Approaching the deadline, there is a potential for Romania to forfeit 27% of its Resilience Facility financing.
In a concerning development, Romania is at risk of losing a significant portion of its funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), with estimates suggesting a potential loss of €7.8 billion, equivalent to 27% of the total PNRR envelope worth €28.5 billion.
The most affected sectors include the health sector, environment, education, energy efficiency, and transport infrastructure.
The health sector, particularly public hospitals, faces a potential loss of €920 million. The environment sector, specifically water-sewage and waste infrastructure, risks losing €2.29 billion. The education sector is at risk of losing €728 million, while energy efficiency, particularly in residential buildings and public institutions, faces a possible loss of €1.02 billion. Transport infrastructure also risks losing €1.98 billion.
These potential losses are attributed to the stringent conditions set by the European Commission for investments under the PNRR, combined with Romania's fragile fiscal situation and slow implementation pace. The conditions have resulted in delays and risks in absorbing the allocated funds, prompting the Romanian government to work closely with the European Commission on revising and streamlining targets and milestones to improve absorption rates and preserve funding, particularly focusing on the non-reimbursable component to avoid losses.
Marcel Boloş, the former minister of investments and European projects, emphasized these issues in a written statement, highlighting the need for urgent action to address the challenges and ensure the successful implementation of the PNRR.
[1] Source: European Commission's assessment of Romania's progress under the PNRR. [3] Source: Statement by Marcel Boloş, former minister of investments and European projects.
- The potential losses in Romania's PNRR funding, particularly in sectors like health, environment, education, energy efficiency, and transport infrastructure, have raised concerns in the general news, business, finance, and politics sectors, due to estimates suggesting a loss of €7.8 billion.
- The European Commission's stringent conditions for investments under the PNRR, combined with Romania's fragile fiscal situation and slow implementation pace, have attributably resulted in delays and risks in absorbing funds, causing concern in the finance, business, politics, and general-news sectors.
