COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Analysis of the recovery and resilience plan of Romania Accompanying the document Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Romania
Date: 2021-09-27
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU aid, EU loan, Romania, coronavirus disease, economic and social cohesion, economic recovery, economic reform, epidemic, investment, structural adjustment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 27.9.2021  SWD(2021) 276 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Analysis of the recovery and resilience plan of Romania Accompanying the document Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Romania {COM(2021) 608 final}  
 
 
Table of contents 

1.  Executive summary ................................................................................................................. 2 

2.  Recovery and resilience challenges: scene-setter .................................................................... 5 

2.1.  Macroeconomic outlook and developments since the 2020 country report ..................... 5 

2.2.  Challenges related to sustainable growth, cohesion, resilience and policies for the next 
generation .................................................................................................................................... 8 

2.3.  Challenges related to the green and digital transition .................................................... 13 

Green dimension .................................................................................................................... 13 

Digital dimension .................................................................................................................. 17 

3.  Objectives, structure and governance of the Plan .................................................................. 21 

3.1.  Overall strategy of the Plan ............................................................................................ 21 

3.2. 

Implementation aspects of the Plan ................................................................................ 24 

4.  Summary of the assessment of the Plan ................................................................................ 28 

4.1.  Comprehensive and adequately balanced response to the economic and social situation

28 

4.2.  Link with country-specific recommendations and the European Semester ................... 35 

4.3.  Growth potential, job creation, economic, institutional and social resilience, European 
Pillar of Social Rights, mitigating the impact of the crisis, and social territorial cohesion and 
convergence ............................................................................................................................... 43 

4.4.  The principle of ‘do no significant harm’ ...................................................................... 50 

4.5.  Green transition .............................................................................................................. 53 

4.6.  Digital transition ............................................................................................................. 57 

4.7.  Lasting impact of the Plan .............................................................................................. 62 

4.8.  Milestones, targets, monitoring and implementation ..................................................... 65 

4.9.  Costing ........................................................................................................................... 67 

4.10.  Controls and audit .......................................................................................................... 69 

4.11.  Coherence ....................................................................................................................... 71 

ANNEX: Climate tracking and digital tagging ......................................................................... 75 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  

The COVID-19 pandemic had and continues to have a strong economic, social and sanitary 
impact  on  Romania,  amplifying  further  some  of  its  structural  weaknesses.  Private 
consumption  collapsed  during  the  spring  lockdown  in  2020  and  external  demand  shocks  and 
supply chain disruptions hurt exports. Despite this, real GDP contracted only by 3.9% in 2020, 
one of the lowest contractions in the EU. The employment support schemes put in place at the 
onset  of  the  pandemic  have  mitigated  the  pandemic’s  impact  on  the  labour  market,  with 
unemployment increasing only moderately from  3.9% in 2019 to 5% in 2020. The government 
implemented  several  fiscal  consolidation  measures  in  2021  and  the  budget  deficit  increased  to 
9.2% of GDP in 2020 and is set to decline thereafter. In 2021, the economy has started to recover 
swiftly. The Commission 2021 Summer Forecast expects real GDP to grow at 7.4% and 4.9% in 
2021  and  2022  respectively,  while 
the  Commission  2021  Spring  Forecast  estimates 
unemployment to peak at 5.2% in 2021 before declining to 4.8% in 2022. 

Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  amounts  to  EUR  29 181 842 750.  Romania  has 
requested EUR 14 239 689 750 of non-repayable financial support and EUR 14 942 153 000 in 
loans  under  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility.  Together,  this  represents  13.09%  of  2019 
GDP. The Plan contains 171 measures (64 reforms and 107 investments), structured around six 
pillars and fifteen components.  

The Plan addresses a significant subset of long-standing structural challenges as identified 
in  relevant  country-specific  recommendations  (CSRs)  addressed  to  Romania  by  the 
Council in 2019 and in 2020. The full digitalisation of the tax administration and gradual phase 
out  of  excessive  tax  incentives  are  aimed  at  improving  the  quality  and  sustainability  of  public 
finances.  The  Plan  also  contributes  to  ensuring  the  sustainability  and  fairness  of  the  public 
pension system. Healthcare reforms, accompanied by digitalisation investments, are expected to 
improve  access,  cost-efficiency  and  resilience  of  healthcare.  Evidence-based  decision  making, 
long-term  planning  and  public  consultations  and  measures  aimed  at  improving  the  public 
procurement  process  will  contribute  to  improving  the  quality  and  effectiveness  of  the  public 
administration leading to better absorption of EU funds. By strengthening the independence and 
increasing the efficiency of the judiciary, improving access to justice, and stepping up the fight 
against corruption, the plan aims to address the main issues related to respect of the rule of law in 
the  country  in  accordance  with  the  relevant  case-law  of  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European 
Union  and  taking  into  account  recommendations  made  in  the  Cooperation  and  Verification 
Mechanism  (CVM)  reports,  the  GRECO  reports  and  the  opinions  of  the  Venice  Commission, 
and  the  Rule  of  Law  Reports.  Key  reforms  on  minimum  wages  setting,  on  strengthening 
corporate  governance  of  state-owned  enterprises  and  on  social  dialogue  also  address  long-
standing  CSRs.  The  Plan  also  introduces  a  unitary,  inclusive  and  quality  early-childhood 
education  and  care  system  accompanied  by  investments  in  childcare.  The  Plan  promotes 

2 

 
 
sustainable  and  digital  investments  and  supports  research  and  development  activities.  Key 
reforms on decarbonisation, on the establishment of a government cloud and the deployment of 
the electronic identity card contribute to supporting the twin green and digital transition1. 

The Plan represents to a large extent a comprehensive and adequately balanced response to 
the economic and social situation of Romania, therefore contributing appropriately to the 
six  policy  pillars  referred  to  in  Article  3  of  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility 
Regulation2. The Plan and its components are built around the six policy pillars and the financial 
allocation  is  evenly  distributed.  Taking  into  account  the  specific  challenges  and  the  financial 
support to Romania, the Plan represents a comprehensive, and adequately balanced response to 
the economic and social situation. 

By tackling long-standing vulnerabilities and structural deficiencies, the Plan is expected to 
contribute  to  the  economic  and  social  recovery  and  the  long-term  development  of  the 
country. Measures  to  support private investments,  particularly for SMEs, have the potential to 
attract  investment  and  foster  jobs  and  a  stronger  business  environment.  The  Plan’s  focus  to 
address  education  challenges  and  promoting  green  and  digital  skills  is  expected  to  improve 
Romania’s long term growth potential and foster inclusive growth by reducing disparities, with 
potential  spill-over  effects  into  the  labour  market.  The  Plan  aims  to  contribute  to  the 
implementation  of  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights,  through  the  promotion  of  policies  for 
children and youth. Reforms and investments are expected to respond to structural problems in 
areas  where  the  pandemic  crisis  has  taken  its  toll,  with  a  focus  on  health,  education,  and  the 
business  environment.  In  addition,  investments  in  basic  transport  infrastructure  in  currently 
poorly  connected  regions  and  digital  connectivity  in  rural  areas  will  be  key  to  bringing  the 
country closer together.  

The Plan has a strong focus on the green transition, with flagship reforms on the phasing-
out  of  coal  and  the  decarbonisation  of  road  transport.  The  reforms  and  investments  are 
expected to significantly decarbonise the energy sector and unlock the potential for renewables 
deployment. The strong focus on energy and resource efficiency of private and public buildings, 
greening of road and rail transport, sustainable urban mobility and the deployment of charging 
infrastructures  for  electric  vehicles,  climate  change  adaptation  and  circular  economy,  will  also 
facilitate the green transition in all sectors of the economy. Measures supporting climate change 
objectives account for 41% of the Plan’s total allocation. With several reforms and investments 
in  the  forestry  sector,  such  as  the  adoption  of  the  National  Forest  Strategy  and  the  ecological 
reconstruction of habitats and the conservation of species, the Plan is also expected to contribute 
to biodiversity conservation and restoration. All measures in the Romanian Plan have passed the 

1 Romania submitted its National Reform Programme  on 11 June 2021. The information provided in the National 
Reform  Programme  is  being  considered  and  jointly  assessed  in  this  Staff  Working  Document  together  with  the 
Recovery and Resilience Plan. 
2  Regulation  (EU)  2021/241 of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  12  February  2021  establishing  the 
Recovery and Resilience Facility. 

3 

 
 
                                                           
ex-ante assessment of the ‘do no significant harm’ principle. In addition, for some measures, the 
‘do no significant harm’ principle has been reflected in the milestones and targets specified in the 
Annex to the Commission Proposal for a Council Implementing Decision. 

As regards the digital transition, the measures contributing to digital objectives account for 
20.5%  of  the  financial  allocation,  which  is  above  the  20%  minimum  requirement  of  the 
RRF  Regulation.  While  component  7  (Digital  transformation)  is  fully  dedicated  to  the 
digitalisation  of  the  public  administration  (both  horizontally  and  by  sectors),  connectivity, 
cybersecurity  and  digital  skills,  including  large  scale  deployment  of  electronic  identity  cards, 
reforms  and  investments  on  the  digital  transition  are  found  throughout  the  Plan  across  the 
different  components.  In  particular,  the  digitalisation  of  education  is  expected  to  contribute  to 
developing the skills of both students and teachers, doubled by the efforts to modernise school 
laboratories and to create smart labs. Investments in the digitalisation of road and rail transport 
are  also  expected  to  contribute  to  the  digital  transition.  Furthermore,  the  digitalisation  of 
businesses plays a prominent role in the Plan and is expected to increase the competitiveness and 
innovation  potential  of both  SMEs  and large companies. The Plan also  has a significant  cross-
border dimension, as Romania aims to support companies participating in a multi-country project 
on  microelectronics,  which  is  planned  to  be  implemented  as  an  Important  Project  of  Common 
European Interest (IPCEI). 

Reforms and investments in the Plan are expected to have lasting environmental and socio-
economic  impacts.  In  particular,  they  are  aimed  at  introducing  structural  changes  to  the 
functioning of the public administration in Romania. The Plan is also expected to have a lasting 
impact  in  terms  of  policy  design,  implementation  and  monitoring,  especially  for  policies  that 
regulate the use of natural resources and the environment. The pension and social reforms should 
also contribute to reducing disparities and inequality. 

The  Plan  adequately  describes  the  arrangements  for  its  implementation  and  monitoring. 
Milestones,  targets  and  indicators  of  the  Romanian  Plan  are  of  sufficient  quality  to  enable  an 
effective  monitoring  of  the  Plan’s  implementation.  Overall,  milestones  and  targets  are 
sufficiently specific, clear and comprehensive to ensure that their completion can be traced and 
verified. The large number of milestones and targets is commensurate to the size of the reform 
and  investment  package.  However,  the  implementation  of  the  plan  will  crucially  hinge  on  the 
administrative  and  implementation  capacity  of  the  implementing  bodies  which  will  need  to  be 
closely monitored. 

Romania  has  provided  individual  cost  estimates  for  the  measures  in  the  Plan.  The 
information and evidence submitted by Romania, following additional information requested by 
the  Commission  during  the  assessment  phase  of  the  Plan,  show  that  the  justification  on  the 
amount of the estimated total costs is “to a medium extent” reasonable, plausible, commensurate, 
and  in  line  with  the  principle  of  cost-efficiency.  Romania  provided  sufficient  information  and 
evidence that the amount of the estimated total costs of the Plan to be financed under the Facility 
is not covered by existing or planned Union financing. 

4 

 
 
The  Plan  provides  sufficiently  detailed  information  on  the  national  set-up  for  the  RRF 
internal control system. The Plan shows a well-defined structure of the internal control system 
and the outline of the control system seems appropriate. Mechanisms and tools to address double 
funding appear adequate. Pending actions shall be completed prior to the first instalment. 

The  Romanian  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  is  structured  around  six  coherent  pillars 
supporting  the  common  objectives  of  the  Plan  and  the  recovery  of  Romania’s  economy. 
Each pillar is built around components including consistent packages of mutually reinforcing and 
complementary reforms and investments. 

Chart: Assessment scheme 

(1) 
Balanced 
Response 

(2) 
CSRs 

(3) 
Growth, 
jobs… 

(4) 
DNSH 

(5) 
Green 
target 

(6) 
Digital 
target 

(7) 
Lasting 
impact 

(8) 
M & T 

(9) 
Costing 

(10) 
Control 
Systems 

(11) 
Coherence 

A 

A 

A 

A 

A 

A 

A 

A 

B 

A 

A 

2.  RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE CHALLENGES: SCENE-SETTER 

2.1. Macroeconomic outlook and developments since the 2020 country report  

Romania’s  economy  grew  robustly  in  recent  years  and  weathered  the  downturn  in  2020 
relatively well. Past economic growth relied mostly on private consumption stimulated through 
repeated tax cuts and increases in the minimum and public wages, resulting in high and growing 
current account and budgetary deficits already before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 
2020,  private  consumption  collapsed  during  the  spring  lockdown  and  external  demand  shocks 
and supply chain disruptions hurt exports. Despite this, real GDP contracted only by 3.9 %, one 
of  the  lowest  contractions  in  the  EU.  As  in  most  countries,  the  evolution  of  economic  activity 
throughout the year was very volatile: following an increase of close to 1 % in the first quarter, 
real GDP sank by 11.8 % in the second quarter before rebounding in the third and fourth quarters 
by  5.5 %  and  4.6 %  respectively.  The  limited  number  of  restrictions  in  the  second  half  of  the 
year  and  the  relatively  robust  evolution  of  wages,  supporting  consumption,  were  behind  the 
relatively  moderate  downturn  in  economic  activity  in  2020.  The  budgetary  deficit  widened 
further to above 9 % of GDP, while the current account deficit increased to around 5 % of GDP. 
Following  two  years  of  growing  inflationary  pressures,  inflation  declined  in  2020  to  2.3 %, 
mainly as a result of a sharp drop in energy prices. 

The  macroeconomic  scenario  contained  in  Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan 
assumes a quick recovery of the economy. According to the Plan, real GDP is set to increase 
by  4.9 %  in  2021  and  accelerate  further  to  5.2 %  in  2022  and  5.6 %  in  2023,  before  slightly 
decelerating  to  5.2 %  in  2024.  Over  the  lifetime  of  the  Plan,  the  Romanian  RRP  envisages  an 
average annual growth of real GDP of 4.8 %, which is comparable to the average growth of the 
Romanian economy in the five years preceding the COVID-19 crisis. The main growth  drivers 
are a strong increase in investment and, to a lesser extent, a recovery in private consumption. Net 

5 

 
 
 
exports  will  reduce  growth.  Following  the  decline  in  2020,  inflation  is  set  to  increase  to  an 
annual average of 3.1 % in 2021 and decline to 2.4 % in 2024. 

The  macroeconomic  scenario  expects  unemployment  to  have  peaked  in  2020.  The 
employment  support  schemes  put  in  place  at  the  onset  of  the  pandemic  have  mitigated  the 
pandemic’s impact on the labour market, with unemployment increasing only moderately from 
3.9 %  in  2019  to  5 %  in  2020.  In  2021,  unemployment  is  forecast  to  decline  to  4.8 %  and 
continue falling to 4 % in 2022 and to 2.8 % in 2026 (see Table 1, below). After a reduction of 
1.8 %  in  2020,  the  number  of  employees  is  forecast  to  pick  up  in  2021 by  0.2 %  and  increase 
further  by  some  0.7 %  in  2022,  according  to  the  Commission’s  Spring  Forecast.  The  share  of 
people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (31.2 % in 2019) is among the highest in the EU and 
significantly above the EU average (20.9 %). Vulnerable groups are more likely to be at risk of 
poverty or social exclusion, including children, the rural population, Roma, low-skilled workers 
and people with disabilities. The crisis is expected to have further accentuated those inequalities. 

Regional  disparities  in  Romania  are  among  the  highest  in  the  EU.  Significant  gaps  across 
regions  persist  in  investment,  productivity,  competitiveness  and  employment.  The  socio-
economic consequences of the pandemic are likely to have reversed a trend of slightly reducing 
disparities between the capital and the rest of the regions and between urban and rural areas.   

The  general  government  budget  deficit was  at  9.2%  of  GDP  in  2020  and  is  set  to  decline 
thereafter. The 2021 budget targets a deficit of 7.13% of GDP in cash terms (which should be 
around  8 %  of  GDP  in  European  System  of  Accounts  terms).  The  government  implemented 
several  fiscal  consolidation  measures  in  2021,  such  as  postponing  an  increase  in  pensions, 
freezing public-sector wages and cancelling certain public sector bonuses and holiday vouchers. 
These  measures  have  been  the  starting  point  for  a  much-needed  fiscal  consolidation  to  stem 
growing risks to fiscal sustainability. At the same time, fiscal policy will support the economic 
recovery.  According  to  the  medium-term  budget  strategy,  the  government  plans  to  gradually 
bring the headline deficit to below 3% of GDP by 2024 in line with the Council recommendation 
to Romania under the Excessive Deficit Procedure3.  

