AGERPRES special correspondent Oana Ghita reports: The concept of a 'multi-speed Europe' should not alarm EU countries, whose leaders focus on keeping energy prices as low as possible and addressing economic disparities, President Nicusor Dan stated on Thursday.

'This should not scare us - multi-speed Europe, at least according to current understanding, is simply a gathering of countries (...), that have certain ideas, coordinate with one another and then come up with an idea to be discussed at the level of the Council. So there is no reason for concern,' the President said ahead of his participation in the informal meeting of the leaders of the European Council, which takes place at Alden Biesen Castle in the Kingdom of Belgium.

According to the Head of State, EU leaders have two major objectives: energy prices - specifically interconnection and carbon taxes - and the fair distribution of the multiannual budget.

'A very important thing, when we have the funds for competitiveness within the 2028-2034 multiannual budget, is that the allocation of these funds should also take geographic criteria into account, so as not to deepen the gap between more and less developed countries,' said Nicusor Dan.

He cited the example of the European Horizon programme.

'We had a European Union research and development programme from which Romania basically received nothing. It is very good that, in the multiannual budget as it currently stands, there is a lot of money for competitiveness. However, if the criteria are strictly competitive, then, to be very honest, Romania and many countries at the edge of the European Union will have little chance of accessing these funds, and the gap will widen,' the President explained.

According to him, European leaders are also concerned with regulatory harmonisation.

'How do we make regulations compatible? The fact that Europe is divided by different regulations means that large companies are in the United States - for example, in telecommunications there are three or four companies in the US and about 150 in Europe - and as a result, research and development funds will always be there, and we will have a competitive disadvantage,' he pointed out.

The Head of State also noted that, broadly speaking, the leaders agree that Europe should pursue trade agreements such as those with India and Mercosur.

Regarding the transition to green energy, the President said Romania is among the countries that want this transition to be slower, so that energy-intensive industries have time to adjust. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Claudia Stanescu; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)