Céline Gauer, the director general of the Recovery and Resilience Task Force (or RECOVER) at the European Commission, arrived in Romania on Tuesday, July 15, to meet with officials regarding the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, or PNRR.
As the coordinator of the PNRR, which offers funding in the form of advantageous loans or grants for development projects, Gauer met with prime minister Ilie Bolojan and several ministers. They discussed the fiscal measures approved so far by the Executive, as well as how the government plans to introduce certain measures, including next year, to keep the budget deficit below the 7% threshold of GDP.
According to sources cited by TVR, the EU official stressed the importance of ensuring that the purchasing power of Romanians does not decrease.
The EU delegation and the Romanian government went over the second package of measures during the meeting as well. Moreover, the Romanian side expressed a desire to revise the program to avoid losing EU funds.
After the meeting, investment and European projects minister Dragoș Pîslaru held a press conference on the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, stating that the government organized tripartite meetings to determine which projects can no longer be completed by the end date of the plan, namely August 2026.
“At this moment, about EUR 6.3 billion worth of projects can no longer be completed by August 2026. So, EUR 15 billion minus EUR 6.3 billion, meaning EUR 8.7 billion would remain in the PNRR (loan component), to which is added a package of measures related to resilience,” said Dragoș Pîslaru.
Among the projects impacted are several segments in Romania’s A7 and A8 highway projects, which have lost funding.
“On Monday, July 14, we agreed on a package of EUR 2.5 billion that includes investments in several key areas where the European Commission, based on what we found, was not convinced they could be salvaged. We gathered evidence that they can be completed by the end of August 2026, so they can remain in the loan component,” Pîslaru said.
The minister gave assurances that Romania will not lose “a single euro” from the non-reimbursable grant component. “We have confirmation that Romania will not lose any euros from the non-reimbursable component. There is no risk of having projects that will not be completed by August 2026,” stated Pîslaru.
The minister noted that significant delays plagued Romania’s attempts to absorb PNRR funds from the start, leading to the present loss of funding. The Executive has managed to draw just over 30% of the money after nearly five years of the program’s existence.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Călin)
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