RO Govt. earmarks EUR 450 mln for drafting EU-funded projects

Romania's Government approved on Monday, August 31, the use of RON 2 billion (EUR 450 million) for elaborating projects to attract European funds in the period 2021 - 2027, announced the minister of European funds, Marcel Bolos.

The expenditures will be financed from the EUR 79.9 bln earmarked by the European Union under the three separate budgets for the same period, Bolos said, Agerpres reported.

A first budget, amounting to EUR 30.4 bln (EUR 16.7 bln loans plus EUR 13.6 bln grants), is designated to support the recovery and resilience mechanism. Romania must develop a National Recovery and Resilience Plan by October to negotiate it with the European Commission until April next year. The Plan will include two types of measures: investments and reforms, minister Bolos explained.

He said that his ministry coordinates with peer bodies in other countries "to know exactly what can be and what can not be financed" under the recovery and resilience mechanism. By the end of April 2021, this negotiation process will have to be concluded, and there will be an EC decision for Romania to access the funds.

A second EU budget for Romania, worth EUR 28.4 bln, is related to the cohesion policy. The Government published for public debate the partnership agreement in this regard, and the document should be submitted to the European Commission by September 15. The negotiations for the cohesion policy should be completed by the end of the year.

Finally, the third budget (EUR 19.2 bln) is related to the agriculture policy, and the Government is in the process of drafting the necessary documents.

(Photo: Marian Vejcik/ Dreamstime)