Interview for financialintelligence.ro
What is your opinion about the Green Deal and the implications for Romania?
I think that the European Ecological Pact is a fantastic opportunity for Romania. Modernization and sustainability are already a necessity, they are no longer related to projections for the future we want, it must happen now.
The pandemic came and showed us as clearly as possible that our relationship with the environment, the implications of global warming, are concerns that no longer belong to a small group with ecological visions.
The climate impact is the responsibility of each of us and we already see the negative effects of a long indifference, consequences that may not be reversible, but are manageable at this time.
Romania has through the Green Deal the opportunity to invest in technologies and innovation, to increase energy efficiency, to increase the number of prosumers, to reduce pollution and to make the transition to a sustainable economy faster.
In all this uncertainty created by the pandemic, the Green Deal is, I believe, a key tool for economic recovery and the reconstruction of a better, more responsible and stronger European community.
What should the Romanian authorities do to attract as much money as possible from European funds?
The first step we need to take is to create a legislative framework that provides predictability and security for investors through coherent, fair and sustainable public policies over time.
An unpredictable regulatory framework discourages investment and development and so far I am surprised by the resilience of the Romanian business environment that has managed to overcome this context of uncertainty, which has long been the norm, long before humanity faced this pandemic.
Another important step is to stimulate and encourage the generation of concrete projects, based on feasibility studies and pragmatic specifications for promoting strategic investments in the state portfolio or those in private initiatives. Without concrete investment and development projects, European Union money cannot be used.
I would add that the authorities need to encourage competition, which is natural in a free, capitalist market, and if we look at the energy sector it is a good example of what can happen in the absence of this competition.
Energy producers, organized in companies on the principle of the production method, on a monofuel system, had no reason to be more efficient and to invest, and Romania found cheaper energy in other markets, becoming a country that imports energy.
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