In the last six months, European money has started to reach the economy five times faster and mechanisms that seemed frozen have been set in motion, according to the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Dragoș Pîslaru.
“The data from December 31 show that, when we work professionally, a few months can recover a few years. The figures are not arrogant, but they tell a necessary truth: we have managed to set in motion mechanisms that seemed frozen. In the last 6 months, European money has started to reach the economy 5 times faster,” the minister wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
He stressed that, as regards the cohesion part, the comparative analysis of the data highlights “a massive and unprecedented acceleration” of the absorption process in the last 6 months, compared to the entire period since the beginning of the 2021-2027 financial year (January 1, 2021 – June 23, 2025). At the current absorption rate (amounts requested from the European Commission) the performance “is even more remarkable”, from 3 billion (9.91%) reaching 6.3 billion (20.4%), which means a doubling of absorption in the last 6 months, according to Agerpres.
“For skeptics, even at the effective absorption rate (reimbursements from the European Commission) we found 2.9 billion, i.e. 9.41% (accumulated in 4 and a half years) and we managed to bring it to 5.2 billion, i.e. 16.6% in just 6 months. That is, 2.3 billion euros entered the state’s accounts during this period,” the Minister of Investments and European Projects stated.
According to the data published by him, during the period January 2021 – June 2025 (54 months) an average of 86.6 million euros were paid per month, and during the period June 2025 – December 2025 (6 months) the pace increased to 456.2 million euros per month.
Also, the capacity to bring money back to the state budget has increased exponentially, in the previous period the average was approximately 54 million euros per month, and in the current mandate it has jumped to 374 million euros per month, which means that the repayment rate has increased almost 7 times.
“Although they represent only 10% of the time elapsed since the start of the 2021-2027 program, the last 6 months have contributed decisively to Romania’s overall results: 37% of all payments made in this financial year (2021-2027) were made in the last 6 months of the mandate; 43% of all reimbursements from the European Commission for the period 2021-2027 were collected in this short period. In just half a year, over a third of everything that was done in the previous 4 and a half years was achieved. The average monthly absorption rate increased by over 5 times compared to the period 2021 – June 2025. European funds are our only real chance to compensate for the budget deficit and repair the effects of the populist management of national money in the past. Target 2026: we will launch all remaining calls. The objective is over 5 billion euros attracted only for cohesion this year this. There will be no abrupt interruption; we are already preparing the continuity for the 2028-2034 programming through a coherent country plan. We are already an active actor in the negotiations in Brussels on the new multiannual financial framework and we will maximize Romania’s interest in attracting over 60 billion euros in non-reimbursable money”, explained Dragoș Pîslaru.
Regarding the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the minister indicated that in June 2025 it was at a critical point. Negotiations with the European Commission were blocked, there was a suspended payment request and “a total mess” in implementation, with “countless” overcontracting and culminating in a total lack of transparency and management tools to keep things under control.
“In the last 6 months (…) we have absorbed a third of everything collected through the PNRR from 2021 to the present. On 30.06.2025, the execution was 6.8 billion euros. On 31.12.2025, the execution reached 9.7 billion euros, 3 billion euros more, absorbed only in the Bolojan government. We renegotiated the PNRR and put it on a responsible track to maximize absorption. We made everything transparent through the PNRR Dashboard. All of the over 20,000 projects under implementation can be followed by the entire society. We have pushed for important reforms, which we will complete in 2026. We have submitted Payment Request No. 4 worth 2.62 billion euros. (…) 2026 is the Year of the PNRR: We have an ambitious target of 10 billion euros for this year”, the minister pointed out.
He added that the target for 2026 is to double the historical maximum of attracting European funds, a minimum of 15 billion euros to go towards key investments in hospitals, schools, highways, local infrastructure and economic competitiveness.