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The European Commission will be sending a one-week mission to Bucharest on 20 January to assess whether the conditions for the second EU disbursement are met. Political tensions and subsequent delays in adopting a draft 2010 budget prevented the earlier mission in October to complete the review. The EC visit will take place jointly with the IMF and the World Bank.

Discussions will focus on the 2009 budgetary execution and on the 2010 budget adopted by the Parliament on 14 January, including the underlying measures to achieve a deficit target of 5.9% this year. The mission will also assess progress with key structural reforms in the area of fiscal governance, financial sector regulation and absorption of EU funds.

Successful completion of the review should allow the disbursement of the second tranche of €1bn by the European Union. €1.5bn has already been released in July 2009, out of a total EU assistance package of €5bn.