The Council of the European Union announced on Thursday that it has positively assessed Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). This is the last step to start the procedure to access the first tranch of funding worth €3.8 billion. The total value of Romania’s NRRP is €29.2 billion.
“I am pleased to announce good news for three more Member States. We have just confirmed the positive assessments of the recovery and resilience plans of Estonia, Finland and Romania”, announced on Thursday Andrej Šircelj, Minister of Finance of Slovenia, the country holding the rotating presidency of the European Union.
“These countries will soon be able to receive their pre-financing payment from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. The reforms and investments outlined in their plans strongly support the EU’s Green Agenda and Digital Agenda,” he added.
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Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice-president of the European Commission, also tweeted: “Great news: EU finance ministers have approved the recovery plans of Estonia, Finland, and Romania. Total number of approved plans equals 22. And EU money is starting to flow where it’s needed. Focus now: implement the plans as soon as possible”.
Prime Minister Florin Cîțu said the first money from the NRRP will come in December.
“ECOFIN meeting shorter than usual. The good thing is that there were no questions and no comments on Romania’s NRDP. I had a very short intervention. All the European Commission stuff has been done, it is now on our shoulders. The next step is the implementation of the NRDP and we should have the first money from the NRDP in December”, said Florin Cîțu at the end of the meeting.
The interim Prime Minister said that there are still legal acts to be adopted for the implementation of the PNRR, but this will be done either by a decree-law adopted by the current interim government or by a bill in Parliament.
Romania will therefore be able to apply for pre-financing of 13% of the total budget of €29.1 billion, i.e. an advance of €3.7 billion.
On the same day, the recovery plans of Estonia (€969 million) and Finland (€2.1 billion), based solely on grants, will also be approved.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on 27 September that the EU executive had approved Romania’s €29.2bn Recovery and Resilience Plan (RERP).
The final version of the NRRP has not yet been made public by the Romanian authorities.
What the plan means for Romania
Romania has around €29.2 billion available from the EU for projects under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), split almost equally between grants and loans.
The National Recovery and Resilience Plan is structured around 15 components covering six pillars: green transition; digital transformation; smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth; social and territorial cohesion; health, economic, social, and institutional resilience; and policies for the new generation.
NRRP – latest data:
Total allocation: €29.2 billion
Water management – €1.9 billion
Projects:
- Construction of water networks – 1630 km in localities with more than 2000 inhabitants.
- construction of 2000 km of sewerage networks in municipalities with more than 2000 inhabitants and 470 km of sewerage networks in municipalities with less than 2000 inhabitants
- connecting 100,000 households to water and sewerage networks through the national First Connection to Water and Sewerage program
Reforesting Romania – €1.3 billion
Projects:
- 45,000 new hectares of forest
- Updating management plans for 250 protected natural areas
- 10,000 hectares of restored natural habitats
Waste management – €1.1 billion
Projects:
- Development of the monitoring and control capacity of the Environmental Guard,
- 550 air pollution monitoring equipment
- 15 county waste management systems upgraded
Transport – €7.6 billion
Projects:
Highways:
- 434 kilometers of motorway built;
- 625 ha of linear forest buffer along newly built motorways;
- 45% of road safety black spots removed;
Rail:
- 311 km of railway upgrades;
- 311 km of track with ERTMS 2;
- 110 km of electrified railway;
- 2534 km of track on which commercial speed is increased by 15% through renewal works;
- 206 km of track with a modern centralized system.
- Subway: 15.6 km of the new metro network; 15 new stations; 30 trainsets
Renewal Funds – €2.2 billion
Projects:
- 1,000 – 1,500 blocks of flats energy rehabilitated
- 2,000 public buildings rehabilitated
Renewable energy and hydrogen gas infrastructure – €1.6 billion
Projects:
- Wind: +1,581 MW additional installed capacity in 2025 compared to 2020;
- Solar: +2,031 MW additional installed capacity in 2025 compared to 2020.
Government cloud and interconnected digital public systems – €2 billion
Projects:
- Government cloud – linking all government ministries and agencies into a single interoperable network and database.
- 5 million citizens to have an electronic identity card
- 30,000 civil servants digitally trained
- 100 libraries funded as HUBs for lifelong learning and digital skills development
- 65 structures supported in the field of cyber security
Tax reforms and pension reform – €682 million
Projects:
- Special pensions limits
- A new system based on a stable benefit formula and automatic indexation of pensions
- Tax policy reforms. Adopt measures to increase budget revenue, optimise spending, ensure fiscal sustainability is enforced
- Improvement of the administration of large taxpayers
- Introduction of a more transparent and service-oriented model of tax administration
- Implementation of expenditure review in health and education (other sectors to follow)
- Introduction of a multi-annual budgeting process, especially for the expenditure side
Support for the private sector, research, development and innovation, and reform of state-owned companies – €1.7 billion
Projects:
- 4,000 funding contracts for digitalization of SMEs
- 280 funding contracts to help Romanian companies in the listing process
- A Fund of Funds created for digitalization, climate action, and other areas of interest
- Portfolio guarantee for Climate Action
- 10 research institutes funded for excellence through a pilot project
- Reform of state-owned companies
Local fund for green and digital transition – €2.1 billion
Projects:
- Legislation for functional metropolitan areas for Romania’s urban policy, new national housing strategy
- Projects for green mobility (electric buses, bike lanes, dedicated lanes, charging stations) and digitalization in localities
- Social and youth housing program
- 3,000 kilometers of pan-European cycle routes
Tourism and culture – €200 million
Projects:
- 12 cultural routes (trails) developed and marked
- 8 museums built/rehabilitated and enhanced
- 20 green tourist destinations to be certified
- 15 million Romanian tourists and 4 million foreign tourists will visit the country annually.
Fund for hospitals and increased access to health – €2.4 billion
Projects:
- 30 hospitals expanded/renovated
- 200 community centers built or renovated, with new equipment and staff.
- 3,000 family doctors’ surgeries will be equipped
- 10 newborn intensive care wards equipped, including newborn transport ambulance (for regional centres).
Social reforms – €233 million
Projects:
- Day-care centers for the prevention of family abandonment
- minimum inclusion income
- voucher system for formalizing work
Public administration reform, strengthening social dialogue, and increasing the efficiency of justice – €137 million
Projects:
- New National Anti-Corruption Strategy adopted by the end of 2021
- New Strategy for the Development of the Judiciary for 2022-2025
- Adoption of the “Justice Laws
- Review and update legislation on integrity framework
- Increase by approximately 50% in the value of assets seized and administered by ANABI
- Implementation of around 70% of the measures foreseen in the new anti-corruption strategy by 31 December 2025
- Integrity legal framework updated by 2024
Educated Romania – €3.6 billion
Projects:
- 2400 children will benefit from support to enter dual study programs
- 50 new energy-neutral schools
- 2,000 green minibusses to transport school children
- 83,000 classrooms equipped with furniture
- 1150 SMART Labs purchased for secondary schools
- 6,000 schools provided with resources and technology for computer labs and virtual learning
- 130 crèches built and operational.