment of some benchmarks set out in the PNRR"

The non-fulfillment of the milestones in the PNRR regarding the reduction of the threshold regarding the taxation of micro-enterprises (milestone 206), corporate governance (milestone 207) and the non-completion of the metro in Cluj Napoca will lead to the blocking of a certain amount from payment request number 3 for a period of 6-8 months, declared yesterday Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, after the meeting he had in Brussels, with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

Marcel Ciolacu stated: "We had to fulfill 76 milestones for payment request number 3. Of them, 4 milestones remained in discussion with the European Commission. From the point of view of Brussels officials, we still have two milestones - the reform of RAAPPS, where the Ministry of Investments and European Projects and the General Secretariat of the Government have recently closed the milestone, but also the appointment of the management of the Agency for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Performance of Public Enterprises (AMEPIP). When we finish the procedure at AMEPIP, then that milestone will be considered closed. (...) At several energy companies, those from the European Commission found several incompatibilities or showed us certain customs related to Romania's accession to the OECD. For example, the Commission considers that a Secretary of State is not entitled to apply to be a member of a Board of Directors of such a company. That is why the Government must make a legislative change in this regard, because at this moment the law allows such candidacy. I agree with the amendment requested by the Commission. Therefore, until the milestones are met, I firmly believe that a certain amount from payment request number 3 will be withheld for a period of 6-8 months. It takes 6-8 months to re-approve the procedure through another law regarding the appointment of administrative boards. I want it to be as little as possible from the 2.1 billion euros requested through payment request number 3".

The Head of Government also said that we still have milestone 206 to meet and to keep the budget deficit under control, aspects that the Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloş, discussed yesterday with the experts of the European Commission. Regarding the milestone 206, the prime minister stated that it is 90% fulfilled and that the only topic left under discussion is the reduction of the ceiling on the taxation of micro-enterprises.

Marcel Ciolacu stated: "Depending on the calculations of the European Commission, a political decision is required within the governing coalition regarding the fulfillment of this milestone now or the projection of its fulfillment over time together with milestone 207 regarding the tax reform or if we politically undertake not to fulfill the milestone, let's not change the tax threshold for micro-enterprises and thus give up an amount from payment request number 3".

Regarding the budget deficit, the Head of Government stated that it will not reach 8% of the Gross Domestic Product at the end of 2024 and that he wants to return to the 3% deficit in a period of 7 years through measures that do not include the introduction of new fees and taxes.

Prime Minister Ciolacu stated: "As far as I remember, we had a deficit of 9.2%, of which only 1.7% went to investments, the difference was on budget expenditures, and the respective character is free and gives advice on the networks of socializing and on television. The approach now is different from that of that character, because the devastation of the country is no longer a lie, as long as we walk on new roads and highways, as long as we see construction sites. That's why I won't stop investing. I don't think we will come up with measures to increase taxes. I looked at the arrears with the finance minister on Monday and we have 175 billion lei to collect. (...) We need a fiscal reform in the medium term, we will have a public debate in this sense, and the measures will be taken in the first six months of 2025 to be applied starting from 2026. If it reached these arrears of collection, the Ministry of Finance had to take action, but not to prosecute or put people in prison. We cannot have honest people, who pay taxes and duties, and people who always find loopholes to not pay taxes and do tax evasion. We can no longer live like this: some pay and others don't. I cannot ask, come up with new taxes when I have 8% of GDP in arrears to collect, 10% of GDP tax evasion and when we have the biggest VAT gap in the EU. That's why I want to have a direct discussion with the business environment, and on Monday I will meet with the representatives of employers who also want everyone to pay taxes and duties".

Also regarding the milestones in the PNRR, Prime Minister Ciolacu stated that Adrian Câciu, the Minister of Investments and European Projects, requested the European Commission officials yesterday to make the allocation of 360 million euros from the railway infrastructure to the road infrastructure more flexible. According to the head of the Government, the said amount was included in the PNRR for the purchase of hydrogen trains, but the Railway Reform Authority organized three tenders where no company in the world submitted a bid.

Marcel Ciolacu also said that he also discussed with Ursula von der Leyen the portfolio of the future European Commissioner from Romania, but without submitting any proposal to the European Commission, although he wants that position to be occupied by the vice-president of the European Parliament, the social democrat Victor Negrescu. The Prime Minister said that he had discussed with President von der Leyen about a portfolio in the economic area and the one regarding the European enlargement, but he considers the latter to be a political portfolio and maintains his requirement for obtaining a portfolio in the economic area.

Regarding the nomination by the Government of the future European Commissioner from Romania, Marcel Ciolacu said that he will discuss beforehand with Nicolae Ciucă, the president of the PNL, and with the president Klaus Iohannis, even if the nomination is strictly the attribute of the prime minister.

Marcel Ciolacu said: "I think that, without upsetting Victor Negrescu, the priority at this moment is to have a very good negotiation so that Romania can obtain a portfolio as relevant as possible within the European Commission. (...) I want a portfolio as relevant as possible, because we are the sixth largest country in the EU. (...) Regarding the nomination, my proposal is the vice-president of the European Parliament, Victor Negrescu, whom Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen knows very well".

The Head of Government mentioned that he discussed with the President of the European Commission also about the reception of our country and the land borders in the Schengen area, and stated that he hopes that, after the parliamentary elections in September that will take place in Austria, the social democrats there will obtain enough votes to propel them into the composition of the new government in Vienna, given that they are not opposed to Romania's full accession to the area of free movement of goods and people.