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Thanks! Super interesting. I don’t live in the EU, but how does public infrastructure funding work? Are there no funds to invest in infrastructure? It seems

Thanks! Super interesting. I don’t live in the EU, but how does public infrastructure funding work? Are there no funds to invest in infrastructure? It seems like trading partners would benefit a lot from a more connected Romania.

Tsubasachan 8y ago
To be perfectly honest Romania has as much economic importance to the functioning of the EU as the Arizonian desert does to the US. That said the EU has transferred billions to Bucharest over the years. What the Romanian government has done with that money is frankly not something anyone really wants to investigate.
- jen729w 8y ago
  It’s geopolitics. “Not become friends with Russia” is what Bucharest has achieved with €bns.
- cbg0 8y ago
  > To be perfectly honest Romania has as much economic importance to the functioning of the EU as the Arizonian desert does to the US. This is a gross exaggeration. We are a country of around 20 million people and we export a diverse array of finished goods, not to mention setting up shop in Romania if you are a multinational company is very useful as the standard of living is lower and you can pay less than you would pay a German, for example. > What the Romanian government has done with that money is frankly not something anyone really wants to investigate. Actually it is investigated, nobody's really turning a blind eye to these things. The EU has an anti-fraud office specifically for this: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/home_en https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/home_en Also, the European Public Proscutor's office will be set up in the very near future to specifically prosecute fraud concerning EU funds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Public_Prosecutor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Public_Prosecutor On the military side, we host part of the NATO missile defense system.
  - hedora 8y ago
    Honestly, what you are describing sounds a lot like Arizona (though its population is only 7M, and the economy is mostly mining and real estate / services for retirees / tourists). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona Anyway, I don’t mean any offense to Arizona or Romania. Both places have their upsides, like anywhere else.
    - simion314 8y ago
      Romania has a diverse economy, it is not based on mining, you have many multinationals int he big cities because of high education level(high education is free) of the young people. So we have educated programmers, engineers (as an example some car parts are designed here, some car parts are created here for different manufacturers)
- dang 8y ago
  Nationalistic flamewar is not allowed on Hacker News. Please don't do this again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: we've had to warn you about this before. Continuing will eventually get your account banned, so please stop.
kzrdude 8y ago
Investing in Romanian infra is primarily something that Romania is responsible for itself, but there is some funding from the EU level. One can browse projects here: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/atlas/romania/ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/atlas/romania/
cbg0 8y ago
It's a combination of incompetence as well as corruption on behalf of the authorities in Romania. The EU keeps a close eye on what their money is being spent on, so lining your pocket with highway money given to you by the EU is a bit of a no-no. What people seem to remember is who cut the ribbon, so it's a bit of a risk for a party that has a 4 year mandate to build something and not finish it during their term as nobody will remember that they started a project. For the last two or so years the political alliance in charge of things has been mostly focusing on making the laws more lax as most of them have legal problems, instead of focusing on the peoples' problems. We get what we deserve, since you never really do see a smart people ruled by idiots.
- virgilp 8y ago
  I was with you up until the last phrases. Speak for yourself, I guess? It may be what you deserve, but I know a lot of people who deserve better. Also you see smart people ruled by idiots all the time. See USA for an example
  - the_duke 8y ago
    > Also you see smart people ruled by idiots all the time. See USA for an example Well...
  - dang 8y ago
    Please keep political and national flamebait off HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- PedroBatista 8y ago
  They aren’t idiots, they are gangsters with a suit. It happens in every country.

Tsubasachan 8y ago

To be perfectly honest Romania has as much economic importance to the functioning of the EU as the Arizonian desert does to the US. That said the EU has transferred billions to Bucharest over the years. What the Romanian government has done with that money is frankly not something anyone really wants to investigate.

jen729w 8y ago
It’s geopolitics. “Not become friends with Russia” is what Bucharest has achieved with €bns.
cbg0 8y ago
> To be perfectly honest Romania has as much economic importance to the functioning of the EU as the Arizonian desert does to the US. This is a gross exaggeration. We are a country of around 20 million people and we export a diverse array of finished goods, not to mention setting up shop in Romania if you are a multinational company is very useful as the standard of living is lower and you can pay less than you would pay a German, for example. > What the Romanian government has done with that money is frankly not something anyone really wants to investigate. Actually it is investigated, nobody's really turning a blind eye to these things. The EU has an anti-fraud office specifically for this: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/home_en https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/home_en Also, the European Public Proscutor's office will be set up in the very near future to specifically prosecute fraud concerning EU funds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Public_Prosecutor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Public_Prosecutor On the military side, we host part of the NATO missile defense system.
- hedora 8y ago
  Honestly, what you are describing sounds a lot like Arizona (though its population is only 7M, and the economy is mostly mining and real estate / services for retirees / tourists). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona Anyway, I don’t mean any offense to Arizona or Romania. Both places have their upsides, like anywhere else.
  - simion314 8y ago
    Romania has a diverse economy, it is not based on mining, you have many multinationals int he big cities because of high education level(high education is free) of the young people. So we have educated programmers, engineers (as an example some car parts are designed here, some car parts are created here for different manufacturers)
dang 8y ago
Nationalistic flamewar is not allowed on Hacker News. Please don't do this again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: we've had to warn you about this before. Continuing will eventually get your account banned, so please stop.

kzrdude 8y ago

Investing in Romanian infra is primarily something that Romania is responsible for itself, but there is some funding from the EU level. One can browse projects here: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/atlas/romania/ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/atlas/romania/

cbg0 8y ago

It's a combination of incompetence as well as corruption on behalf of the authorities in Romania. The EU keeps a close eye on what their money is being spent on, so lining your pocket with highway money given to you by the EU is a bit of a no-no. What people seem to remember is who cut the ribbon, so it's a bit of a risk for a party that has a 4 year mandate to build something and not finish it during their term as nobody will remember that they started a project. For the last two or so years the political alliance in charge of things has been mostly focusing on making the laws more lax as most of them have legal problems, instead of focusing on the peoples' problems. We get what we deserve, since you never really do see a smart people ruled by idiots.

virgilp 8y ago
I was with you up until the last phrases. Speak for yourself, I guess? It may be what you deserve, but I know a lot of people who deserve better. Also you see smart people ruled by idiots all the time. See USA for an example
- the_duke 8y ago
  > Also you see smart people ruled by idiots all the time. See USA for an example Well...
- dang 8y ago
  Please keep political and national flamebait off HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
PedroBatista 8y ago
They aren’t idiots, they are gangsters with a suit. It happens in every country.