Acting President Bolojan meets Commissioner Serafin, advocates maintaining Cohesion and CAP allocations

  Acting President Ilie Bolojan met on Thursday at Cotroceni Palace with European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration Piotr Serafin, to whom he highlighted the importance of Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy allocations being maintained in the future EU budget and of identifying solutions to the current challenges in the areas of competitiveness, defense and security."At the meeting with EU Commissioner Piotr Serafin I underlined the importance of maintaining the role and allocations for the Cohesion and Common Agricultural Policies in the future EU budget, while working to find solutions to address the current challenges in the areas of competitiveness, defense, and security," Ilie Bolojan wrote on X.According to a statement by the Presidential Administration, the European Commissioner's visit to Romania is part of a tour of EU member states aimed at discussing the post-2027 budget of the European Union, in order to align national perspectives with the strategic priorities of the Union. "This approach is intended to adopt budgetary decisions that reflect common interests and bring concrete benefits to all European citizens," the cited source specifies.The acting president explained that from Romania's point of view, the Union's future Multiannual Financial Framework must be simplified and flexible enough to respond to potential unforeseen developments and to ensure the financial support for Romania's and the Union's development goals. Also, he underscored the importance of adjusting the EU budget to the specific conditions of the member states.Ilie Bolojan advocated maintaining the role of traditional policies in the architecture of the future EU budget, including keeping the Common Agricultural Policy as a separate policy, with a substantial budget and fair incomes for farmers.The Romanian president also referred to the importance of strengthening financing for the European defense sector in the Union's future budget, highlighting the need for a robust approach that responds to the new geopolitical and security challenges. In this regard, he spoke in favor of an adequate distribution of defense funds, with priority for border states, that are more exposed to geopolitical risks, in order to ensure the European Union's security and resilience.Commissioner Serafin reaffirmed the European Commission's commitment to an ambitious financial projection well adapted to future challenges, which will continue to support economic development, competitiveness, cohesion, and will respond to security and defense challenges in all member states. He also emphasized that simplification and flexibility are major targets in the architecture of the future EU budget.Another component of European Commissioner Piotr Serafin's visit to Romania is viewing several projects carried out with European funding in the city of Oradea, as a model of best practices. "This is an opportunity to explore how Romania has benefited from European resources to support various development projects and to highlight the role and concrete benefits of the cohesion policy for local communities," the cited source said.The European Commission's representative is on a two-day visit to Romania. According to the European Commission Representation in Bucharest, the visit will focus on improving social inclusion, creating jobs and strengthening local communities with the help of EU funds.Commissioner Piotr Serafim's schedule includes discussions with authorities and stakeholders to better support Romania's economic growth and align the country's priorities with the plans for the future EU budget. The visit is part of the European Commission's pan-European consultations ahead of the unveiling of the next long-term EU budget, scheduled for July this year.European Commissioner Piotr Serafin also met with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, and will also meet with Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu to discuss security, border protection and migration management, with a focus on Romania's essential role in protecting the EU's external borders.Serafin will also meet with Romanian businesspeople and investor groups to get their views on how current EU funding is working.On Friday he will travel to Oradea, where he will visit important infrastructure projects, such as the County Hospital and Oradea Airport. (Photo: https://www.presidency.ro/)