The European Commission has approved the modification of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) on Tuesday, valued at 28.5 billion euros, as announced by the Ministry of European Funds. In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated that ‘the Government has honored the promise made to Romanians by removing the 9.4% of GDP cap on pension expenditures from the NRRP.’ ‘With the approval of the PNRR modification, we are definitively escaping the nightmare cynically introduced into the document by USR, which would have frozen the pension point until 2070,’ added Ciolacu.
‘The European Commission officially confirms that we have honored the promise made to Romanians by removing the 9.4% of GDP cap on pension expenditures from the PNRR. With the approval of the modification to Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, from today, we are definitively escaping the nightmare cynically introduced into the document by USR, which would have frozen the pension point until 2070,’ said the Prime Minister.
Marcel Ciolacu mentioned that ‘this is precisely why they fought to pass the new pension law through Parliament, validated as sustainable in the long term by the experts of the World Bank and the European Commission—a law that brings justice to millions of pensioners.’ ‘In this way, we eliminate the inequalities between pensioners who have contributed and worked equally and ensure the guarantee that pensioner incomes can legitimately grow in the future, correlated with the country’s economic performance. This is one of my essential objectives in the prime minister’s mandate: for Romania’s economic growth to primarily reach the Romanians who need the protection of their living standards the most!’ added Ciolacu.
The European Commission has approved Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which, in its modified form, includes the REPowerEU chapter, according to the Ministry of European Funds. The current allocation for the PNRR is 28.5 billion euros (14.9 billion euros in loans, 13.6 billion euros in grants) and covers 66 reforms and 111 investments.
Minister Adrian Câciu stated that the 9.4% of GDP limit regarding the public pension system is no longer present in the approved modification. ‘A great success for Romania and for the correct management and prioritization of investments from the PNRR. We have realigned the objectives of the Plan to accelerate the green and digital transition, healthcare, public employment services, social protection, transportation, education, and, last but not least, taxation. We are prudent with state funds but prompt in accessing European funds and developing Romania. I thank my colleagues from MIPE who worked tirelessly to achieve this goal, and to those who commented from the sidelines and irresponsibly predicted collapse, jeopardizing our position with external partners, I say only this: the 9.4% of GDP limit regarding the public pension system is no longer present in the approved modification today, a sign that the Government’s measures and our word given to the Commission have the necessary and sufficient credibility that Romania’s trajectory is one of sustainable and responsible construction,’ said Adrian Câciu, Minister of Investments and European Projects.
Through REPowerEU, Romania will benefit from additional non-reimbursable funds amounting to 1.4 billion euros. The REPowerEU chapter includes two new reforms and seven investments focused on accelerating green energy production, increasing energy efficiency in buildings, and retraining and upskilling the workforce in green energy generation. Romania’s modified plan places a strong emphasis on the green transition, allocating 44.1% (compared to 41% in the initial plan) of available funds for measures supporting climate objectives. At the same time, the allocation of funds for the country’s digital transition increases from 20.5% to 21.8%, according to MIPE.
At the beginning of December, the approval of the revision of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan is expected within ECOFIN – the Council of Finance Ministers, followed by the issuance of a new Implementing Decision (CID) by the Council of the European Union