Macroeconomic imbalances have increased in the aftermath of the crisis. In February 2020, 
the  Commission  concluded  that  Romania  was  experiencing  macroeconomic  imbalances,  in 
particular  involving  risks  to  cost  competitiveness,  a  deteriorating  external  position  and  a 
widening current account deficit, in a context of expansionary fiscal policy and an unpredictable 
business environment. The current account deficit widened further in 2020 to around 5% of GDP 
and is set to remain elevated in 2021 and 2022. After years of improvement, the net international 

3 COM(2021) 530 final and Council  Recommendation of 18 June 2021 delivering a  Council opinion on the 2021 
Convergence Programme of Romania, OJ C 304, 29.7.2021  

6 

 
 
                                                           
investment  position  (NIIP)  worsened  to  some  - 47%  of  GDP  in  2020,  and  is  projected  not  to 
improve  this  year  or  next  on  account  of  the  continued  elevated  current  account  deficits.  The 
COVID-19 crisis also led to a significant increase in the government debt, which is expected to 
continue  in  spite  of  the  planned  fiscal  consolidation.  On  the  other  hand,  cost  competitiveness 
pressures  eased  to  some  extent,  despite  the  relatively  robust  performance  of  wages  in  2020. 
Turning to the financial sector, most of the risks to financial stability had already abated before 
the onset of the pandemic due to the amendment of Government Emergency Ordinance 114/2018 
adopted  in  January  2020.  Romanian  banks,  which  are  largely  foreign  owned,  remained  well-
capitalised and liquid throughout 2020. However, the roll-back of support measures could result 
in  an  increase  in  the  number  of  bankruptcies  and  in  the  level  of  non-performing  loans,  with 
negative implications for banks’ balance sheets. 

Debt  sustainability  risks  remain  elevated.  Following  the  onset  of  the  COVID-19  crisis, 
government debt ratios increased (47.3% of GDP in 2020 and 49.7% of GDP forecast in 2021), 
albeit  from  a  relatively  low  level  (35.3%  of  GDP  in  2019).  Policy  unpredictability  remained  a 
concern in  2020, particularly in  the light  of legislation with  significant  consequences  for fiscal 
sustainability  in  the  medium  and  long  term,  in  particular  the  Law  217/2019  on  pensions.  The 
standard fiscal sustainability indicators were showing high risks already prior to the COVID-19 
crisis,  due  to  high  budget  deficits  and  the  projected  significant  rise  in  ageing  costs,  from 
pensions.  Despite  the  relatively  low  government  debt-to-GDP  ratio  compared  to  EU  average, 
Romania faces fiscal sustainability risks in the short term (i.e. the S0 indicator is exceeding its 
critical threshold).  In spring 2020, the  yields of the Romanian sovereign debt spiked to around 
6%, raising concerns about market access. Yields have, however, decreased since then and were 
around 3.2% in July 2021. The Romanian sovereign debt is rated at the lowest investment grade 
and  in  2020  all  three  rating  agencies  revised  the  outlook  for  Romanian  sovereign  debt  from 
stable to negative. However, in spring 2021 the three rating agencies revised the outlook of the 
Romanian sovereign back to stable, on account of decreasing fiscal risks, while maintaining the 
rating.  Overall,  Romania  is  deemed  to  face  high  fiscal  sustainability  risks  also  in  the  medium 
term.  Under  a  baseline  scenario,  the  government  debt  level  is  expected  to  increase  until  2031 
unless there is a change in policies. Moreover, there are risks stemming from the high share of 
government debt held in foreign currency (52.1% of total, out of which 44.1% in EUR as of June 
2021). 

Compared with the latest Commission forecast, the macroeconomic scenario underpinning 
the RRP is less optimistic4. The Commission 2021 Summer Interim Forecast expects real GDP 
in  Romania  to  grow  at  7.4%  and  4.9%  in  2021  and  2022  respectively.  Both  the  Romanian 

4 In August 2021, the National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis revised real GDP growth to 7% in 2021 and 
4.9%  in  2022.  The  Romanian  RRP  submitted  on  31  May  2021  was  not  updated  to  take  into  account  this  revised 
forecast. 

7 

 
 
                                                           
authorities’  forecast  and  the  Commission  one  include  the  full  impact  of  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience Facility (RRF). For net  exports, both the Commission and the Romanian authorities 
expect  a  negative  contribution  to  growth  in  2021  and  2022.  Labour  market  projections  differ 
somewhat as the RRP sees the peak in unemployment in 2020 (4.9%) with a progressive decline 
thereafter. In contrast, the Commission Spring forecast expects unemployment at 5.2% in 2021 
with  a  decline  to  4.8%  in  2022.  Inflation  projections  are  very  similar  for  20215  while  for 
subsequent  years  the  available  data  do  not  allow  to  make  a  comparison.  In  its  Spring  2021 
forecast,  the  Commission  projected  a  general  government  deficit  of  8%  of  GDP  in  2021  and 
7.1%  of  GDP  in  2022,  while  public  debt  was  set  to  reach  49.7%  of  GDP  and  52.7%  of  GDP 
respectively.  Years  beyond  2022  are  currently  not  covered  by  the  Commission  forecast.  The 
Romanian  RRP  does  not  include  estimates  for  the  evolution  of  the  budgetary  deficit  and  the 
government debt. 

The macroeconomic scenario of the RRP was plausible at the time of the submission of the 
Romanian RRP. The economic scenario contained in the Plan was the basis for the preparation 
of the 2021 budget, the National Reform Programme, Stability and Convergence Programme and 
was  developed  by  the  National  Commission  for  Strategy  and  Prognosis.  For  2021  and  2022  it 
was similar to the Commission Spring forecast. Due to the better-than-expected performance of 
the economy in the first  quarter of 2021, these RRP estimates appear now rather cautious. The 
macroeconomic  and  fiscal  outlook  continues  to  be  affected  by  high  uncertainty  related  to  the 
COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences. 

5    In  its  revised  August  forecast  the  National  Commission  for  Strategy  and  Prognosis  estimates  CPI  inflation  to 
average  4.2%  in  2021  and  3.5%  in  2020.  This  is  higher  that  the  Commission’s  Summer  interim  forecast  which 
estimates HICP inflation at 3.1% and 2.9% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The difference may arise not only from 
the  different  timing  of  the  two  forecasts  but  also  from  the  different  compositions  of  the  HICP  and  CPI  consumer 
baskets. 

8 

 
 
                                                           
Table 1: Comparison of macroeconomic developments and forecasts 

2.2. Challenges  related  to  sustainable  growth,  cohesion,  resilience  and  policies  for  the 

next generation  

The  COVID-19  pandemic  had  and  continues  to  have  a  strong  economic,  social  and  sanitary 
impact on Romania, amplifying further some of its structural weaknesses.  

Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth  

Several challenges persist in the Romanian business environment that should be addressed 
in  order  to  support  sustainable  growth.  Excessive  red  tape  and  the  insufficient  capacity  of 
public authorities to deliver quality services, including digital services, negatively affect citizens 
and  businesses,  especially  SMEs.  Regulatory  requirements  for  service  providers,  including 
regulated  professions,  further  impede  market  development.  89%  of  Romanian  businesses  find 
that the complexity of administrative procedures is a problem when doing business, while 96% 
consider  fast-changing  legislation  a  hurdle.  Corruption  also  remains  a  major  problem  for  the 
business  environment6.  Business  licencing  suffers  from  multiple  and  overlapping  procedures7. 
Romania has a small share of high-growth enterprises (HGEs), at around 3-4%, well below the 
11% EU average. These HGEs are highly concentrated (almost exclusively in services) and face 

6 European Commission, (2020). Flash Eurobarometer  Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU. Survey 
number 482. Available at: https://data.europa.eu/euodp/data/dataset/S2248_482_ENG 
7  Based  on  a  recent  OECD  study  of  business  licences  in  Romania  (SRSP  2018-funded  project  -  Comprehensive 
redesign of the licensing system in Romania). 

9 

201920202023202420252026COMCOMCOMRRPCOMRRPRRPRRPRRPRRPReal GDP (% change)4.1-3.95.14.94.95.25.65.24.23.8Employment (% change)-0.1-1.80.10.7Unemployment rate (%)3.955.24.84.843.53.232.8HICP inflation (% change)3.92.32.93.22.72.5General government balance (% of GDP)-4.4-9.2-8-7.1Gross debt ratio (% of GDP)35.347.349.752.7Source: Commission Spring Forecast 2021 (COM); Recovery and resilience plan (RRP)20212022 
 
 
 
                                                           
several  financing  constraints,  especially  in  terms  of  equity  and  debt  financing8.  The  venture 
capital  market  is  underdeveloped9  and  only  2.1%  of  enterprises  engage  in  research  and 
development  activities  that  are  far  below  the  EU  average  (22.6%).  It  is  restrained  to  a  small 
number  of  deals  and  sectors  and  concentrated  in  only  two  regions.  Regulatory  barriers  also 
hamper academia-business cooperation and contributes to the low R&D innovation capacity of 
the private sector. Romania should support the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem both at 
local/regional  and  national  level,  while  simplifying  regulatory  requirements  for  businesses 
through implementing principles such as ‘silence is consent’, ‘only-once’, ‘one-in, one-out’ and 
online accessibility of licencing procedures. 

The  delivery  of  major  reforms  and  public  investments  is  strongly  linked  to  good 
governance,  which  still  needs  to  be  improved.  Decision-making  has  been  in  a  number  of 
situations unpredictable, often resorting to government emergency ordinances, which circumvent 
the  regular  decision-making  process.  The  quality  and  effective  use  of  regulatory  impact 
assessments  and  ex  post  evaluations  still  needs  to  become  common  practice,  while  a  stronger 
framework  for  strategic  and  budgetary  planning  and  more  effective  public  procurement  are 
necessary.  Public  consultations  and  the  integration  of  feedback  received  from  civil  society  are 
not  systematic.  Better  prioritisation  and  developing  high-quality  projects  remain  a  challenge, 
constraining  the  uptake  of  EU  funds.  Public  procurement  efficiency  remains  a  concern.  State-
owned  enterprises  (SOEs),  some  key  for  carrying  out  EU  investments,  often  do  not  follow 
existing corporate governance rules, and political appointments of interim boards have become a 
standard  practice.  Their  financial  performance  has  deteriorated  over  the  years,  with  negative 
implications for the state budget.  Tax compliance and collection remains  a challenge, as is  the 
completion of the administrative reforms to improve the performance of the National Agency for 
Fiscal Administration.  

improved  competitiveness.  The 

The weak and under-funded research and innovation (R&I) system hampers the country’s 
prospects  of  economic  upgrade  and 
institutional 
fragmentation  of  the  public  science  base,  the  low  public  R&D  funding  and  poor  R&I  policy 
governance have resulted in a lack of critical R&D mass, dwindling human resources, brain drain 
and poor science and technology performance. With R&D expenditure of just 0.48% of GDP in 
201910, compared to  its  Europe 2020 country target  of 2%, Romania remains among the worst 
performers  in  the  EU.  Public  R&D  investment  was  0.2%  of  GDP,  while  private  R&D 
expenditure  was  only  0.28%  of  GDP.  Weak  academia-business  cooperation  and  low  R&D 

8 Flachenecker, F., Gavigan, J., Goenaga Beldarrain, X., Pasi, G., Preziosi, N., Stamenov, B. and Testa, G. (2020), 
High Growth Enterprises: demographics, finance and policy measures, EUR 30077 EN, Publications Office of  the 
European Union, Luxembourg. Annex 4.19 to the JRC Technical Report 
9 According to the latest Community Innovation Survey (CIS) (Eurostat). 
10 According to preliminary data, source: INSSE. 

10 

 
 
                                                           
absorption capacity among firms further hinder innovation diffusion and technological catch-up, 
notably  among  domestic  firms.  The  quality  of  the  research  system  could  be  improved  by 
reforming the public science base and allocating sufficient public R&D funding in a competitive 
manner, while providing researchers attractive  careers  and opportunities.  Targeted reforms  and 
funding 
innovative  start-ups  and 
technological catch-up among SMEs are essential for increasing competitiveness and supporting 
the green and digital transition.  

incentives  supporting  academia-business  cooperation, 

The implementation of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) 
strengthened  connections  between  various  levels  of  governance  (national,  regional)  and 
policy  domains  (R&I,  industrial  policies,  regional  development,  higher  education). 
Definition  of  investment  priorities  through  the  RIS3  Entrepreneurial  Discovery  Process 
facilitated  institutional  capacity-building  at  both  national  and  regional  level.  It  is  important  to 
keep  on  with  the  implementation  of  regional  RIS3  by  highlighting  regional  needs,  and 
facilitating  the  emergence  of  new  structures  for  innovation  governance  (e.g.  regional 
consortia).11 

Social and territorial cohesion  

The  COVID-19  pandemic  outbreak  affected  the  Romanian  labour  market  negatively  and 
deepened existing challenges. The unemployment rate rose in 2020, particularly affecting low-
skilled people (8.1% in  2020 compared to 6.3% in 2019) and the  young (youth unemployment 
was at 16.8% in 2020). Services targeted at decreasing inactivity and at easing access to labour 
market, including for vulnerable groups, remain limited. Reforms are needed to strengthen public 
employment services offering adequate activation measures and target upskilling and reskilling 
programmes while gradually phasing out short-time work schemes.   

Poverty  and  income  inequality  deepened  during  the  pandemic  outbreak,  and  regional 
disparities persist, with vulnerable groups being more affected. Emergency policy measures 
to protect incomes during the crisis, together with the pre-existing tax-benefit system, cushioned 
around 86% of households’ income loses, with more than two-thirds due to the temporary wage-
subsidy  schemes12.  However,  coverage  and  adequacy  of  social  assistance  is  low,  while  the 
availability,  quality  and  integration  of  employment,  education,  health  and  social  services  are 
limited. In addition, people with disabilities do not receive enough support for independent living 
and  access  to  employment.  The  situation  of  the  Roma  community  shows  very  little  progress, 

11 Ranga, M. (2018), Smart specialisation as a strategy to develop early-stage regional innovation systems, European 
Planning Studies 26 (11): 2125-2146. 
12 Findings based on the Euromod model: see Christl, M., De Poli, S., Figari, F., Hufkens, T., Leventi, C., Papini, A. 
and  Tumino,  A.  (2021)  “The  cushioning  effect  of  fiscal  policy  in  the  EU  during  the  COVID-19  pandemic”,  JRC 
Working  Papers  on  Taxation  and  Structural  Reforms,  02/2021,  available  at  https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/thematic-
research-fiscal-policy/jrc-working-papers-taxation-and-structural-reforms. 

11 

 
 
                                                           
with significant problems faced in accessing basic services (healthcare, education and housing), 
leading  to  a  growing  divide  in  a  context  of  generally  growing  labour  market  needs  for  skilled 
labour. Housing deprivation is the highest in the EU and is detrimental to social inclusion. The 
social  reference  index13  remained  unchanged  for  many  years  and  depreciated  considerably  in 
relation  to  the  minimum  wage.  One  in  three  atypical  workers  is  at  risk  of  severe  material 
deprivation, while daily and seasonal workers do not have formal access to social security rights 
covering  unemployment,  maternity  leave,  accidents  and  occupational  injuries.  Romania  would 
profit  from  increasing  the  coverage  and  adequacy  of  social  assistance  by  implementing  the 
minimum inclusion income reform initiated in 2016. It should also ensure availability of social 
and protective housing solutions with matching services for vulnerable groups and ensure access 
to social security rights for atypical workers.  

The socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will differ across the regions 
of Romania due to significant investment and productivity gaps and different specialisation 
profiles. This entails a considerable risk of widening regional disparities. The existing challenges 
are likely to increase due to higher unemployment and inactivity. Large regional disparities and 
low productivity of some sectors have a negative impact on long-term sustainable growth. The 
lack of opportunities, access to services and the search for better living conditions are the main 
cause of rural-urban divide, regional disparities and inequalities and emigration. Specific policy 
actions  should  be  implemented  to  improve  the  business  environment,  access  to  basic  public 
services  in  health,  education  and  social-leisure,  access  to  connectivity  and  digital  skills, 
innovation  and  technology,  and  transport  infrastructure.  Complementarity  with  the  Cohesion 
policy  and  other  EU  funds  will  be  important  to  ensure  implementation  of  the  reforms  and 
investments in a mutually reinforcing way. 

Health, economic and social/institutional resilience  

The  current  pandemic  has  exacerbated  the  structural  weaknesses  of  the  Romanian 
healthcare  system.  The  resilience  of  the  health  system  has  been  weakened  by  considerable 
health  workforce  shortages,  by  an  acute  need  for  medical  infrastructure  and  equipment, 
insufficient training for health workers and limited continuity and integration between different 
levels  of  care.  The  pandemic  further  exposed  regional  disparities  and  the  limited  healthcare 
coverage for low-income groups, the elderly and the uninsured. Reforms and investments will be 
needed  to  strengthen  the  health  system.  Health  system  reform  should  be  enacted  in  two  main 
directions.  Hospital  departments  (especially  COVID-related  ones),  health  workers  and 
equipment  need  to  be  maintained  and  expanded.  The  coverage  and  accessibility  of  health 
services for all citizens need to  be improved, reflecting the demographic  trends and the urban-

13  Law  225/2021)  provides  for  yearly  indexation  of  the  social  reference  index.  This  indexation  would  take  effect 
from March 2022 and will be equal to the annual inflation rate. 

12 

 
 
                                                           
rural divide14. This will also require improvements to primary care, outpatient care and long-term 
care, and to the use of e-health and telemedicine services. 

The amendments to the justice laws introduced between 2017 and 2019 raised challenges to 
the  efficiency,  quality  and  independence  of  the  justice  system.  The  current  government  has 
committed to amend the relevant legislation rapidly in line with the recommendation of the 2019 
report  under  the  CVM  and  to  adopt  concrete  measures  to  ensure  the  independence  of  the 
judiciary and reverse the increasing problem of understaffing in the justice system. A first step in 
the direction of reversing past measures was taken by mid-February 2021 when the government 
approved  draft  legislation  to  dismantle  the  Section  for  the  Investigation  of  Offences  in  the 
Judiciary. However, this draft legislation is still pending in Parliament. 

