Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan: Latest state of play

Summary:

Romania's national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP) represents an ambitious agenda of reforms and investment aimed at mitigating the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19, energy and cost-of-living crises. The amended plan – approved by the Council on 8 December 2023 – amounts to €28.5 billion or 12.8 % of the country's 2019 gross domestic product (GDP). This includes the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) grants of €12.1 billion (cut by 14.9 % following the June 2022 revision of the allocation), REPowerEU grants worth €1.4 billion, the transfer of Romania's share (€43.2 million) from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to its NRRP, and the RRF loan allocation already fully committed under the initial version of the plan (€14.9 billion). The measures in the plan, to be implemented by 2026, also seek to facilitate the country's green and digital transition. The new REPowerEU chapter comes with seven investment and two reform measures, which –together with the remaining NRRP measures – devote €12.6 billion (44.1 % of the plan) to the green transition. Digital projects have been endowed with 21.9 % of the NRRP resources (excluding the REPowerEU chapter). Romania has so far received €9.5 billion of RRF resources, including two payments and the pre-financing. On 15 December 2023, the country submitted its third payment request of €2 billion (net of pre-financing); the European Commission is currently assessing it. According to the Commission's evaluation in the 2023 European Semester, implementation of the NRRP is under way, albeit with a rising risk of delays. The European Parliament continues to guarantee transparency and provide accountability for EU citizens by engaging in interinstitutional dialogues on the implementation of the RRF and scrutinising the Commission's work. This briefing is one in a series covering all EU Member States. Fourth edition. The 'NGEU delivery' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the lifecycle of the plans. The author would like to thank Lucia Sanchez Cabanillas, trainee in the Next Generation EU Monitoring Service, for her research assistance.

This briefing is part of the series Next Generation EU (NGEU) delivery - How are the Member States doing?

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