The Commission has given a positive assessment of Romania’s modified recovery and resilience plan, which includes a REPowerEU chapter. The plan is now worth €28.5 billion, covering 66 reforms and 111 investments. The REPowerEU chapter focuses on accelerating green energy generation, promoting energy efficiency in buildings, and re- and up-skilling the workforce in the field of green energy generation. Romania has changed 56 measures due to objective circumstances hindering the fulfilment of certain measures as originally planned, such as high inflation experienced in 2022 and 2023 and supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Romania has requested to transfer its share of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) to the plan, adding funds to Romania’s RRF and REPowerEU grants allocation. This makes the modified plan worth €28.5 billion. The revised Romanian plan has a strong focus on the green transition, allocating 44.1% of the available funds to measures that support climate objectives. The new measures included in the REPowerEU chapter significantly advance Romania’s efforts on the green transition.
The revised Romanian plan continues to significantly contribute to the digital transition, allocating 21.8% to support the country’s digital transition. It includes infrastructure development and the digitalisation of specific sectors, such as healthcare, public employment services, social protection, transport, education, taxation, culture, judiciary, and environment services. The REPowerEU chapter covers one reform and two sub-investments related to the digitalisation of public authorities, providing new digital solutions and equipment.
The modified plan’s important social dimension has also increased, including voucher schemes to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and improve energy efficiency for households, with a particular focus on vulnerable households. The Council will have four weeks to endorse the Commission’s assessment, allowing Romania to receive €288 million in pre-financing of the REPowerEU funds.