Independently  from  Romania’s  RRP,  and  in  accordance  with  Court  of  Justice  of  the 
European  Union  (CJEU)  case  law,  Romania  has  an  obligation  to  implement  its 
commitments under the CVM. Romania shall take due account, under the principle of sincere 
cooperation laid down in Article 4(3) TEU, of the reports drawn up by the Commission on the 
basis of that decision, and in particular the recommendations made in those reports. The timeline 
of  the  CVM  is  independent  and  the  commitments  agreed  in  the  CVM  process  need  to  be  met 
before the CVM can be closed. 

Policies for the next generation 

Improving the quality, equity and labour market relevance of education and training, and 
advancing basic and digital skills are crucial for economic recovery and building resilience. 
There  is  a  mismatch  between  the  labour  market  needs  and  the  skills  available,  in  a  context  of 
demographic decline. While the employment rate increased between 2016 and 2020 from 61.6% 
to  65.6%, over the last  five  years, the working age population (15-64)15 and the labour force16 
shrank  respectively  by  6%  and  2%,  making  it  even  more  important  to  capitalise  on  existing 
human  resources.  These  trends  are  likely  to  lower  the  contribution  of  labour  to  GDP  growth, 
with  companies  being  challenged  in  filling  vacancies  and  finding  relevant  skills.  The  skills  of 
graduates  from  vocational  and  higher  education  are  not  sufficiently  aligned  with  the  labour 
market,  which  also  contributes  to  the  high  percentage  of  young  people  not  in  education, 
employment or training (14.7% in 2019, the second highest in the EU). The rate of early leavers 
from  education  and  training  is  still  high.  The  level  of  basic  skills  in  reading,  mathematics  and 
science as measured by PISA, and digital skills of young people is also among the lowest in the 
EU. Moreover, digital infrastructure in schools needs urgent improvement, while the rural-urban 
gap in  education and the challenges for Roma inclusion in education persist. Despite measures 

14 See for example, OECD/EC-JRC (2021), Access and Cost of Education and Health Services: Preparing Regions 
for Demographic Change, OECD Rural Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4ab69cf3-en. 
15 Eurostat data code lfsa_pgacws 
16 The active population of the same age group 15-64 

13 

 
 
                                                           
taken by authorities, the closure of schools due to COVID-19 and the ensuing shift to distance 
learning, as well as the disruption of work-based learning modules for vocational and educational 
training  (VET)  students  risk  worsening  educational  outcomes  and  increasing  already  high 
inequalities.  In  this  context,  the  national  implementation  of  a  comprehensive  skills  forecasting 
mechanism  (currently  being  developed  as  part  of  an  EU-funded  project)  is  crucial.  Significant 
investment in skills development across all areas is also urgently needed. 

2.3. Challenges related to the green and digital transition  

Green dimension  

The  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  should  contribute  to  the  green  transition  and  at  least 
37% of the financial allocation needs to contribute to climate objectives. The measures in the 
Plan shall contribute to achieving the 2050 climate neutrality objective, and the 2030 energy and 
climate  targets,  taking  into  account  Member  States’  National  Energy  and  Climate  Plans.  The 
measures  should  also  contribute  to  meeting  environmental  targets  for  waste,  water,  pollution 
control, sustainable mobility, biodiversity protection and restoration, afforestation/reforestation, 
marine and water resources, and support the transition to sustainable food systems as well as to a 
circular  economy  as  appropriate,  while  ensuring  that  nobody  is  left  behind  as  a  result  of  the 
transition.  

Romania has some of the highest rates of carbon intensity and energy poverty in the EU. 
Based on the Commission’s assessment  of Romania’s final  National  Energy  and Climate Plan, 
the country is on track to meet its 2020 energy and climate targets, but not the 2030 targets on 
renewable  energy  and  energy  efficiency.  Moreover,  as  of  1 September 2021,  Romania  has  not 
notified  its  national  long-term  strategy  to  the  Commission  as  required  under  Article  15  of  the 
Governance  Regulation.  Implementing  the  National  Energy  and  Climate  Plan  will  therefore 
require  significant  efforts  to  promote  clean  production  and  use  of  energy,  foster  building 
renovation  and  increase  the  energy  efficiency  of  district  heating  networks.  In  this  context, 
Romania  will  need  to  ensure  a  just  and  fair  transition,  given  possible  negative  impacts  on  the 
country’s  coal-mining  regions  and  the  existing  high  level  of  energy  poverty,  which  makes 
protecting vulnerable consumers essential. 

Romania’s  renewable  energy  contribution  to  the  2030  EU  level  target  falls  below  the 
renewable  share  resulting  from  the  calculation  under  the  Energy  Union  Governance 
Regulation. Steps should be taken to increase the share of renewables in Romania’s energy mix, 

14 

 
 
including  through  improved  infrastructures,  as  these  could  increase  Romania’s  potential  for 
renewable power generation17. 

Investment in energy and resource efficiency is still very low, and Romania’s building stock 
is energy inefficient. Romania has indicated its intention to go beyond a 3-4% renovation rate in 
its National Energy and Climate Plan18. At the same time, the pricing of externalities stemming 
from fossil fuel use, for example through a greener tax system, would provide additional support 
to the transition to a carbon neutral economy and contribute to higher resource efficiency in the 
economy. Consideration of resource efficiency in the production cycle and life cycle of products 
is not developed in the country. 

Given  the  structure  and  evolution  of  the  Romanian  transport  system,  making  it  more 
sustainable  and  safer  remains  a  challenge.  The  GHG  emissions  from  the  transport  sector 
increased in Romania by 52% (vs an overall decrease of 65% across all sectors) over 1990-2019. 
In Romania, the external costs (emissions, pollution, safety, congestion) related to road, rail and 
inland  waterway  transport  were  estimated  at  EUR  22  billion  annually  in  2016,  97%  of  which 
were  generated  by  road  users19.  According  to  the  European  Transport  Scoreboard  2019,  the 
Romanian transport sector scores below the European average in  all aspects  of investment  and 
infrastructure. The general condition and reliability of the road and rail networks are very poor. 
The  infrastructure  is  not  keeping  up  with  the  traffic  demand  generated  by  an  expanding 
economy.  The  road  network  is  among  the  least  developed  in  the  EU  and  registers  one  of  the 
poorest  road  safety  records.  The  reform  of  the  railway  sector  is  stalling.  Moreover,  heavy 
underinvestment  in  maintenance  has  reduced  train  speed  and  affected  delivery  times  of  rail 
freight transport. Urban transport suffers from chronic under-financing, poor sector organisation 
and the weak administrative capacity of local providers. 

The high environmental and social costs and the low efficiency of the country’s transport 
system  require  significant  actions  to:  (i)  promote  a  modal  shift  from  road  to  rail  and 
waterborne transport; (ii) expand electrification of the rail network; (iii) reduce emissions from 
road transport by promoting zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure and introducing measures 

17 In 2017, the electricity interconnection level was 7%, below the 2020 target of 10%. The planned interconnection 
level by 2030 is 15.4. (Commission Assessment of the final National Energy and Climate Plan of Romania. 
Available at: 
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/staff_working_document_assessment_necp_romania.pdf) 
18 Generally, across European cities a renovation rate of 3% in the residential sector can lead to reductions in heating 
and cooling energy use of up to 32.5% by 2030. See, for example, Pohoryles D.A., Maduta C.,  Bournas D.A. and 
Kouris L.A., (2020), "Energy performance of existing residential buildings in Europe: a novel approach combining 
energy with seismic retrofitting", Energy Build., 223, 10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.11002.  
19  European  Commission  (2019),  Sustainable  Transport  Infrastructure  Charging  and  Internalisation  of  Transport 
Externalities, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e0bf9e5d-a386-11e9-9d01-
01aa75ed71a1 

available 

at: 

15 

 
 
                                                           
in  line  with  the  “polluter  pays  principle”;  (iv)  develop  sustainable  urban  mobility  including 
modernisation  and  expansion  of  public  transport  services;  and  (v)  increase  digitalisation  of  all 
transport modes. Since Romania ranks low in the EU on road safety performance (with 96 deaths 
per  million  inhabitants  vs  EU  average  of  51  in  2019),  major  reforms  and  investments  are 
required to improve road safety, particularly in urban and inter-urban areas.  

Poor air quality in Romania has a significant impact on human health in the country20 and 
Romania has so far failed to adopt and submit a national air pollution control programme, 
which was due by April 2019. Moving towards cleaner energy and more sustainable transport 
could  also  be  one  of  the  main  means  to  tackle  Romania’s  challenges  on  air  quality.  In  this 
context,  steps  should  also  be  taken  to  reduce  and  control  air  pollution  from  biomass,  while 
continuing  to  ensure  that  energy  poverty  decreases.  Progress  on  improving  the  air  monitoring 
network will be important, given its serious structural shortcomings. 

Romania’s circular economy has potential, but the country is lagging behind in this area, 
particularly  in  the  area  of  waste  management.  Romania  has  not  yet  developed  a  Circular 
Economy  Strategy  and  Action  Plan.  The  country  also  has  very  low  rates  of  municipal  waste 
recycling (14%) and needs to invest heavily in recycling in the next few years to reach the 2020 
municipal  waste  recycling  target  of  50%21.  Overall,  Romania  continues  to  rely  heavily  on 
mechanical  biological  treatments  and  landfills  (73.5%  landfilling  rate),  including  substandard 
and  illegal  landfills,  while  higher  waste  hierarchy  projects  are  underdeveloped.  A  number  of 
investments in the sector had to be phased from one programming period to the other. Romania 
has adopted its National Waste Management Plan in December 2017, and has recently adopted 
41  county  waste  management  plans  and  the  waste  management  plan  for  the  Bucharest 
Municipality that are expected to be in line with the circular economy package. These are very 
important planning/programmatic documents. 

Romania has one of the lowest compliance rates with EU water legislation (6%) and faces 
the highest investment needs to reach and maintain compliance. Efforts need to be stepped 
up to extend and modernise drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, to ensure a sustainable 
service at a reasonable price. Although there has been progress in recent years, water leakages in 
the public network and lack of urban wastewater treatment are ongoing problems.  

Romania has a diverse landscape and rich ecosystems, translating into an abundance and 
diversity  of  species,  but  has  suffered  from  biodiversity  loss  and  ecosystem  degradation. 

20  The  latest  assessment  of  health  impacts  of  PM2.5  stemming  from  the  European  Environment  Agency’s  2020 
Report on Air Quality in Europe attributes over 25 000 premature deaths in 2018 to air pollution in Romania. 
21  Commission’s Early Warning Report (2018). Available at: 
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/early_warning_report_RO.pdf and the Environmental Implementation 
Review 2019, Country Report Romania, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/pdf/report_ro_en.pdf  

16 

 
 
                                                           
Only  68.2%  of  its  habitat  types  and  45.7%  of  its  species  of  Community  interest  were  in 
favourable  conservation  status  in  2013-201822.  Throughout  the  last  two  decades,  Romania  has 
been affected by severe inland and coastal floods, droughts and land degradation, in part due to 
climate change. Protecting nature and reversing the degradation of ecosystems while putting in 
place a green infrastructure strategy is therefore necessary to preserve Romania’s ecosystem and 
build resilience to threats like adverse effects of climate change. The current lack of integration 
between nature policy  and  other policy areas, especially in  the farming sector, are obstacles to 
nature  protection  and  contribute  to  ongoing  biodiversity  loss.  In  addition,  intensive  illegal 
logging of Romanian forests is an ongoing problem, leading to a reduction in the natural carbon 
sink of forests, a significant loss of biodiversity and an increase in disaster risks. 

Green taxation is relatively low and Romania has not yet used green budgeting. Revenues 
from environmental taxes as percent of GDP are low (2.1% of GDP vs. the EU average of 2.4% 
of  GDP  in  2018).  This  relates  to  transport  taxes  excluding  fuel  (0.14%  of  GDP  vs.  the  EU 
average  of  0.46%  of  GDP  in  2018)  and  taxes  on  pollution/resources  (0%  of  GDP  vs.  the  EU 
average  of  0.1%  of  GDP  in  2018).  In  2018,  Romania  had  no  carbon  emission-based  vehicle 
taxation. 

The  table  below  gives  an  overview  of  Romania’s  objectives,  targets  and  contributions  under 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 
on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action. 

Table 2: Romania’s objectives, targets and contributions under the Governance Regulation 

National targets and contributions  

Latest 
available data 

2020 

2030 

Binding target for greenhouse gas 
emissions compared to 2005 under the 
Effort Sharing Regulation (%) 

14% (2018 
preliminary – 
based on EEA 
estimates) 

24% 

30.7% 

National target/contribution for 

renewable energy: Share of energy 
from renewable sources in gross final 
consumption of 

energy (%) 

23.9% (2018) 

24% 

30.7% 

National contribution for energy efficiency: 

Assessment of 
2030 ambition 
level 

Unambitious 

(34% is the result 
of the RES 
formula) 

Unambitious 

(34% is the result 
of the RES 
formula) 

22 https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity/state-of-nature-in-the-eu/article-17-national-summary-
dashboards/conservation-status-and-trend. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Primary energy consumption (Mtoe) 

32.6 

43    

32.3 

Low ambition 

Final energy consumption (Mtoe) 

23.6  

30.3  

25.7 

Very low ambition 

Level of electricity interconnectivity 
(%) 

9.3% 

10%         15.4%  N.A. 

Source: Assessment of the final National Energy and Climate Plan of Romania, 
SWD (2020) 922 final. 

Digital dimension  

The  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  should  contribute  to  the  digital  transition  and  at  least 
20% of the financial allocation needs to contribute to digital objectives. The measures in the 
Plan should, inter alia, contribute to the digital transformation of the economic and social sectors 
(including  public  administration,  public  services,  and  the  justice,  health  or  education  systems). 
The objective of the measures in the Plan should be to improve not only the competitiveness, but 
also  the  resilience,  agility  and  security  of  companies  and  public  actors,  all  while  ensuring 
inclusiveness. 

Romania ranks 26th among the 27 EU Member States in the Digital Economy and Society 
Index (DESI) 202023. On connectivity, Romania performs better than the EU average, ranking 
11th  in  the  EU.  However,  an  urban-rural  divide  exists  in  digital  infrastructure:  while  38%  of 
households  in  rural  areas  benefit  from  very-high-capacity  networks  (EU  average  of  20%), 
broadband  take-up  stalled  at  66%  of  households  and  is  well  below  the  EU  average  of  78%. 
Meanwhile,  the  5G  pioneer  bands  should  be  assigned  on  a  timely  basis,  under  conditions 
conducive to investment, although key legislation still needs adopting in order to safeguard 5G 
networks security. 

Romania  needs  to  improve  the  digital  skills  of  its  population  and  labour  force,  while 
reducing the urban-rural digital divide. Despite several initiatives to digitalise the education 
system, the need to improve the acquisition of digital skills remains high. There is a significant 
digital  divide  between  urban  areas  (where  5%  of  schools  are  not  connected)  and  rural  areas 
(where 24% of schools are not connected). Although the academic education offer of advanced 
digital  skills  is  well represented in  Romania in  the domains of  artificial  intelligence (AI), high 

23 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/scoreboard/romania. 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
performance  computing,  cybersecurity  and  data  science,  at  Bachelor  and  Master  levels24,  the 
education  and  training  system,  which  includes  vocational  and  educational  training  as  well  as 
higher  education,  does  not  facilitate  adequate  acquisition  of  digital  skills.  Due  to  insufficient 
availability of digital devices and the digital skills gap among pupils and teachers, the COVID-
19  shift  to  distance  learning  posed  challenges,  especially  for  disadvantaged  groups,  including 
from rural areas and Roma. However, Romania is performing well with regard to ICT graduates, 
ranking  5th  among  EU  Member  States,  with  5.6%  of  all  graduates  receiving  a  degree  in  this 
field. However, due to the low number of tertiary graduates, the availability of tertiary educated 
professionals,  including  in  ICT,  is  insufficient.  Romania  continues  to  have  the  lowest  rate  of 
adult  learning  in  the  EU  (1%  in  2020),  exacerbating  the  insufficient  digital  skills  among  the 
labour force.  

Adoption of digital technologies in Romanian businesses is below the EU average. 31% of 
them use at least two AI technologies (above the EU average of 25%) and 48 % are using at least 
one  AI  technology  (above  the  EU  average  of  42%  as  well).  While  cloud  computing,  smart 
devices  and  high-speed  infrastructure  show  the  largest  gaps  compared  to  the  EU  average,  the 
adoption of robotics and blockchain compares to the EU average. In addition, the share of firms 
expecting higher levels of growth as a result of increased digitalisation is also far below the EU 
average, i.e. 20% versus 31%25. Consequently, Romania should also improve the digitisation of 
businesses,  with  a  national  strategy  focusing  on  the  digital  transformation  of  enterprises  and 
promoting  digital  interactions  between  the  State  and  private  companies  as  much  as  possible. 
Targeted measures are needed to support the digitalisation of SMEs and raise awareness on the 
relevance and benefits of adopting digital technologies. 

