Romania must submit Recovery and Resilience Plan to the EC this month

Romania must submit its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to the European Commission by the end of this month.

Then, Romania will have to observe a tight calendar for spending the EUR 30 billion it will receive in line with the provisions set by the European Union: at least 40% for green projects and more than 20% for digitization. Investments in natural gas infrastructure were also accepted as eligible after several countries, including Romania, pressed for this.

President Klaus Iohannis summoned prime minister Florin Citu and minister of European funds Cristian Ghinea, on February 16, after the EC gave the green light to the Recovery and Resilience Plan, News.ro reported.

The deadline seems tight for the Romanian Government, which decided to scrap the past version of PNRR that, according to the new minister of European funds Cristian Ghinea, was not in line with the EU’s requirements.

The pace of absorption (implementing projects) will also be challenging for the Romanian public authorities. Investments financed under this plan must start by 2024 and be completed by 2027, or the European money will be returned.

Out of the EUR 30 bln, 40% comes as soft loans and 60% as grants - that the European Commission hopes to finance from new taxes at the European level, especially by taxing large technology companies.

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