The European Commission issued on Thursday a positive preliminary assessment of Romania’s fourth payment request for 2.62 billion euros, under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, the central element of NextGenerationEU, according to a statement from the Community Executive.
“This important step concerns the provision of funds related to this payment request, supporting sustainable forest management, decarbonization of the transport and energy sectors, tax administration, public pensions, health infrastructure and social infrastructure for people with disabilities. They also aim to strengthen the government decision-making process, advance digitalization, improve the efficiency of the legal system, strengthen the fight against corruption and support the development of the education system,” the quoted source states.
The European Commission assessed that Romania has satisfactorily completed 38 milestones and 24 targets set by the Council Implementing Decision.
One of the main measures in this payment request is the implementation of a government cloud and, according to the EC, Romania has made significant progress in implementing the necessary infrastructure, with over 30 public institutions already connected. The measure aims to modernise public administration by improving data sharing, while enabling more efficient and user-friendly public services.
Also, in the case of the decarbonisation of the transport and energy sectors, Romania has adopted measures to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. These include the introduction of higher property taxes for the most polluting vehicles and the progressive reduction of reliance on coal-fired electricity generation.
Regarding the fiscal framework, Romania has introduced legislative changes to make its tax system fairer and more efficient, reducing the administrative burden and improving tax compliance. By simplifying procedures and ensuring a more balanced distribution of the tax burden, the reform aims to strengthen public finances while promoting a more business-friendly environment.
The European Commission has sent its preliminary assessment of Romania’s full compliance with the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee, which will deliver its opinion within four weeks. The payment to Romania may take place following the opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee and the subsequent adoption of the payment decision by the Community Executive.