* Private beneficiaries may not be required to hold calls for tenders

The excess regulation is one of the factors that have heavily slowed down the absorption of European funds, said Eugen Teodorovici, the minister of European Funds. He said: "For example, we have found that the private beneficiaries of the European funds are required to make calls for tenders, even though nothing like that is stipulated in the procedures of the European Union. The European Union only requires the holding of calls for tenders for the beneficiaries in the public system. I want to eliminate this obligation for the private beneficiaries. I hope that in the immediate near future, we will get the answer from the European Union on this matter and that the private companies will be able to execute the projects much quicker".

Minister Teodorovici said that he was optimistic about the speeding up of the absorption of European funds, following the steps he took this year, such as the simplification of the bureaucratic procedures: "I am aware that the current absorption rate of 15% is very low. We are ranked last in Europe. But the government has the political will to do whatever is necessary to increase the absorption rate. By the end of July, I want us to deal with all the projects which have not been assessed or implemented yet. This year we need to bill over 6 billion Euros to avoid the disengagement risk".

The Ministry of European Funds has taken all the necessary steps to extend by one year the period for the spending of the funds and is awaiting the answer of the European Commission in that regard.

Minister Teodorovici emphasized: "That does not mean that the final deadline which we need to meet for payments will change. If we don't spend as much as possible of the funds allocated this year, we are going to put pressure on the coming years. I don't want us to los