Romania has so far raised €6.35 billion from the PNRR, and European Commission officials are currently in Romania in discussions with the authorities and parliament to ensure progress on the plan, said Celine Gower, director general of SG, from the European Commission.

She said that “Romania’s plan is very good and ambitious” and that she is in Romania to make sure that the implementation of the NRDP is progressing.

• “Of course, we are talking to the authorities, the parliament, the stakeholders to make sure that the implementation is moving forward. The Commission is here to always support Romania in meeting the requirements of the plan and the commitments in the plan.” said Celine Goer, Director General of the European Commission’s SG Recover.

When asked about the status of the PNRR implementation and what Romania risks if it does not fulfill all the foreseen reforms and investments, the official gave the example of 2 reforms that have not yet been fulfilled to access the second payment request. from PNRR.

“If we talk about the second payment request, we have the decarbonization law and the whistleblower protection law, just 2 examples of reforms that are in the pipeline and that need to be implemented, and if they are not implemented, we are in a situation of partial payments.

Once the European Commission recognizes that the reform has not been implemented, the Member State has 6 months to implement the reform as required. Otherwise, the suspended payment amount is lost forever, so it’s not a joke,” the Euro official said.

Celine Gower: The world has not changed for the better. We didn’t have a war a year ago, and we’re also experiencing an energy crisis

The European official highlighted the challenges that have arisen in the year since the approval of the PNRR.

“Romania’s plan is very good, very ambitious. First of all, it will greatly contribute to the Green Transition, as more than 40% of the expenditure will be directed to the Green Transition, which is supported by important reforms such as the decarbonization law currently under discussion in the Parliament, which is an important step for Romania’s transition from CO2 emissions and pollution .

We are also talking about medical services that will make significant changes in the lives of citizens, reforms in taxation, state funding, pensions, as well as the social component and investments in education and the health care system.

Of course, if we look at today’s context compared to a year ago, a lot has changed. We didn’t have a war, and I thought that was a big challenge after the pandemic. The world has not changed for the better, we also see an energy crisis that complicates our lives.

So the question arises not only in Romania, but also in the member states: what should we do? Is this recovery and resilience plan right in this context? I’d say the answer is an unequivocal yes, because it means doing the right thing at the core level. I talked about 40% investment in green, renewable energy and energy efficiency. This is exactly what we need to do to solve this energy security crisis, because this is the only way we can have long-term energy independence,” the European official said.

PNRR is not enough. What money will Romania receive through the RepowerEU initiative

Celine Gower opined that the PNRR alone is not enough to meet the current challenges.

“The implementation of the PNRR is the best tool we have to fight this crisis, but I don’t think it is enough. Last May, the European Commission proposed the RepowerEU initiative to provide targeted funding to increase Russia’s independence from fossil fuels. For Romania, this means another 1.5 billion euros invested in the energy system and decarbonization of the system. So another effort and an additional contribution from the EC to help Romania,” she said.

The European official warned that also in RepowerEu, the implementation time for investments and reforms is just as short – 2026, which means that Romania needs to find projects that are easy to implement and have an impact, without risking not meeting the requirements of the initiative.

Carmen Moraru, State Secretary of MIPE: This year we have to reach 130 milestones. We still have challenges

Present at the event, Carmen Moraru, State Secretary of the Ministry of European Investments and Projects (MIPE), reviewed the state of implementation of the PNRR in Romania.

Our country has been allocated more than 29 billion euros of PNRR funds, for which it must fulfill 507 goals and milestones by 2026.

“In 2021, we reached 21 milestones and goals and passed the first payment request, we say successfully. Only at the end of October 2022, Romania collected EUR 2.56 billion, which corresponds to the financial distribution of the first payment request. In total, Romania currently has EUR 6.35 billion from the PNRR in its account, sufficient to start the implementation of the current Plan.

New challenges this year – we have to achieve 130 milestones and goals. We are preparing intensively for payment request number 2, we are working with our colleagues in the Commission and with colleagues in the ministries who have targets and milestones to be achieved.

We are almost there, that is, we have to say that all goals and milestones have been achieved. We still have several important challenges. The Decarbonisation Act is one of them, Ms Celine Gower mentioned, and we look ahead to what we have to achieve in 2023, with 91 targets and milestones ahead of us,” said Carmen Moraru.

She also emphasized that as we move forward in the implementation of the PNRR, there are not so many goals and milestones, but they are becoming more and more complex, citing as examples the reform of special pensions, the reform of the salary of public sector employees or part of the whistleblowers.