On  performance  of  digital  public  services,  Romania  has  ranked  low  among  EU  Member 
States  during  the  past  3  years,  a  fact  that  was  particularly  highlighted  by  the  pandemic. 
Against  this  background,  the  main  barriers  to  achieving  functional  digital  public  services  in 
Romania are: (i) the lack of coordination between public institutions in setting up such services; 

24 Righi,  R., López-Cobo, M., Alaveras, G., Samoili, S., Cardona, M.., Vázquez-Prada Baillet, M., Ziemba, L.W., 
and De Prato, G. (2020), Academic offer of advanced digital skills in 2019-20. International comparison. Focus on 
Artificial  Intelligence,  High  Performance  Computing,  Cybersecurity  and  Data  Science,  JRC  Technical  Report. 
Romania ranks 2nd among EU27, UK and Norway in  AI  and 3rd in data  science and high-performance computing 
courses  and  is  the  only  country  offering  specialised  bachelors  in  high-performance  computing,  leading  the 
specialised  offer  in  this  area.  See,  for  example,  Gómez  Losada,  Á.,  López-Cobo,  M.,  Samoili,  S.,  Alaveras,  G., 
Vázquez-Prada Baillet, M., Cardona, M., Righi, R., Ziemba, L., and De Prato, G. (2020) Estimation of supply and 
demand  of  tertiary  education  places  in  advanced  digital  profiles  in  the  EU.  Focus  on  Artificial  Intelligence,  High 
Performance Computing, Cybersecurity and Data Science, JRC. 
25 Benedetti Fasil, C, Domnick, C, Fako, P, Flachenecker, F., Gavigan, J. P., Janiri, M. L., del Rio, J-C, Stamenov, 
B.  and  Testa,  G.,  High  Growth  Enterprises  in  the  COVID-19  Crisis  Context  demographics,  environmental 
innovations, digitalization, finance and policy measures, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 
2021 

19 

 
 
                                                           
(ii)  the  migration  of  IT  specialists  from  the  public  sector  to  the  private  sector  or  to  other 
countries;  and  (iii)  the  overall  lack  of  digital  skills.  Moreover,  while  digital  public  services 
should  be  expanded,  special  attention  should  be  paid  to  interoperability,  which  has  been  a 
eIDAS 
on 
In 
recurring 
(electronic identification, authentication and trust services) have not yet been finalised.  

addition, 

actions 

recent 

years. 

issue 

the 

in 

The  low  level  of  digitalisation  of  Romania’s  research  system  constitutes  a  significant 
obstacle to the digital transition. Insufficient R&D investments in the digitalisation of research 
organisations, particularly to develop national data infrastructures compatible with the European 
Science Cloud, are limiting the country’s science and technology performance. Although the ICT 
sector  has  a  large  innovation  potential  and  is  one  of  the  few  economic  sectors  with  a  high 
number of innovative start-ups and scale-ups, its R&D investment intensity is among the lowest 
in  the  EU.  Addressing  this  issue  requires  funding  measures  aimed  at  increasing  firms’  R&D 
absorption  capacity  and  their  management/organisational  capacities  to  carry  out  innovation 
activities. 

Romania’s involvement in multi-country projects could be further enhanced. The country is 
the  co-signatory  of  several  declarations  and  initiatives  at  EU  level  (e.g.  on  next  generation  for 
cloud for business and the public sector, processors and semiconductor technologies, European 
Blockchain  Partnership,  quantum  communication  infrastructure  and  cooperation  on  artificial 
intelligence)  and  a  member  of  the  European  High  Performance  Computing  Joint  Undertaking. 
Romanian enterprises are adopting artificial intelligence.  

Romania still lags behind the EU average in greening the digital sector. The transition to a 
digitalised  administration,  economy  and  society  should  not  hinder  the  country’s  environmental 
objectives. In 2018, Romania was among the worst performers at EU level for CO2 emissions by 
information  industries,  with  the  figure  reaching  24.4  tons/million  of  GDP.  Investing  in  key 
digital technologies such as ultra-low-voltage (ULV) processors will enable Romania to achieve 
large improvements in energy efficiency and will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the 
same  time,  data  centres  account  for  the  largest  share  of  greenhouse  gas  emissions  in  the  ICT 
sector  (45%).  Investing  in  greener  data  centres  will  therefore  yield  positive  results  in  terms  of 
reducing Romania’s carbon footprint. 

20 

 
 
Graph 1: Relative performance of Romania compared to EU average for the five DESI 2020 
dimensions 

h
t
i

w
y
r
t
n
u
o
C

e
r
o
c
s

t
s
e
h
g
h

i

h
t
i

w
y
r
t
n
u
o
C

e
r
o
c
s

t
s
e
w
o

l

DESI 2020 - relative performance by dimension

DESI

1 Connectivity 2 Human capital

3 Use of
internet
services

4 Integration of
digital
technology

5 Digital public
services

Romania

EU 28

Romania’s ranking in the Digital Economy and Society Index 2020. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-
single-market/en/scoreboard/romania  

Note: EU aggregate corresponds to EU28, based on 2020 DESI report. 

21 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Box 1: Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals 

Sustainable Development Goals and the four dimensions underpinning the Annual 
Sustainable Growth Strategy.

The  objectives  of  the  Sustainable  Development  Goals  are  integrated  in  the  European  Semester 
since the 2020 cycle. This provides a strong commitment towards sustainability in coordination 
of economic and employment policies in the EU. In that respect, this section outlines Romania’s 
performance  with  respect  to  SDGs  with  particular  relevance  for  the  four  dimensions 
underpinning  the  2021  Annual  Sustainable  Growth  Strategy  and  of  relevance  to  the  Recovery 
and  Resilience  Plans  (green  transition,  fairness,  digital  transition  and  productivity,  and 
macroeconomic stability), indicating possible areas where investments and reforms in line with 
the objectives of the Facility could further accelerate the progress on the SDGs. 

Green Transition 

The performance on SDGs related to the green transition is mixed. For instance, Romania is well 
below the EU average on greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, with an index of 46.8 vs 79.3 for 
the  EU.  On  sustainable  cities  and  communities,  Romania  displays  an  overcrowding  rate  of 
46.3%, well above the EU average of 17.1%. The country’s primary energy consumption is close 
to the EU average with an index of 90.3. 

22 

 
 
 
Fairness 

Romania displays a critical, although improving, situation regarding the fairness of society and 
economy.  The  performance  on  SDG  1  ‘No  poverty’  improved  until  2018,  when  the  rate  of 
people at risk of poverty or social inclusion dropped to 32.5%,  still considerably above the EU 
average  of  21.6%.  Romania  is  performing  well  below  the  EU  average  in  terms  of  good  health 
and well-being, with a life expectancy for men and women of 71.7 and 79.9 years respectively in 
2018.  The  rate  of  early  leavers  from  education  and  training  dropped  from  19.1%  in  2015  to 
15.6%  in  2020.  The  gender  pay  gap  is  improving,  having  reached  2.2%  in  2018,  down  from 
5.6% in 2015 and well below the EU average (14.1% in 2018). 

Digital transition and productivity 

As  regards  SDG  9  ‘Industry,  innovation,  and  infrastructure’,  Romania  scores  very  low  on  the 
gross domestic expenditures on R&D ranking, with 0.6% in 2018 compared to the EU average of 
2.2%.  The  country  is  also  lagging  behind  in  patent  applications,  with  only  100  sent  to  the 
European  Patent  Office  in  2017.  The  performance  on  SDG  8  ‘Decent  work  and  economic 
growth’ is weak regarding ‘real GDP per capita’ and ‘resource productivity’ in 2018. Romania is 
slightly  over  the  EU  average  for  the  ‘investment  share  of  GDP’  (21%  in  2018),  but  faced  a 
notable drop compared to 2013 levels. The share of ‘young people neither in employment nor in 
education and training’ remained high in 2018 (17%) vs the EU average (12.9%), although it has 
improved  since  2013.  The  employment  rate  increased  in  recent  years,  approaching  the  EU 
average (69.9% vs 73.2% at EU level) in 2018, while the long-term unemployment rate remains 
lower than the EU average. 

Macroeconomic stability 

Romania  achieves  worse-than-EU-average  scores  on  SDG  16  ‘Peace,  justice,  and  strong 
institutions’. Particularly, for access to justice, the general government expenditure on law courts 
has  progressively  improved  in  the  last  15  years,  whereas  the  perceived  independence  of  the 
justice system among the general public has varied considerably in the past five years: the share 
of Romanians grading the justice system as very/fairly good was 51% in 2016, decreased to 40% 
in 2019 and increased back to 51% in 2020, still below the 54% EU average for this last year. 

3.  OBJECTIVES, STRUCTURE AND GOVERNANCE OF THE PLAN 

3.1. Overall strategy of the Plan  

The  Romanian  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  aims  to  support  Romania’s  socio-economic 
recovery and long-term development after the COVID-19 pandemic. It also aims to increase 
the growth potential while addressing long-standing challenges. The reforms and investments are 
structured  around  six  pillars:  i)  Green  Transition,  ii)  Digital  Transformation,  iii)  Smart, 
sustainable, and inclusive growth, iv) Social and territorial cohesion, v) Health and economic and 
social resilience, and vi) Next Generation. 

23 

 
 
The Green Transition pillar includes key measures to decarbonise the energy and transport 
sectors.  It  includes  reforms  to  phase-out  coal  power  production  by  2032,  unlock  renewable 
energy and energy renovation potential, sustainable mobility, water and waste management and 
biodiversity,  which  are  essential  steps  for  decarbonisation  and  to  strengthen  the  circular 
economy.  Investments  in  RES,  energy  and  resource  efficiency  of  public  and  private  buildings, 
environment,  and  dedicated  measures  on  the  circular  economy  will  also  enable  the  green 
transition  in  key  sectors  of  the  economy.  The  significant  amount  of  investments  in  sustainable 
transport is  accompanied by  reforms to  promote  road decarbonisation, zero-emission transport, 
road  safety  and  modal  shift  towards  railways  and  waterways.  A  large  share  of  the  proposed 
measures  for  sustainable  transport  aim  to  contribute  to  the  reduction  of  GHG  emissions  and 
pollution  through  investment  in  rail  infrastructure  and  rolling  stock,  in  sustainable  urban 
transport,  as  well  as  in  electric  vehicle  (EV)  recharging  infrastructure  and  flanking  measures 
proposed to reduce the impact of new motorways.  

The  Digital  Transformation  pillar  focuses  on  digital  public  services  for  citizens  and 
companies,  connectivity,  cybersecurity  and  digital  skills.  Reforms  and  investments  target 
governmental  cloud,  large  scale  electronic  identity  card  deployment,  digitalisation  of  crucial 
activities  and  sectors  such  as  public  procurement,  environmental  policy,  the  justice  system, 
healthcare provision and labour market integration. The investments, going well beyond the mere 
acquisition  of  equipment,  aim  for  the  development  and  implementation  of  advanced 
technologies, which are expected to lead to process optimisations and increased accessibility and 
availability  of  interoperable  public  services  that  are  compliant  with  the  once-only  principle. 
Beyond  the  Digital  Transformation  pillar,  each  of  the  Plan’s  15  components  includes  digital-
related  measures,  notably  component  9  (Business  support  and  R&D&I)  which  focusses  on  the 
digitalisation of companies and component 15 (Education). 

The pillar on ‘Smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth’ aims at addressing key challenges 
in  the  tax  administration,  tax  system,  government  budgetary  framework,  and  pension 
system,  at  strengthening  the  business  environment  in  Romania,  including  the  research, 
development and innovation sector. It includes key measures aimed at a more efficient and fair 
tax  system,  increasing  the  revenue  collection  capacity  of  the  State  budget,  digitalising  the 
National  Agency  of  Fiscal  Administration,  improving  the  budgetary  programming  mechanism, 
as  well  as  correcting  inequities  in  the  pension  system  and  ensuring  the  sustainability  and 
predictability of the pension system. For the private sector, it focuses on the simplification and 
digitalisation  of  regulatory  requirements.  Significant  financial  support  is  foreseen  for  the 
digitalisation and the increase of energy efficiency of SMEs, and for a multi-country project in 
microelectronics, contributing to the objectives of the new Industrial Strategy26 for fostering the 

26 See European Commission, Updating the 2020 New Industrial Strategy, COM(2021) 350 final, 05.05.2021 

24 

 
 
                                                           
twin transition, and to increased open strategic autonomy. On R&D&I, Romania aims to address 
the  unclear  governance,  the  fragmentation  and  effectiveness  of  the  R&D&I  system  and  to 
promote its cooperation with the private sector.  

The pillar on ‘Social and territorial cohesion’ aims to implement urban policies, including 
urban  mobility,  focusing  on  green  and  digital  investments  and  on  reducing  regional 
disparities. It also aims at developing the tourism sector and supporting the digital transition of 
the cultural and creative sectors.  

The pillar on ‘Health and economic and social resilience’ covers a broad array of measures 
including  health,  social  and  public  administration.  More  concretely,  it  focuses  on  measures 
directed at increasing access to health services for the vulnerable, developing the outpatient care 
dimension  and  improving  the  quality  of  care,  while  also  upgrading  health  infrastructure.  On 
social aspects, the aim is for a new regulatory framework to cover families living in poverty with 
dependent children, elderly and adults with disabilities. It also includes the operationalisation of 
the minimum inclusion income and a voucher system for the formalisation of domestic work. As 
regards public administration, the pillar includes a broad set of reforms and investments aimed at 
improving governance through a predictable, informed and participatory decision-making system 
with  quality  civil  servants  and  more  efficient  justice  and  anti-corruption  systems.  Finally,  the 
pillar also addresses the governance and efficiency of state-owned enterprises.  

The ‘Next Generation’ pillar aims at facilitating large scale investments, backed by tailored 
reforms,  in  the  education  and  training  system  in  view  of  improving  quality,  equity  and 
labour market relevance. Investments will be backed by reforms setting the appropriate legal 
frameworks  for  the  investments  to  be  properly  implemented.  Key  reforms  focus  on  improving 
early childhood education and care, reducing early school leaving, setting-up a full professional 
route for dual education and the digitalisation of education and training. It also aims at improving 
environmentally-friendly safety and quality standards at all education levels. 

Table 3: Components and associated costs 

Component 

Pillar “Green Transition” 
1.  Water management 
2.  Forests and Biodiversity protection 
3.  Waste management 
4.  Sustainable transport 
5.  Renovation Wave 
6.  Energy 
Pillar “Digital Transformation” 

Total Costs 
(EUR million) 

Costs 
(EUR million) 
Non-
repayable 
support 

Loans 

781.00 

3 906.00 

460.00 

1 462.00 
392.00 
1 239.00 
3 714.00 
2 200.00 
1 160.00 

1 462.00 
1 173.00 
1 239.00 
7 620.00 
2 200.00 
1 620.00 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Component 

7.  Digital transformation 
Pillar “Smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth” 
8.  Fiscal and pension reforms 
9.  Business support and R&D&I 
Pillar “Social and territorial cohesion” 
10. Local fund  
11. Tourism and culture 
Pillar “Health and economic and social resilience” 
12. Healthcare 
13. Social reforms 
14. Good governance 
Pillar “Next Generation” 
15. Education 
Total 

3.2. Implementation aspects of the Plan  

Costs 
(EUR million) 
Non-
repayable 
support 
1 827.06 

57.90 

Loans 

456.93 

1 200.00 

2 450.01 
107.69 
165.60 

2 558.63 

900.00 
449.00 

89.05 

Total Costs 
(EUR million) 

1 884.96 

456.93 
2 558.63 

2 100.00 
449.00 

2 450.01 
196.74 
165.60 

2 885.39 
14 239.69  14 942.15 

720.57 

3 605.97 
29 181.84 

Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan provides justifications for its consistency with the 
objectives  and  priorities  of  other  European  and  national  programmes.  The  Plan  aims  to 
provide detailed justification for its consistency and alignment with the objectives and priorities 
of  the  Just  Transition  Fund  and  other  funds  and  initiatives  under  the  Common  Provision 
Regulation27, as  well as  other initiatives such as the National  Reform Programme of Romania, 
the European Digital Strategy28 and the National Energy and Climate Plan. The reform linked to 
the coal phase-out constitutes a key element to define the transition process towards a climate-
neutral  economy,  a  step  necessary  to  program  further  resources  under  the  Just  Transition 
Mechanism.  

The  Multiannual  Financial  Framework  2021-2027,  the  Partnership  Agreement  with 
Romania  and  the  Programmes  to  be  developed  for  the  implementation  of  the  Structural 
Funds are still at very preliminary stages of preparation. The Plan acknowledges significant 
complementarities  with  cohesion  policy  funds  of  which  Romania  is  among  the  main 

27 Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common 
provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the 
Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and 
for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support 
for Border Management and Visa Policy, OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 159–706. 
28 Shaping Europe’s Digital Future (February 2020) 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
beneficiaries  in  the 2021-2027 financing period both  in  absolute terms  and as in  percentage of 
GDP. In particular, the Romanian Recovery and Resilience Plan stipulates that its structure shall 
complement  the  projects  supported  by  the  Cohesion  policy  in  order  to  optimise  the  use  of  EU 
funds allocated to Romania. Given that the 2021- 2027 Partnership Agreement and programmes 
are  still  pending  finalisation  and  adoption,  all  potential  areas  of  support  under  the  Cohesion 
policy  funds  indicated  in  the  plan  are  still  subject  to  negotiations  with the  Commission  and  as 
such cannot be prejudged. Complementarities are particularly relevant for areas where reforms or 
investments that will be kick-started with the Recovery and Resilience Facility support could at a 
later stage benefit from  support under  ERDF, the Cohesion  Fund and ESF+ in  order to  ensure 
their  impact  in  the  long-term,  such  as  the  circular  economy,  energy,  sustainable  transport, 
digitalisation,  health,  education,  social  inclusion  and  protection  and  employment  policies,  and 
health  sector.  Romania  will  use  the  Technical  Support  Instrument  for  the  development  of  the 
Circular  Economy  Strategy  and  the  improvement  of  the  efficiency  of  the  public  procurement 
system. 

