French Ambassador for Romania Henri Paul thinks that the main challenges Romania has to face as a new European Union member are the European funds absorption, the judicial reform and the fight against corruption. The diplomat did not wish to present a personal evaluation of Romania's performance in the fight against corruption. He declared that he would wait for the European Commission's upcoming report in this regard with great interest.

When prompted about Romania's progress in its fight against corruption, Henri Paul declared that he would not make any evaluations but real progress has been achieved in some sectors. Romania's greatest challenge as a new European Union member state is to build its capacity to absorb European funds, the Ambassador declared.

Ambassador Henri Paul declared that Romania needed to focus on rural and regional development in the upcoming years. The diplomat said that some 1 billion euro from the SAPARD program have funded various development and cohesion projects in the rural environment. He underlined the fact that through the Common Agricultural Policy, in 2008 alone, Romanian farmers would receive some 735 million euro.

The French Ambassador talked about the positive economic effects EU membership brings about. He underlined the pace of economic growth which increased by 8.2%. Moreover, Romania's industrial production and the exports benefit from the same dynamic. French Ambassador for Romania Henri Paul thinks that the main challenges Romania has to face as a new European Union member are the European funds absorption, the judicial reform and the fight against corruption. The diplomat did not wish to present a personal evaluation of Romania's performance in the fight against corruption. He declared that he would wait for the European Commission's upcoming report in this regard with great interest.