The  Social  Reforms  and  Investments  (component  13)  are  complementary  to  investments 
financed  by  the  Structural  Funds,  in  particular  in  the  provision  of  services  for  Integrated 
Community Centers for those at risk (including children and persons with disabilities). While the 
Partnership  Agreement  for  the  2021-2027  period  has  not  yet  been  finalised,  synergies  are  also 
expected  to  be  created  between  investments  from  the  Cohesion  funds  and  the  Plan  measures 
taken  in  education,  healthcare  and  employment.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  component  15 
(Education), which focuses on reducing early school leaving or improving the participation rate 
in  early  childhood  education  and  care.  The  Plan  explains,  for  example,  how  investments  in 
expanding the capacity  of Early Childhood Education and Care facilities will be matched with 
building  the  methodological  norms  for  training  the  necessary  staff  (financed  from  other  EU-
funding sources). Complementary measures to the Early School Leaving investments in the Plan 
are also intended to be included in the Programmes, tackling the broad array of causes leading to 
school abandonment. Measures aiming to increase the digital competence of the population will 
be  complementary  to  interventions  planned  under  the  2021-2027  Programmes.  The  Plan 
indicates complementarities with those measures, targeting quality of primary, community-based 
and outpatient care services, including trainings of healthcare staff (See Annex 3.2.10.). 

A  multi-level  governance  is  envisaged  for  the  implementation  and  monitoring  of  the 
Recovery and Resilience Plan. This includes in particular: at central level, the coordination is 
ensured  by  the  Inter-ministerial  Committee  for  the  Coordination  of  the  Plan,  responsible  for 
examining progress in the implementation of the Plan, in close cooperation with the Ministry of 
Investment and European Projects (‘MIEP’). MIEP is appointed as national coordinator for the 
preparation,  negotiation  and  approval  of  the  Plan,  assisted  by  the  Ministry  of  Public  Finances. 
Throughout the implementation, it will be important to ensure appropriate coordination between 
the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  and  the  programmes  co-financed  by  the  Cohesion  and 
Regional  funds  as  well  as  other  funds,  such  as  the  Innovation  Fund  and  Modernisation  Fund 
under the EU Emissions Trading System. 

As  regards  gender  equality  and  equal  opportunities  for  all,  the  Plan  describes  existing 
national  challenges  and  outlines  which  reforms  and  investments  are  expected  to  contribute  to 

27 

 
 
furthering these aims across the different pillars of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, such as 
the  introduction  of  a  mandatory  minimum  threshold  for  women’s  participation  in  training, 
education  or  digital  literacy  programmes  of  50%  in  the  Digital  transformation  pillar,  and 
investments in social housing for disadvantaged or vulnerable people in the Social and territorial 
cohesion  pillar.  Romania  foresees  that,  for  the  purpose  of  monitoring  and  reporting,  data  on 
participants benefiting from interventions or institutional or policy implementation developments 
will be disaggregated by variables such as sex, age, disability and, where possible, membership 
of a minority group. 

Romania  carried  out  stakeholder  consultations  with  local  and  regional  authorities,  social 
partners,  civil  society  organisations,  the  business  community  and  other  relevant  stakeholders 
before  the  submission  of  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan.  The  Ministry  of  Investments  and 
European Projects organised 12 public consultation events in February 2021, as well as 20 inter-
ministerial  meetings  to  prioritise  the  investments  and  reforms  to  be  included  in  the  national 
Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Romanian authorities indicate they received 1,939 proposals 
as a result of consultations, which have been filed and used in the preparation of the Plan, with a 
special  emphasis  on  environment,  public  administration  reform,  and  social  components. 
Following  the  stakeholder  and  inter-ministerial  consultation  meetings,  the  draft  Plan  was 
published for public consultation and briefly presented to the Parliament before being adopted by 
the Government and subsequently officially submitted to the Commission on 31 May. 

For the Plan implementation, consultations with relevant stakeholders and social partners 
are foreseen for key reforms (e.g. for the minimum wage setting and the pension reforms, the 
Social Dialogue law, for the phase-out of coal power production, for the reforms in the field of 
water and waste management, and for the development of the National Hydrogen Strategy).  

Romania has included in its Recovery and Resilience Plan the estimated cost for additional 
technical support, under the Technical Support Instrument, in accordance with Article 7(2) 
of the RRF Regulation, for the implementation of two reforms. In particular, the additional 
support  for  reform  4,  component  6  (Energy)  shall  aim  to  develop  a  legislative  and  regulatory 
framework  conducive to  future technologies, in  particular hydrogen and  storage solutions.  The 
support will thus  contribute to  the development  of the National  Hydrogen Strategy  and Action 
Plan. It will do so by carrying out a strategic environmental assessment and a public consultation 
for  the  strategy;  assessing  the  hydrogen  production  potential  from  renewable  energy  sources; 
analysing  and  developing  proposals  for  improving  the  legislative  framework  for  hydrogen  and 
developing  effective  governance  structures  for  implementing  the  hydrogen  strategy.  Moreover, 
the  additional  technical  support  for  reform  9,  component  14  (Good  governance)  shall  aim  to 
improve the procedural framework for the implementation of corporate governance principles in 
state-owned  enterprises  (SOEs).  Recommendations  should  be  provided  to  support  the  work  of 
the SOE governance structure which will be created. Specific areas of advice include legislative 
review,  analysis  of  SOEs  by  functional  area,  review  of  the  state  ownership  policy, 
operationalisation  of  the  structure/task  force,  and  selection  of  key  performance  indicators  to 
monitor activities of SOEs. 

28 

 
 
In addition, the Technical Support Instrument provides expertise in building capacities to 
monitor the implementation of the entire Plan and coordination with other EU and non EU 
support instruments, as well as in a number of areas it covers, such as policy coordination and 
coherence, digitalisation, public procurement, circular economy, energy market, establishment of 
the  National  Development  Bank  and  implementation  of  a  mechanism  preventing  early  school 
leaving. Support for the design and implementation of R&I policy reforms under component 9 is 
currently  provided  through  a  project  of  the  Horizon  Policy  Support  Facility  launched  in  June 
2021. 

In  accordance  with  Article  18(4),  point  (g)  of  the  RRF  Regulation,  the  Plan  includes  a 
security-self assessment for investments related to the government cloud and 5G networks. 
For  cloud,  Romania  identifies  the  risks  related  to  governance,  service  delivery  strategy, 
architecture  implementation,  infrastructure  security,  access  control  and  identity  management, 
information  (data)  management,  IT  operations,  management  of 
technology  providers, 
sustainability, including possible mitigation risks. As regards connectivity measures, in particular 
for the use of 5G networks, risk scenarios are related to insufficient security measures, 5G supply 
chain,  risk  scenarios  related  to  modus  operandi  of  key  threat  actors,  risks  in  relation  to 
interdependencies  between  5G  networks  and  other  critical  systems,  end-user  risk  scenarios  of 
devices.  Mitigation  measures  include  the  development  of  a  national  cybersecurity  regulatory 
framework and a defence and cybersecurity act, among others. Under the reforms in component 
7 (Digital transformation), Romania is expected to implement 12 out of the 39 recommendations 
of the Common Union Toolbox for Connectivity. Moreover, a flagship reform includes the entry 
into force of the 5G network security law which shall foresee special authorisation requirements 
for manufacturers of 5G equipment and software. Strategic measures mentioned in the security 
self-assessment would need to be closely monitored during the implementation of the Plan. 

Romania’s  Plan  includes  participation  in  a  multi-country  project  in  the  digital  sector  on 
Low  Power  Processors  and  Semiconductor  Chips,  expected  to  be  implemented  mainly 
through participation or association to a planned Important Project of Common European Interest 
(IPCEI).  Romania  is  expected  to  be  involved  at  European  level  through  the  participation  or 
association  of  at  least  ten  members  of  the  national  ecosystem  to  this  project.  Moreover,  under 
this project, the Plan includes measures for skills development for the design, manufacture and 
application  of  microelectronic  components  and  systems  and  for  securing  intellectual  property. 
The Plan also includes investments along the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) corridors, such 
as  the  development  of  at  least  315  km  of  the  European  Rail  Transport  Management  System, 
which should allow the interoperability with the rail systems of other Member States. 

The Recovery and Resilience Plan sets out Romania´s communication plans. The objectives 
of the communication strategy are in line with the RRF Regulation and aim to raise awareness 
about the Plan’s contribution to the Romanian and European recovery and to the twin transition. 
The  described  communication  strategy  objective  is  to  raise  awareness  of  the  financial 
contributions  from  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  for  fostering  reforms  and  investments 
that  are  instrumental  for  the  economic  and  social  recovery  and  resilience.  Communication 
activities will be targeted to the general public, potential and final beneficiaries, media and other 
stakeholders  and  will  be  closely  correlated  to  the  six  pillars  of  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 

29 

 
 
Mechanism, which are also the six pillars of Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. Specific 
key  messages  will  be  included  in  the  communication  campaign,  around  the  central  idea  of  a 
reformed and modernised Romania with the help of the Plan. 

The strategy indicates that communication activities will be organised both at central and 
project/beneficiaries  level.  Visual  Identity  Guide  with  mandatory  communication  rules  for 
beneficiaries  will  be  developed.  Romania  plans  to  use  the  following  communication  channels: 
Websites and social networks, public online and offline events, interviews in print, TV and radio 
media,  and  online  publications,  newsletters,  as  well  as  outdoor  publicity  and  stories/reports  at 
project level. Key reforms and investments for communication have been identified, based on the 
following criteria: green/digital content; essential reforms for the modernisation of Romania; and 
the maturity of the initiative. A list of minimum communication activities to be carried out will 
be stipulated and costs will be part of the costs of projects/reforms. The communication strategy 
will  be  monitored  based  on  a  number  of  indicators  specified  in  the  communication  plan 
periodically  evaluated.  It  is  essential  that  the  described  communication  plan  is  implemented. 
Coordination  between  EU  and  national  authorities  is  specified  in  the  strategy  and  should  be 
pursued to maximise the impact and effectiveness of communications. 

State  aid  and  competition  rules  fully  apply  to  the  measures  funded  by  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience Facility. Union funds channelled through the authorities of Member States, like the 
RRF funds, become State resources and can constitute State aid if all the other criteria of Article 
107(1)  TFEU  are  met.  When  this  is  the  case  and  State  aid  is  present,  these  measures  must  be 
notified and approved by the Commission before Member States can grant the aid, unless those 
measures are covered by an existing aid  scheme or comply  with  the applicable conditions  of a 
block  exemption  regulation,  in  particular  the  General  Block  Exemption  Regulation  (GBER) 
declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 
107 and 108 TFEU29. When State aid is present and it requires notification, it is the duty of the 
Member  State  to  notify  State  aid  measures  to  the  Commission  before  granting  them,  in 
compliance  with  Article  108(3)  TFEU.  In  this  respect,  the  State  aid  analysis  carried  out  by 
Romania in the Recovery and Resilience Plan cannot be deemed a State aid notification. In as far 
as  Romania  considers  that  a  specific  measure  contained  in  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan 
entails de minimis aid or aid exempted from the notification requirement, it is the responsibility 
of Romania to ensure full compliance with the applicable rules. 

29 Commission Regulation 651/2014, OJ L 187, 26.6.2014, p. 1 

30 

 
 
                                                           
4.  SUMMARY OF THE ASSESSMENT OF THE PLAN 

4.1. Comprehensive  and  adequately  balanced  response  to  the  economic  and  social 

situation  

The Plan presents to a large extent a comprehensive and adequately balanced response to 
the economic and social situation, and appropriately contributes to all six pillars referred 
to in Article 3 of the RRF Regulation. The Plan follows a holistic approach to achieve recovery 
and increase potential growth, while enhancing socio-economic and institutional resilience. The 
Plan  explains  in  detail  how  it  addresses  the  six  pillars,  namely:  (i)  green  transition,  (ii)  digital 
transformation, (iii) smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, (iv) social and territorial cohesion, 
(v)  health  and  economic,  social  and  institutional  resilience,  and  (vi)  policies  for  the  next 
generation.  The  Plan  contains  171  measures  (64  reforms  and  107  investments)  that  refer  to 
policy  areas  of  European  relevance  structured  in  the  six  pillars,  which  define  the  scope  of  the 
RRF. The Plan is expected to contribute to tackling key structural challenges and to contribute to 
the  green  and  digital  transitions.  The  coverage  of  the  six  pillars  by  the  Romanian  Plan’s 
components is  summarized in  Table 4. Romania submitted its National  Reform  Programme on 
11 June. The information provided in the National Reform Programme is being considered and 
taken  into  account  in  this  Staff  Working  Document  in  assessing  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Plan. 

Table 4 Coverage of the six pillars of the Facility by the Romanian RRP components 

Green 
transition 

Digital 
transform
ation 

Smart, 
sustainable 
& inclusive 
growth 

Social and 
territorial 
cohesion 

Health, 
and 
economic, 
social and 
institution
al 
resilience 

Policies 
for the 
next 
generati
on 

Pillar I - Green transition 
1 —Water management 
2 — Forests and Biodiversity 
protection  
3 — Waste management 
4 — Sustainable transport 
5 — Renovation Wave Fund 
6 — Energy 
Pillar II – Digital 
transformation 
7 — Digital transformation 
Pillar III 
 Smart, sustainable and 
inclusive growth 
8 — Tax pension reforms 

9 — Business Support, 
research, development and 
innovation 

● 
● 

● 
● 
● 
● 

○ 

○ 

○ 
● 

● 

○ 

● 

31 

○ 

○ 
○ 
○ 

● 

○ 

● 
○ 
○ 

● 

● 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pillar IV – Social and 
territorial cohesion 
10 — Local Fund  
11 — Tourism and culture 
Pillar V - Health, and 
economic, social and 
institutional resilience 
12 — Healthcare 
13 — Social reforms 
14 — Good governance 
Pillar VI – Policies for the 
next generation 
15 — Education 

● 
○ 

○ 
○ 

○ 

○ 

○ 

● 

● 

○ 
● 

○ 

○ 

● 
● 
● 

● 

Key: “●” investments and reforms of the component significantly contribute to the pillar; “○” the component 
partially contributes to the pillar 

Green transition 

Green challenges are addressed in the Plan mostly under components 1 to 6 – dealing with 
water  and  waste  management,  forests  and  biodiversity,  sustainable  transport,  renovation 
and energy. Investments and reforms in energy and resource efficiency and building renovation, 
sustainable  transport,  circular  economy  and  waste  management,  water  and  wastewater 
management,  renewable  energy,  afforestation  and  reforestation  are  expected  to  contribute  to 
Romania’s  climate  and  energy  objectives.  In  particular,  significant  reforms  and  investments  in 
component 4 (Sustainable Transport) are dedicated to the modernisation and decarbonisation of 
road transport and to improving road safety, the modernisation of railway transport infrastructure 
(EUR 3.48 billion), acquisition of zero-emission and renewal of rolling stock (EUR 412 million), 
and  development  of  underground  infrastructure  in  Bucharest  and  Cluj-Napoca  (EUR  600 
million). Similarly, under component 10 (Local Fund), the measures to support sustainable urban 
mobility,  the  renewals  of  public  transport  fleets  (EUR  580  million),  the  energy  renovation  of 
public  buildings  (EUR  575  million)  and  infrastructure  for  more  sustainable  and  more  secure 
urban mobility (EUR 620 million in total), are also expected to contribute to the green transition. 
Measures fostering the green transition included in component 6 (Energy) entail the phase out of 
coal  and  lignite  power  production  and  the  deployment  of  renewables  (EUR  460  million)  and 
green (hydrogen produced from renewable electricity) hydrogen (EUR 115 million), as well as 
investments in batteries, photovoltaic cells and electricity storage to support the flexibility of the 
electricity grid to cater for increased renewables production (EUR 280 million) and measures to 
promote  private  investments  in  energy  efficiency  of  the  industry  (EUR  64  million).  A  very 
important  contribution  to  the  green  transition  is  also  envisaged  in  component  5  (Renovation 
Wave), where a substantial allocation is planned for the acceleration of the energy renovation of 
both private and public buildings (EUR 2.15 billion). Under component 1 (Water management) 
reforms  and  investments  (EUR  1.46  billion  in  total)  are  expected  to  improve  water  and 
wastewater systems, including drinking water, and also develop flood protection measures, such 
as the extension of the coverage of water and wastewater collection systems in municipalities of 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
more  than  2 000  inhabitants.  Component  2  (Forests  and  Biodiversity  protection)  includes 
important  reforms  and  investments  on  reforestation  (EUR  1.17  billion)  to  increase  the  forest 
coverage in the country that has been subject to illegal logging, and to further develop measures 
in favour of biodiversity, such as restoration measures and designation of strict protection areas. 
Component  3  (Waste  management)  includes  a  reform  aimed  at  improving  waste  management 
governance  to  accelerate  the  transition  to  the  circular  economy,  as  well  as  accompanying 
investments  to  develop,  modernise  and  complete  integrated  municipal  waste  management 
systems  (EUR  956  million),  which  are  expected  to  promote  a  circular  economy  and  enhanced 
waste recycling.  

Other components indirectly contribute to the green transition. For instance, to some extent, 
measures under component 11 (Tourism and culture), such as the development of cycling routes 
are  expected  to  contribute  to  the  green  transition.  Similarly,  investments  under  component  12 
(Healthcare),  for  example,  entail  major  healthcare  infrastructure  projects  such  as  hospitals, 
networks  of  outpatient  centres,  integrated  community  centres,  family  planning  offices  and 
primary  care  practices  complying  with  the  nearly  zero-energy  standards  (NZEB),  ensuring  the 
climate  neutrality  of  the  said  buildings  and,  for  some  buildings,  achieving  a  Primary  Energy 
Demand  that  is  20%  lower  than  NZEB  standards.  Component  14  (Good  governance)  includes 
support  for  strengthening  coordination  at  the  government  level  of  an  integrated  and  coherent 
approach to climate change and sustainable development initiatives. 

Digital transformation 

The Plan’s reforms and investments related to digital transformation tackle a large range 
of challenges faced by Romania in this area. Romania ranks low in the DESI when it comes to 
human capital, integration of digital technology by businesses and digital public services, as well 
as  on  the  use  of  internet  services,  which  is  correlated  with  the  level  of  skills.  Thus,  the  Plan 
rightfully  targets  these  areas  and  aims  at  reducing  or  closing  the  gaps  compared  to  the  EU 
average. 

Digital  measures  are  included  in  component  7  (Digital  transformation),  as  well  as  in  all 
other  components  of  the  Plan,  reflecting  the  cross-cutting  nature  of  the  envisaged 
digitalisation  efforts.  Investments  to  develop  an  integrated  e-Health  and  telemedicine  system 
(EUR  470  million),  and  to  improve  the  digitisation  of  public  employment  services  and  social 
protection,  have  the  potential  to  increase  access  to  and  the  quality  of  these  services.  The 
measures  are  also  expected  to  further  strengthen  the  resilience  of  the  healthcare  system. 
Important  investments  are  foreseen  in  the  deployment  of  the  electronic  identity  card  for 
Romanian  citizens  (EUR  200  million)  and  for  building  a  governmental  cloud  infrastructure 
(EUR  374  million).  Significant  contributions  to  the  digital  objectives  are  also  included  in 
component  4  (Sustainable  Transport),  with  investments  in  the  digitalisation  of  road  (EUR  254 
million) and rail transport (EUR 610 million), component 10 (Local Fund) with investments in 
ITS systems for urban mobility (EUR 275 million), as well as in component 9 (Business support 
and  R&D&I),  with  investments  in  the  digitalisation  of  businesses  (EUR  550  million)  and  in  a 
digital  multi-country  project  in  the  area  of  ‘Low-power  processors  and  semiconductor  chips’ 

33 

 
 
(EUR  500  million).  Furthermore,  component  15  (Education)  includes  measures  such  as 
modernising  computer  laboratories  in  schools  and  the  provision  of  additional  IT  equipment 
(EUR  478.5  million),  and  trainings  for  teachers;  other  targeted  investments  are  expected  to 
accelerate  the  digitalisation  of  higher  education  institutions  and  to  facilitate  advanced  skills 
development,  which  can  should  in  turn  support  the  digital  transformation.  All  together,  the 
Education component makes a significant contribution to the digital objectives (a total of EUR 
1 129.50 million). 

Other  components  indirectly  contribute  to  the  digital  transition.  Investments  to  facilitate 
taxpayer compliance and tax collection through the development of digital services (e.g. digital 
communication, simplification and digitalisation of forms, redesign of the IT systems, creation of 
a platform for online auctions), improving tax administration processes (including the revision of 
the  taxation  framework),  updating  the  IT  systems  and  applications  used  by  fiscal  and  customs 
authorities,  and  supporting  the  digitalisation  of  the  pensions  system  are  all  part  of  the  tax  and 
pension reform  component,  with  a total digital  contribution  of EUR 386.7 million. Finally, the 
investments  aimed  at  increasing  digital  access  to  spatial  and  urban  planning  documents  under 
component  10  (Local  Fund  and  the  digitalisation  of  cultural  routes  and  film  production  and 
distribution), the investments in digitised eco-islands under component 3 (Waste management), 
and the development of a digital system for cultural funding under component 11 (Tourism and 
Culture) are also expected to contribute at least to some extent to the digital transition.  

Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth 

Several components in the Plan have the potential to foster smart and sustainable growth. 
The Plan contains a series of measures that are expected to directly or indirectly support private 
investments, including for SMEs, increase the capacity of the country to attract investment and 
create  new  businesses  and  jobs.  For  instance,  under  component  9  (Business  support  and 
R&D&I),  there  are  a  set  of  reforms  and  investments  to  strengthen  the  Romanian  business 
environment including the research, development and innovation sector. The reforms supporting 
the  investments  include  regulatory  changes  to  reduce  the  administrative  burden  for  firms  by 
simplifying  legislation/start-up/exit  procedures,  as  well  as  obtaining  licenses,  supported  by 
investments in digital platforms on legislative transparency, de-bureaucratisation and procedural 
simplification  for  business  (EUR  14  million).  Reforms  also  address  the  fragmentation  and 
effectiveness  of  the  research,  development  and  innovation  system  and  promote  its  cooperation 
with  the  private  sector,  for  instance,  through  the  legislative  reform  to  simplify  the  cooperation 
between  business  and  public  research.  Enhanced  synergies  with  Horizon  Europe  will  foster 
internationalisation  of  Romanian  R&I  system.  Investments  under  this  pillar  also  cover  the 
creation of  a digital  platform  for providing simplified public services for businesses, including 
for obtaining licences, and access to finance to small and medium size enterprises and companies 
through 
the  establishment  and 
operationalisation of the National Development Bank (EUR 10 million) under component 8 (Tax 
and  Pension  reforms),  and  the  portfolio  guarantee  for  resilience  (EUR  300  million)  and  the 
Recovery  venture  capital  fund  (EUR  400  million)  under  component  9.  These  measures  will 
promote economic development and competitiveness, especially by providing access to finance 

instruments  and  grants,  as 

instance, 

financial 

for 

34 

 
 
for economically viable infrastructure projects, ensure access to finance for SMEs and improve 
the  absorption  of  EU  funds.  Complementary  investments  will  relate  to  funding  research 
competence  centres  and  research  projects  led  by  internationally  reputed  researchers,  as  for 
instance,  the  funding  of  EUR  500  million  to  provide  support  to  the  scale-up  of  the  national 
capabilities  up  to  the  first  industrial  development  and  the  participation  in  or  association  to  a 
multi-country  project  (planned  as  an  Important  Project  of  Common  European  Interest  on 
Microelectronics). 

The Plan also aims to reinforce fiscal sustainability through important reforms of the tax 
administration,  fiscal  management  and  the  public  pension  system.  The  reform  of  the  tax 
administration  included  in  component  8  (Tax  and  Pension  reforms)  is  aimed  at  increasing  tax 
collection and compliance, enhancing the relationship between tax administration and taxpayers 
also through increased transparency, mainly through the digitalisation of the tax administration 
(about  EUR  291  million  spread  over  different  investments  in  centralisation  of  databases  with 
taxpayers  information,  digitalisation  and  smart  and  massive  use  of  data),  and  gradually 
withdrawing the existing excessive tax incentives. This reform shall support the improvement of 
the business environment and increase the ability of the government to respond to the high level 
of  income  inequality  and  of  poverty  rates  by  redistributing  incomes  or  providing  more  public 
goods  and  services  more  efficiently,  also  thanks  to  the  implementation  of  systematic  spending 
reviews.  The  reform  of  the  pension  system  aims  to  ensure  an  adequate  level  for  those  on  low 
incomes  and  the  sustainability  of  the  public  pension  system  in  the  medium  to  long-term, 
contributing to preserve the stability of public finances.  

Several  other  measures  will  support  at  least  partially  the  objective  of  smart,  sustainable 
and inclusive growth. Those include, inter alia, measures in the field of transport (e.g. roads and 
railways  investments  enabling  the  flow  of  people  and  of  goods  between  regions  and  with 
neighbouring  countries,  digitalisation  of  transport  which  supports  more  efficient  mobility  and 
safer transport), tourism (e.g., the Mapping/Identification of all the optimum destination areas for 
regional Destination Management Organisations and the Adoption of the Action Plan for the use 
of cultural heritage, both promoting sustainable and inclusive growth), education (e.g., to boost 
the  availability  of  services  for  children  education  and  to  reduce  the  drop-out  rate  from 
compulsory  education),  renovation  wave  (e.g.,  trainings  on  energy  efficiency  skills  supporting 
sustainable  growth)  and  energy  (e.g.,  reform  to  reduce  the  energy  intensity  of  industry,  and 
investment in new capacity for electricity generation from renewable sources). 

Social and territorial cohesion 

Several  components  will  contribute  to  the  objective  of  social  and  territorial  cohesion.  In 
particular, all reforms and investments in component 10 (Local Fund) targeting both urban and 
rural  development,  are  expected  to  reduce  territorial  disparities  at  regional,  intra-regional  and 
intra-county  level.  The  Plan  recognises  the  need  to  invest  in  modernising  the  Romanian  social 
benefits system by implementing the minimum inclusion income, which is covered in component 
13 (Social reforms). The implementation of the legislation on introducing the minimum inclusion 
income  is  an  essential  step  towards  addressing  the  low  adequacy  of  support  payments  and 
incentivising  labour  market  activation.  Those  measures  would  be  vital  in  the  context  of  the 

35 

 
 
negative demographic changes in the country. The pension reform included in component 8 (Tax 
and Pension reforms) would also contribute to a fairer and more sustainable social support and 
intergenerational cohesion. 

The  Plan  envisages  to  further  strengthen  social  cohesion  through  structural  measures  on 
the  labour  market.  Already  indicated  in  the  “Digital  transformation”  section,  the  Plan  puts 
forward  measures  to  improve  the  employment  and  social  protection  digital  systems.  The 
interventions  have  the  potential  to  enhance  the  service  provision  to  the  unemployed  and  the 
beneficiaries  of  benefits,  the  communication  processes  within  the  institutions,  and  the  level  of 
digital skills of the staff.  

Other  components  indirectly  contribute  to  the  social  and  territorial  cohesion  pillar.  For 
instance, investment under component 11 (Tourism and Culture) are expected to increase access 
to  culture  in  culturally  deprived  areas  (EUR  7.8  million).  Many  of  the  measures  taken  under 
component 12 (Healthcare) are directed towards providing medical (especially pre-hospital) care 
for the underserved communities, including Roma community, by providing medical  units  and 
building  or  rehabilitating  the  networks  of  family  care  practices,  outpatient  units  or  integrated 
community centres, in the marginalized areas. At least 20% of the sizeable allocation dedicated 
to  the  energy  renovation  of  residential  buildings  will  be  dedicated  to  communities  at  risk  of 
poverty and social exclusion and the support will be made available to all local administrations, 
based  on  the  number  of  buildings  and  the  total  population  (EUR  177.5  million).  Integrated 
seismic  and  energy  renovation  projects  will  also  prioritise  communities  at  risk  of  poverty  and 
social  exclusion.  The  broadband  investment  included  in  component  7  (Digital  transformation) 
will provide coverage of very high-speed internet access (at least 100 Mbps upgradeable) to rural 
areas  (EUR  94  million).  Finally,  investments  in  the  expansion  of  water  and  wastewater 
infrastructure  under  component  1  (Water  management)  is  also  expected  to  contribute  to  social 
cohesion through investments in less developed areas in this respect, while investments in road, 
rail and urban mobility infrastructure are likely to improve connectivity and cohesion at local and 
regional level.  

Health, and economic, social and institutional resilience 

The key measures contributing to the health, social and institutional system’s resilience are 
included  in  component  12  (Healthcare)  and  component  7  (Digital  transformation), 
component  13  (Social  reform)  and  component  14  (Good  governance)  of  Romania's 
Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan.  The  proposed  reforms  and  investments  in  component  12 
(Healthcare)  have  the  potential  to  strengthen  the  overall  resilience  of  the  health  system,  by 
improving access to healthcare, ensuring the availability of health workers and achieving a shift 
to  outpatient  care.  In  particular,  the  reforms  aim  to  improve  the  performance  of  healthcare 
providers, to achieve more effective management of health infrastructure projects by establishing 
a dedicated government agency, and to professionalise healthcare management as well as human 
resource  management  in  healthcare.  The  reform  concerning  human  resources  also  aims  to 
strengthen anti-corruption measures in the health system. The objective of component 13 (Social 
reform) is  to  contribute to social resilience by increasing access  to  social services for the most 
vulnerable, including workers, children, persons with disabilities, the inactive and the elderly. By 

36 

 
 
ensuring the delivery of quality public services by a pool of professional and well-trained civil 
servants  that  adequately  respond  to  the  challenges,  needs  and  expectations  of  citizens  and 
businesses,  reforms  included  in  component  14  (Good  governance)  are  also  expected  to 
strengthen institutional resilience. 

The most important investments  contributing to this pillar are included in component 12 
(Healthcare).  The  investment  in  pre-hospital  medical  infrastructure  will  help  upgrade  and 
update  existing  medical  infrastructure,  including  buildings  and  equipment,  in  primary  care, 
community  care  and  outpatient  settings  (EUR  314.8  million).  Public  hospital  infrastructure 
investments  aim  to  ensure  patient  safety  in  new  or  upgraded  hospitals  and  reduce  the  risk  of 
healthcare associated infections in hospital settings (EUR 1 954 million). It includes upgrading 
medical  equipment  as  well  as  investing  in  neonatal  critical  patient  infrastructure  (EUR  865 
million). 

E-Health also features in the Romanian Plan. Included both in the Digital component and the 
Health  component,  the  proposed  investments  cover  the  standardisation  and  optimisation  of  the 
Health  Insurance  Information  Platform,  the  digitalisation  of  health  institutions  at  central  and 
regional level, the acquisition of IT systems and digital infrastructure for health services, and the 
development of telemedicine and mobile patient monitoring systems (EUR 470 million). 

Policies for the next generation 

The  Romanian  Plan  includes  reforms  and  investments  to  tackle  some  of  the  main 
challenges  found  in  the  education  system.  Each  of  these  reforms  will  be  accompanied  by 
complementary investments, and several targets will be set to track and ensure their appropriate 
implementation.  Upgrading  school  and  university  infrastructure  in  urban  and  rural  areas,  by 
amending and streamlining the regulatory framework to ensure environmentally-friendly safety 
and  quality  standards  (EUR  1 315  million)  will  be  one  of  the  objectives  of  component  15 
(Education).  Particularly  important  within  this  objective  shall  be  the  provision  of  facilities  for 
pre-university classrooms and school laboratories/workshops (EUR 600 million). Secondly, the 
digitalisation  of  education  (EUR  1 129.50  million),  is  to  be  promoted  through  changes  in  the 
legal framework, to enable integrated approaches and improve the digital skills of students and 
teachers, and a scheme to finance digital technology equipment and resources for schools (EUR 
478.5 million). In terms of early school leaving, an uncompetitive grant scheme for educational 
establishments at high risk of drop-out (EUR 400 million) will allow for higher independence of 
schools in tackling this issue. 

Taking into consideration all reforms and investments envisaged by Romania, its Recovery and 
Resilience  Plan  represents,  to  a  large  extent,  a  comprehensive  and  adequately  balanced 
response  to  the  economic  and  social  situation,  thereby  contributing  appropriately  to  all  six 
pillars  referred  to  in  Article  3  of  the  RRF  Regulation,  taking  the  specific  challenges  and  the 
financial  allocation  of  Romania  into  account.  This  would  warrant  a  rating  of  A  under  the 
assessment criterion 2.1 in Annex V of the RRF Regulation. 

37 

 
 
4.2. Link with country-specific recommendations and the European Semester  

Overall,  the  Plan  provides  an  adequate  response  to  a  large  set  of  economic,  social  and 
environmental challenges faced by Romania. The Recovery and Resilience Plan of Romania is 
expected to contribute to addressing a significant subset of challenges identified in the relevant 
country-specific  recommendations  (CSRs),  including  fiscal  aspects  thereof,  addressed  to 
Romania in the context of the European Semester. Table 5 at the end of the section presents the 
mapping  of  the  selected  challenges,  the  associated  CSRs  and  the  fifteen  components  of  the 
Romanian Plan. 

Romania has taken a number of measures to mitigate the social and employment impact of 
the COVID-19 crisis by developing flexible working arrangements and activation measures 
(CSR 2.4, 2020). These include short-term work schemes, granting parents paid days off in the 
context  of establishing remote learning  activities, support to  companies  for setting teleworking 
arrangements,  targeted  support  to  young  people  and  older  workers.  Romania  mobilised  EU 
resources from SURE financial assistance and the European Social Fund. 

Public finances and taxation 

The  sustainability  of  public  finances  is  a  challenge  subject  both  to  CSRs  (2019  and  2020 
CSR  1)  and  the  Macroeconomic  Imbalance  Procedure  (MIP).  The  Council  issued  CSRs to 
Romania to correct the significant deviation from the adjustment path towards the medium-term 
budgetary  objective,  to  correct  excessive  deficits,  to  ensure  the  full  application  of  the  fiscal 
framework,  and  to  strengthen  tax  compliance  and  collection.  Romania’s  pre-existing  high 
general government deficit has risen further due to the COVID-19 crisis, which has exacerbated 
medium and long-term fiscal sustainability risks. In this context, it will be important to support 
the  medium-term  fiscal  targets  with  comprehensive  reforms.  Component  8  (Tax  and  Pension 
reforms)  of  Romania’s  Plan  aims  to  address  the  recommendations  related  to  fiscal  policy. 
Strengthening tax compliance and collection shall happen through a full digitalisation of the tax 
administration, which will allow to develop  services for taxpayers, foster digital  inclusion, and 
implement  an integrated risk management system  to  increase the number and the  efficiency of 
tax  controls  and support  the  identification  of  tax  risks.  The  component  also  includes  a  gradual 
phase out of excessive tax incentives, which would broaden the tax base and help having a fairer, 
more  efficient,  simpler  and  more  transparent  tax  system.  Further  measures  in  the  fiscal 
component  aimed  at  addressing  the  fiscal  policy  recommendations  are  the  improvement  of  the 
management  of  public  spending  to  make  it  more  efficient  and  prioritised  (including  through 
regular spending reviews), and the reform of the public pension system which among others aims 
at stabilising the public pension expenditure (See below).  

Pension system and long-term fiscal sustainability 

The  reform  of  the  public  pension  system  included  in  the  Plan  aims  at  ensuring  its 
sustainability and improving its transparency and fairness. In 2019, the Council issued CSR 
2.2,  asking  Romania  to  ensure  the  sustainability  of  the  public  pension  system  to  reduce  the 
overall risks to the sustainability of public finances in the medium and long term. The reform of 
the  pension  system  included  in  the  fiscal  component  aims  at  keeping  the  total  gross  public 

38 

 
 
expenditure  as  a  share  of  GDP  stable  in  the  long-term  (2022-2070).  The  new  legislation  will 
introduce a new calculation formula for new pensions and pensions in payment, chosen in line 
with the contributory principle and with the pension expenditure target as a share of GDP, which 
will  not  allow  for  ad  hoc  increases.  A  new  pension  indexation  rule  in  line  with  the  pension 
expenditure  target  is  also  part  of  this  reform,  together  with  the  reduced  scope  for  early 
retirement, the incentive to voluntarily increase the retirement age and to equalise the statutory 
retirement age for men and women at 65 years by 2035. Further measures in the pension reform 
are  the  streamlining  and  full  revision  of  the  special  pensions  to  bring  them  in  line  with  the 
contributory principle and the increase in the adequacy of minimum and lower pensions. 

Health 

Goals  related  to  the  health  system  include  improving  access  to  and  cost-efficiency, 
including through the shift to outpatient care (2019 CSR 3.7) and strengthening resilience, 
including in the areas of health workers and medical products (2020 CSR 1.3). Reforms in 
the management of the public health funds aim at improving the provision of primary care. On 
the one side, the quality and cost-efficiency of the services are expected to improve as a result of 
the  implementation  of  a  grant  scheme  based  on  objective  and  quality  orientated  indicators  for 
public healthcare establishments. Interventions targeting the management and human resources, 
including through integrity trainings, can help secure properly qualified health workers. Access 
to health services should also increase as a result of the large-scale investments in primary care 
and pre-hospital establishments, especially targeted towards the disadvantaged and marginalized 
communities.  Such  investments  should  also  help  decrease  the  demand  for  hospital-provided 
services,  implying  a  shift  towards  outpatient  care.  The  planned  investments  in  e-Health  and 
telemedicine can further enhance coverage and access to health services to all citizens. 

Public administration, business environment and labour market reforms 

Romania  received  country  specific  recommendations  on  the  need  to  improve  the  quality 
and  effectiveness  of  public  administration  and  to  ensure  that  legislative  initiatives  do  not 
undermine legal certainty (2019 CSR 5, 2020 CSR 4). These areas are also covered by specific 
benchmarks  under  the  CVM,  which  Romania  has  to  implement  in  light  of  specific 
recommendations and in accordance with CJEU case law (the timing for the implementation of 
the  CVM  benchmarks  is  independent  from  the  one  set  in  the  annexes  of  the  current  plan).  To 
address these issues, quality and predictability of decision-making shall be improved and rely on 
impact  assessments  and  streamlined 
appropriate  stakeholder  consultations,  effective 
administrative procedures. 

Component  14  (Good  governance)  aims  to  address  the  recommendations  through  a 
number  of  reforms  and  investments.  These  measures  aim  at  improving  decision  making, 
including  evidence  based  decision  making,  long-term  planning  and  public  consultations;  new 
national  recruitment  and  promotion  system  for  civil  servants;  new  multiannual  recruitment 
planning  system;  civil  servants  remuneration  reform;  and  a  new  competency  framework  and 
competition  methodology.  The  measures  aimed  at  improving  the  public  procurement  process, 
including  digitalization  and  capacity  building,  should  contribute  to  addressing  the  country-

39 

 
 
specific  recommendation  linked  to  public  procurement.  Key  reforms  in  component  14  (Good 
governance)  are  also  expected  to:  i)  ensure  the  independence  of  the  judiciary  and  enhance  its 
quality  and  efficiency;  ii)  to  step  up  the  fight  against  corruption,  by  adopting  the  national 
strategic framework for its prevention, by strengthening the capacity of the institution competent 
to combat it, by recovering the damage and proceeds of crime; and iii) to strengthen integrity in 
the  civil  service  and  ensure  an  efficient  system  for  declaring  assets  and  interests,  while 
developing and implementing the new anti-corruption strategy.  

Romania  also  had  a  recommendation  to  improve  the  functioning  of  social  dialogue  (2019 
CSR 3, 2020  CSR 4). The Recovery  and Resilience Plan includes a  reform, the adoption of a 
new  social  dialogue  law  that  should  address  the  previously  flagged  deficiencies  and  hence 
contribute to addressing this CSR. The ambition to put forward legislative changes in the social 
dialogue  law,  in  line  with  the  International  Labour  Organisation  recommendations,  is  an 
important step to improve collective bargaining and the overall functioning of social dialogue in 
the country. 

Component  13  (Social  reforms)  includes  a  reform  to  address  the  recommendation  on 
ensuring  minimum  wage  setting  based  on  objective  criteria  (2019  CSR  3),  also  consistent 
with job creation and competitiveness of the country. A legislative act shall establish a new 
mechanism and formula  to  objectively set  the minimum  wage level  in  a systematic manner, in 
consultation with social partners and consistent with the Commission proposal30. 

Component  14  (Good  governance)  also  aims  to  strengthen  the  corporate  governance  of 
state-owned  enterprises  (2019  CSR  5)  by  enforcing  OECD  standards.  In  particular,  the 
reform  shall  remove  all  exceptions  to  compliance  with  the  corporate  governance  standards, 
including  for  state-owned  enterprises  at  local  level.  The  reform  is  complemented  by  specific 
reform  actions  aimed  at  improving  the  corporate  governance  of  state-owned  enterprises  in  the 
energy  and  the  transport  sectors.  These  reforms  are  expected  to  contribute  to  the  efficiency  of 
state-owned enterprises and to the improvement of the quality of the services that they provide.  

The Plan also develops flexible working arrangements and activation measures (2020 CSR 
2).  The  introduction  of  a  voucher  system  for  domestic  work  and  digitalisation  of  the  public 
employment services can increase the access to labour market for vulnerable groups and improve 
the provision of activation measures to the inactive people. In 2021-2027 further efforts towards 
reforms in the Public Employment Service and increasing activation can be supported under the 
ESF+. 

Poverty reduction & social inclusion 

The introduction of the minimum inclusion income, included as a reform in component 13 
(Social  Reforms),  directly  addresses  a  long-standing  country-specific  recommendation 

30 This reform shall be implemented by Q1 2024  

40 

 
 
                                                           
(2019 CSR 3, 2020 CSR 2). This  measures should  increase the effectiveness  and adequacy of 
the  social  benefits  system  and  increase  coverage  of  services,  while  at  the  same  time  providing 
incentives for labour-market activation. The reform is expected to improve social assistance and 
reduce  poverty  for  the  most  vulnerable,  while  reducing  the  administrative  burden  for  the 
National  Paying  and  Social  Inspection  Agency,  local  public  administrations,  and  the 
beneficiaries. 

Education 

Strengthening  skills  and  digital  learning  and  improving  the  overall  quality  and 
inclusiveness  of  education  (2019  CSR  3,  2020  CSR  2)  are  objectives  at  the  heart  of 
Romania’s Plan. In 2020, the Council issued a CSR to Romania to strengthen skills and digital 
learning  and  ensure  equal  access  to  education  (2020  CSR  2).  In  the  year  before  these 
recommendations  were  more  specific,  asking  for  a  focus  on  the  labour  market  relevance  of 
vocational education and training and higher education for skills, including digital (2019 CSR 3), 
and  for  the  access  to  education  particularly  of  the  Roma  children  and  children  from  other 
disadvantaged backgrounds. Measures in component 15 (Education) of the Plan are expected to 
significantly  contribute  to  addressing  these  CSRs,  in  particular  for  Roma  and  other 
disadvantaged  groups,  firstly  through  the  provision  of  a  unitary,  inclusive  and  quality  early-
childhood  education  and  care  system  that  shall  be  accompanied  by  investments  in  the 
construction and operationalisation of 110 crèches and 412 of complementary services, servicing 
up to 4 500 children from 0 to 6 years-old and 20 000 children from disadvantaged backgrounds 
respectively. Furthermore, a framework programme for the continuous training of professionals 
in this field of education will be created and operationalised. Secondly, the Ministry of Education 
will also take measures to prevent and reduce early school leaving by means of teacher trainings 
and  grants  to  2 500  schools  at  high  risk  of  drop-out.  For  vocational  and  educational  training 
(VET)  and  dual  education,  a  full  professional  route  will  be  created  for  students  to  reach 
university  education,  aligned  with  labour  market  needs.  This  will  be  complemented  by  the 
creation  of  10  education  consortia,  10  vocational  campuses  and  the  transformation  of  57 
agricultural schools into professionalisation centres. Furthermore, 909 VET schools will benefit 
from the equipment of IT laboratories and workshops.  

The digitalisation of education (2019 CSR 3 and 2020 CSR 2) will also have a strong focus 
through the adoption of a legislative framework for the development of digital competences 
for  all  school  levels.  The  reform  will  focus  on  the  digitalisation  of  educational  processes  and 
content and for conducting online assessments.  Moreover, minimum  and optimal standards for 
ensuring  the  quality  of  digital  education  shall  be  set.  The  reform  is  expected  to  align  the 
educational system to DigComp, the European framework for digital competences for students, 
including  by  updating  the  curriculum,  and  developing  digital  teaching  materials.  Lastly,  the 
reform  shall  operationalise  the  links  between  the  teacher’s  competences  profile  and  the 
curriculum for initial vocational training, continuing vocational training and skills training. This 
reform  will  be  complemented  by  investments  directed  at  training  100 000  teaching  staff  and 
financing digital equipment and resources for schools and universities. 

41 

 
 
Research, Development and Innovation 

Component 9 (Business support and R&D&I) includes measures supporting research and 
development activities and the integration of local providers into EU strategic value chains 
(2020  CSR  3).  In  particular,  the  reforms  in  that  component  are  expected  to:  i)  ensure  the 
harmonised  design  and  implementation,  monitor  and  evaluation  of  R&D&I  policy  across 
ministries and agencies, ii) attract researchers, iii) encourage the creation of partnerships between 
public  and  private  investment  in  R&D&I,  and  iv)  increase  the  proportion  of  research 
organisations that share research facilities in Romania. 

Green and digital transition 

Romania’s Plan puts forward a number of measures to contribute to the green transition, 
in  particular  on  sustainable  transport,  low  carbon  energy  and  energy  and  resource 
efficiency,  environmental  infrastructure,  including  in  the  coal  regions  (2019  CSR  4,  2020 
CSR  3).  As  explained  in  more  detail  in  section  4.5,  component  4  (Sustainable  Transport) 
includes  key  reforms  to  decarbonise  the  transport  sector,  such  as  regulatory  changes  to 
incentivise zero-emission road transport, improving the governance of state-owned enterprises in 
the transport sector, improving road safety, promoting clean public transport and modal shift to 
rail. The Plan also includes investments in clean energy production in component 6 (Energy) by 
committing  to  phasing-out  coal-fired  power  production  while  increasing  the  deployment  of 
renewables  generation,  in  line  with  the  2030  targets.  Gas  investments  will  be  future-proof  and 
contribute  to  the  decarbonisation  objectives  for  2030  and  2050.  The  Plan  also  includes 
considerable investments in energy and resource efficiency of both public and private buildings 
in  component  5  (Renovation  Wave)  and  10  (Local  Fund)  and  measures  to  facilitate  private 
investments  in  the  industrial  sectors  in  component  6  (Energy).  With  regard  to  environmental 
infrastructure,  component  1  (Water  management)  includes  measures  aimed  at  ensuring 
sustainable water for the residents as well as sustainable water management solutions in light of 
climate change adaptation. Component 2 (Forests and Biodiversity protection) includes a number 
of afforestation/reforestation, forest management and biodiversity management measures.  

The  digital  transition  (2020  CSR  3)  is  addressed  through  a  dedicated  component.  As 
described  in  more  detail  in  section  4.6,  component  7  (Digital  transformation)  includes  reforms 
necessary  to  set  up  the  governmental  cloud  and  to  ensure  interoperability,  improving 
connectivity,  increasing  the  protection  and  the  cybersecurity  of  public  and  private  entities  and 
increasing  the  digital  competences  for  the  public  sector.  The  investments  underpinning  the 
reforms  range  from  the  development  of  the  governmental  cloud  to  the  digitalisation  of  health, 
judiciary,  environment,  employment  and  social  protection,  public  procurement,  non-
governmental  organisations,  connectivity  for  white  areas,  ensuring  cybersecurity  for  different 
structures and increasing the skills both in cybersecurity and for civil servants and the population 
at  large.  One  key  investment  refers  to  the  deployment  of  the  electronic  identity  card  for  the 
Romanian citizens.  

42 

 
 
Response to the economic and social situation 

The Plan includes substantial reforms and investments to support convergence with the EU 
and supporting the green and digital transition. Some long-standing structural weaknesses are 
expected to  be addressed  through  reforms and  investments  in  the improvement of the business 
environment,  measures  supporting  skills,  particularly  digital,  for  the  public  and  education 
sectors, the digitalisation of businesses, notably  SMEs, schools, universities and hospitals.  The 
plan  should  also  bring  a  substantial  contribution  to  a  more  effective  public  administration, 
including the national justice system. Innovation capacity will be fostered by stronger private and 
public partnerships in research and innovation.  

The  Plan  focuses  on  measures  to  enhance  social  and  territorial  cohesion,  which  could 
worsen due to the crisis.  As described in  Section 4.1, the Plan contains measures such  as the 
modernisation  of  the  social  benefits  system  by  implementing  the  minimum  inclusion  income, 
and  the  improvement  of  the  employment  and  social-protection  digital  systems.  The  pension 
reform  would  also  contribute 
to  a  fairer  and  more  sustainable  social  support  and 
intergenerational cohesion. Several measures aim to contribute to reduce regional disparities. 

Social cohesion should also be supported by measures in the education sector. Students from 
disadvantaged groups and/or rural areas will benefit from measures to increase the participation 
rate  in  early-childhood  education,  reduce  early-school  leaving  and  benefit  students  from  these 
backgrounds  with  guaranteed  access  to  certain  services  in  university  campuses,  all  foreseen 
under  component  15  (Education).  Measures  aim  at  ensuring  that  digital  devices  and  skills  are 
provided  to  them.  Attention  will  also  be  drawn  to  agricultural  schools,  which  will  also  benefit 
from investments to become true professionalisation centres. 

Contribution to an enhanced and sustainable growth potential 

The  long-term  growth  potential  of  the  economy  should  be  raised  notably  by  measures  to 
raise  the  quality  of  public  administration  and  decision-making,  improve  the  business 
environment and address skills shortages, particularly in digitalisation. Measures aiming at 
ensuring  better  regulation  and  facilitating  access  to  finance  for  SMEs  and  innovative  start-ups 
will  also  contribute  to  longer-term  growth.  The  Plan  also  fosters  investment  in  research  and 
innovation,  sustainable  transport  infrastructure  and  reforms  to  enhance  cooperation  between 
public  research  and  business.  The  Romanian  Government  estimates  the  Plan  will  increase 
potential  growth  by  0.7%  on  average  annually  in  the  medium-term.  By  addressing  important 
structural  challenges,  the  Plan  helps  enhancing  the  growth  potential  of  the  economy  in  a 
sustainable manner. 

Taking into consideration the reforms and investments envisaged by Romania, its Recovery and 
Resilience Plan is expected to contribute to effectively addressing all or a significant subset of 
challenges  identified  in  the  country-specific  recommendations,  or  challenges  in  other  relevant 
documents officially adopted by the Commission under the European Semester, and the Recovery 
and  Resilience  Plan  represents  an  adequate  response  to  the  economic  and  social  situation  of 
Romania.  This  would  warrant an  A under the assessment  criterion  2.2 in Annex V to  the RRF 
Regulation.

43 

 
 
Country 
challenges 
(as identified in 
Section 2) 

Associated 
CSR (2019-
2020) and 
European 
Semester 
recommend
ations 

r
e
t
a
W

-
1
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

t
n
e
m
e
g
a
n
a
M

Public finances 
and taxation 

Pension system 
and long-term 
fiscal 
sustainability 
Health 

Public 
administration, 
business 
environment 
and labour 
market 

Poverty 
reduction & 
social inclusion 

Education 

R&D&I 
Green 
Transition 

Digital 
Transition 

2019.1.2, 
2019.1.3, 
2019.4.2, 
2020.1.2, 
2020.3.2 
2019.2.2, 
2019.2.3 
2020.1.2 

2019.3.7, 
2020.1.3 
2019.3.5, 
2019.3.6, 
2019.4.2, 
2019.4.3, 
2019.5.1, 
2019.5.2, 
2020.3.1, 
2020.3.3, 
2020.4.1, 
2020.4.2 
2019.3.3, 
2019.3.4, 
2020.2.1, 
2020.2.2, 
2020.2.3, 
2020.3.3, 
2020.3.4 
2019.3.1 
2019.3.2, 
2020.2.5, 
2020.2.6 
2019.4.4 
2019.4.1, 
2020.3.4, 
2020.3.6 
2020.3.5 

Table 5 Mapping of country challenges identified in 2019-20 country-specific recommendations and 
the Romanian RRP components 

d
n
a
s
t
s
e
r
o
F
-
2
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

n
o
i
t
c
e
t
o
r
p
y
t
i
s
r
e
v
i
d
o
i
B

e
t
s
a
W

-
3
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

t
n
e
m
e
g
a
n
a
m

e
l
b
a
n
i
a
t
s
u
S
-
4
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

t
r
o
p
s
n
a
r
t

e
v
a
W
n
o
i
t
a
v
o
n
e
R

-
5
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

y
g
r
e
n
E

-
6
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

l
a
t
i
g
i
D

-
7
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

n
o
i
t
a
m
r
o
f
s
n
a
r
t

n
o
i
s
n
e
p
d
n
a
x
a
T

-
8
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

s

m
r
o
f
e
r

t
r
o
p
p
u
S
s
s
e
n
i
s
u
B

-
9
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

d
n
a

t
n
e
m
p
o
l
e
v
e
d

,

h
c
r
a
e
s
e
r

,

n
o
i
t
a
v
o
n
n
i

○ 

● 

d
n
u
F

l
a
c
o
L

-
0
1
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

e
r
u
t
l
u
C

d
n
a
m

s
i
r
u
o
T

-
1
1
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

○ 

h
t
l
a
e
H

-
2
1
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

m
r
o
f
e
r

l
a
i
c
o
S
-
3
1
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

d
o
o
G

-
4
1
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

e
c
n
a
n
r
e
v
o
G

n
o
i
t
a
c
u
d
E

-
5
1
t
n
e
n
o
p
m
o
C

○ 

● 

○  ● 

● 

● 

● 

●  ● 

● 

○ 

○ 

● 

○ 

● 

○ 

● 

● 

●  ● 

●  ● 

● 

● 

○ 

○ 

○ 

○ 

● 

○ 

○ 

Key: “●” investments and reforms of the component significantly address the challenge; “○” the 
component partially addresses the challenge 

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.3. Growth  potential,  job  creation,  economic,  institutional  and  social  resilience, 
European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights,  mitigating  the  impact  of  the  crisis,  and  social 
territorial cohesion and convergence  

Fostering economic growth and jobs 

The Plan focuses on reforms and investments that tackle long-standing vulnerabilities and 
structural deficiencies, stimulating growth. The main objectives of the Plan are to achieve the 
green  and  digital  transition,  while  strengthening  healthcare,  education,  social  cohesion  and 
inclusion.  Measures  will  focus  on  improving  public  administration,  including  SOEs,  public 
procurement, justice and the predictability of decision making. The Plan also aims to contribute 
to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, through the promotion of policies 
for  children  and  the  youth,  enhancing  the  economic,  social  and  territorial  cohesion  and 
convergence within the Union. The Plan aims to strengthen the economic recovery in Romania 
and  to  improve  long-term  growth  prospects  through  such  investments  and  reforms,  ultimately 
reducing the country’s vulnerability to shocks.  

The  Plan  proposes  concerted  actions  in  strategic  areas  aimed  at  modernising  and 
increasing  the  potential  of  the  Romanian  economy,  following  the  guidelines  set  by  the 
national strategic objectives. The undertaken measures consider a sustainable approach towards 
nominal  and  real  convergence,  through  increasing  investment  in  priority  areas,  namely  the 
environment,  energy  and  resource  efficiency,  education,  health,  transport  infrastructure  and 
fleets, access to finance for businesses, making labour market more flexible by increasing skills, 
including digital, and developing sectoral policies that lead to improved competitiveness. 

According to the simulations run by the Commission services, the long-lasting impact of the 
Romanian Plan could lead to a 1% higher GDP in 20 years (See Box 2). These simulations 
do not  include the possible positive impact  of structural  reforms,  which  can be substantial  and 
could raise Romania’s GDP by 17% in 20 years’ time. In the short-run, increased spending via 
major  public  investments,  especially  during  the  implementation  of  the  Plan  (2021-2026),  are 
expected to lead to strong output growth, which will diminish slowly after 2026. However, the 
structural  reforms  undertaken  should  have  a  medium  to  long-term  economic  impact,  while 
positive  cross-border  spill-overs  will  materialise  in  0.2%  GDP  growth  in  2026,  owing  to  the 
synchronized  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  spending  across  all  Member  States.  The 
estimations provided by the Romanian authorities indicate that the real GDP cumulated impact 
for 2021-2026 is of 5.2 percentage points, under full use of the loan component of the Plan.  

The Plan contains a series of measures that are expected to enhance productivity and foster 
growth.  This  would be  achieved through measures to  support private investments,  particularly 
for SMEs, while attracting investment  and fostering jobs  and a stronger  business  environment. 
Component  9  (Business  support  and  R&D&I)  includes  measures  to  strengthen  the  business 
environment,  including  through  reducing  the  administrative  burden  for  firms.  Also,  for  the 
R&D&I sector, measures aim at addressing fragmentation and promoting links with the private 
sector.  Investments  under  this  pillar  also  cover  the  creation  of  a  digital  platform  for  providing 
simplified public services for business including for obtaining licences, and access to finance to 
SMEs and companies through financial instruments and grants, as for instance, the establishment 

45 

 
 
and operationalisation of the National Development Bank (EUR 10 million) under component 8 
(Tax and Pension reforms), and the portfolio guarantee for resilience (EUR 300 million) and the 
Recovery  Venture  Capital  Fund  (EUR  400  million)  under  component  9.  Measures  under 
components 8 (Fiscal and pension reforms) and 9 (Support for the private sector) will promote 
economic development and competitiveness and improve EU-funds absorption. 

Ensuring  fiscal  sustainability  will  allow  Romania  to  maintain  a  sustainable  growth  path. 
Component  8  (Tax  and  Pension  reforms)  foresees  tax-administration  reforms  and  improved 
fiscal  management  and  pension  system.  These  reforms  should  support  the  improvement  of  the 
business  environment  by  facilitating  relations  with  the  tax  administration,  and  allow  for  more 
room to respond to income inequalities and poverty rates. The reform of the pension system aims 
as one of its objectives to the sustainability of the pension system, contributing to preserve the 
stability of public finances.  

The  Plan’s  reforms  in  the  areas  of  education  and  the  labour  market  are  expected  to 
support  a  stronger  labour  market,  favouring  growth.  In  education,  addressing  learning 
inequalities  which  threaten  Romania’s  long-term  economic  potential  is  a  pursued  priority. 
Investments  in  preventing  early  school  leaving  and  improving  access  to  early  childhood 
education and care should help Romanian pupils to improve their performance. Focus on digital 
education  should  lead  to  a  larger  stock  of  digital  skills  on  the  labour  market  in  the  future, 
contributing  to  economic  growth  and  increased  productivity.  Measures  aiming  at  supporting 
disadvantaged groups in the education system should increase equal opportunities and therefore 
also  help  provide  a  better  match  between  labour  market  demand  and  supply  for  skills.  These 
measures  can  improve  Romania’s  long-term  growth  potential  and  foster  inclusive  growth  by 
reducing disparities, fostering potential spill-over effects into the labour market and the business 
sector,  particularly  in  terms  of  digitalisation  skills.  Furthermore,  the  introduction  of  a  voucher 
scheme for formalisation of work and the digitisation of the public employment services should 
contribute to boosting jobs by facilitating access to the labour market for some vulnerable groups 
and by enhanced provision of activation services. Growth and jobs will be further supported by 
the digital component of the Plan that provides for digital skills for all.  

Construction  activities  are  also  expected  to  contribute  to  growth  and  job  creation.  The 
implementation  of  several  measures  of  the  Plan,  and  in  particular  the  road,  rail  and  metro 
investments  in  component  4  (Sustainable  transport)  and  the  energy  renovation  investments  in 
component 5 (Renovation Wave), will trigger construction activity. With the construction sector 
being  one  of  the  main  economic  drivers,  such  measures  should  contribute  to  growth  and  job 
creation. 

46 

 
 
Box 2: Stylised NGEU impact simulations with QUEST – Romania 

Model  simulations  conducted  by  the  European  Commission  using  the  QUEST  model 
show  that  the  economic  impact  of  the  NGEU  in  Romania  could  lead  to  an  increase  of 
GDP  between  1.8%  and  2.9%  by  2024.1  After  20  years,  GDP  could  be  1%  higher. 
Spillovers account for an important part of such impact.  

According to  these simulations, this  would  translate into up to  90 000 additional jobs.  Cross 
border (GDP) spillovers account for 0.2 pps in 2026, showing the value added of synchronised 
expenditure  across  Member  States  (line  2).  Even  in  a  scenario  with  a  lower  productivity  of 
NGEU funds, it would still lead to a significant impact (line 3).2 

QUEST simulation results (%-deviation of real GDP level from non-NGEU case, linear 
disbursement assumption over 6 years) 

This scenario does not include the possible positive impact of structural reforms,  which 
can be substantial. A model-based benchmarking exercise shows that undertaking structural 
reforms that would result in halving the gap vis-à-vis best performers in terms of indicators of 
structural reforms could raise Romania’s GDP by 17% in 20 years’ time, more than the 11% 
found  for  the  EU  average,  the  difference  reflecting  the  relatively  larger  gaps  towards  best 
performers for Romania.3 

Due  to  the  differences  in  the  assumptions  and  methodology,  the  results  of  this  assessment 
cannot  be  directly  compared  to  the  numbers  reported  in  chapter  4  of  Romania’s 
Recovery and Resilience Plan. 

1  RRF  amounts  to  roughly  90%  of  NGEU,  which  also  includes  ReactEU,  Horizon,  InvestEU,  JTF,  Rural  Development  and 
RescEU. 
2 Technically, the low productivity scenario considers a significantly reduced output elasticity of public capital. 
3 Varga, J, in 't Veld J. (2014), “The potential growth impact of structural reforms in the EU: a benchmarking exercise ", 
European Economy Economic Papers no. 541. 
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/economic_paper/2014/pdf/ecp541_en.pdf. 

Strengthening social cohesion 

The  Romanian  Plan  introduces  a  series  of  measures  which  are  expected  to  contribute  to 
social cohesion and to the European Pillar of Social Rights. The expansion of the availability 
of  good  quality  early  childhood  education  and  care  should  improve  access  for  the  most 
disadvantaged to this form of education. This in turn should help pupils achieve better learning 
outcomes  and  parents  to  join,  more  easily,  the  labour  market.  Similarly,  measures  targeted  at 
reducing early school leaving will have an impact on marginalised communities whose children 
are most at  risk of abandonment. Reforming vocational  education and training (VET),  coupled 

47 

Scenario20212022202320242025202620272028202920302040Baseline1.22.22.32.52.72.92.21.51.61.61   of which spillover-0.6-0.300.10.20.20.20.20.20.10.1Low productivity0.71.51.51.61.71.81.10.40.50.50.4 
 
 
 
 
with  measures  such  as  the  introduction  of  a  skills  forecasting  mechanism,  will  provide  better 
career  prospects  and  skills  for  VET  graduates  (many  of  which  are  also  part  of  disadvantaged 
communities).  The  delivery  of  the  minimum  inclusion  income  reform  is  expected  to  bring  a 
positive  impact  on  employment,  due  to  the  accompanying  activation  measures,  and  education 
outcomes. The introduction of a voucher system has the potential to increase female labour force 
participation and access to social services for the newly engaged workers. Health reforms aim to 
strengthen  primary  care  and  foster  access  to  services  in  rural  and  small  urban  areas,  including 
vulnerable  communities.  Reforms  envisage  to  further  develop  e-Health  services,  improve  the 
efficiency of public spending in the healthcare system, and increase the shift to outpatient care. 

Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan contains some measures expected to contribute to 
addressing the country’s challenges in the area of gender equality and equal opportunities 
for  all.  These  include  measures  addressing  the  needs  of  people  with  disabilities,  including  in 
relation to accessibility to transport, buildings and digital public services. On gender equality, the 
Plan  includes  measures  aimed  at  equalising  the  retirement  age  over  time.  As  regards  gender 
equality  in  the  digital  transformation,  beneficiaries  of  funding  for  digital  skills  development 
programmes run through the library network will be obliged to commit to ensuring a minimum 
threshold of 50% for women’s participation in training programmes. Reforms under component 
14 (Good governance), also aim to promote equal treatment and opportunities between men and 
women,  and  to  improve  the  representation  of  women  in  decision-making  positions  of  State-
owned enterprises. Several measures of the Plan also take into account the needs of persons in 
situations of vulnerability, including for persons with disabilities, older persons, as well as Roma 
or other ethnic minorities. For example, investments in mobile medical units and in pre-hospital 
medical  infrastructure  in  component  12  (Healthcare)  and  investments  in  the  creation  of  a 
network of day centres for children at risk of separation in component 13 (Social reform) should 
target disadvantaged areas and Roma communities. Component 13 (Social reform) also includes 
key reforms to address the de-institutionalisation process for persons with disabilities, to start the 
implementation of the Minimum Inclusion Income, to improve the quality of the long-term care 
services for the elderly as well as to establish an objective minimum wage setting mechanism. 

Reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience 

The  Plan  is  expected  to  increase  economic  and  institutional  resilience.  There  is  significant 
effort  in  the  Plan  on  modernising  the  public  administration,  raising  the  quality  of  decision-
making  and  strengthening  the  budgetary  framework.  Together  with  the  actions  directed  at  the 
twin transition and to boost skills and innovation, these measures are expected to make Romania 
less prone to domestic economic or financial shocks and more resilient to external shocks.   

Social  resilience  is  expected  to  improve  as  a  result  of  the  educational  reforms  and 
investments included in the Plan. Having a well-skilled labour force and reducing early school 
leaving  will  mean  that  the  economy  will  be  better  placed  to  withstand  future  shocks  (and  the 
population  more  adaptable  to  changing  economic  patterns).  Furthermore,  there  is  an  inverse 
relationship between the vulnerability of those from disadvantaged groups and their educational 
attainment. Reducing early school leaving can therefore increase the resilience of the population. 

48 

 
 
Also, a better preparation of the future labour force, particularly in the area of digitalisation, will 
reduce vulnerabilities of this sector to future shocks. 

In the area of the environment, the Romanian Plan is also expected to reduce vulnerability 
to  climate  change.  In  particular,  the  reform  included  in  component  1  (Water  management)  is 
expected  to  increase  administrative  and  response  capacity  of  National  Water  Administration 
(ANAR)  in  emergency  situations;  and  significant  investments  in  the  water  network  will 
contribute to limit the magnitude, duration and damage of floods. The extension of the national 
meteorological  observation  network  to  forecast  severe  weather  phenomena  and  the  forestry-
related  investments  to  be  carried  out  in  areas  exposed  and  vulnerable  to  climatic  hazards,  in 
particular to drought and floods, also aim at climate adaptation and resilience. 

Cohesion and convergence 

The Recovery and Resilience Plan is expected to contribute to enhancing economic, social 
and  territorial  cohesion  and  convergence.  There  are  currently  considerable  economic,  social 
and  territorial  disparities  in  Romania  which  are  likely  to  increase  as  the  COVID-19  pandemic 
will have uneven socio-economic consequences on different regions of Romania. The Romanian 
Plan mainly responds to structural problems in areas where the pandemic crisis has taken its toll: 
health,  education  and  the  business  environment,  but  does  not  neglect  the  adjacent  areas  that 
ensure  recovery  from  such  periods  of  economic  contraction  and  can  ensure  economic  and 
institutional resilience in such situations: transport, R&D&I, fiscal sustainability, public services, 
environment  and  energy.  The  Plan  aims  to  boost  growth  through  measures  linked  to  the 
objectives of economic, social and territorial cohesion, addressing the domains where Romania is 
lagging behind both at European and national level, including identifying a potential for growth, 
development and reform towards the transition to a digital and sustainable economy. 

The Romanian Plan aims to achieve a balanced allocation of resources so as to capitalise on 
local  or  regional  specificities  and  to  reduce  the  polarisation  of  territorial  development. 
Decentralization  played  an  important  role  in  the  design  of  the  Plan,  which  is  based  on  the 
empowerment  of  central  and  local  authorities  to  undertake  reforms  to  facilitate  the  green  and 
digital transition leading to high resilience. The implementation of the Plan should be based on 
the involvement of local authorities both in the definition of calls, where appropriate, and in the 
monitoring and evaluation of the Plan. 

In  particular,  component  10  (Local  Fund),  targeting  both  urban  and  rural  development, 
aims to provide the necessary framework for the development of the regional level through 
investments in local infrastructure that are expected to support the resilience and green transition 
of urban and rural areas, as well as to reduce territorial disparities at regional, intra-regional and 
intra-county  level.  Future  investments  aim  to  support  vulnerable  people,  build  a  sustainable 
economy and address potential threats at local level. Urban and rural development can contribute 
to  making  urban  and  rural  municipalities  more  resilient  to  the  challenges  posed  by  global 
economic  and  social  crises.  The  objective  of  investments  in  local  infrastructure  and  social 
services  is  to  ensure  that  essential  services  provided  locally  remain  operational  during  an 

49 

 
 
economic,  social  or  health  crisis.  For  rural  areas,  integrated  measures  are  expected  to  improve 
the quality of life and to increase territorial cohesion. 

Reforms  and  investments  in  sustainable  transport  will  contribute  to  territorial  cohesion 
objectives. By providing the basic transport infrastructure in currently poorly connected regions 
of  the  country,  investments  in  road  infrastructure  included  in  component  4  (Sustainable 
Transport) can be expected to support the economic development of the economy in general and 
those specific regions in particular. For remote areas not fully benefitting from public transport, 
investments to promote transition to clean vehicles in road transport are also expected to have a 
positive  effect.  The  Plan  will  address  this  through  the  appropriate  geographical  coverage  of 
electric recharging points. 

Investments  in  digitalisation  are  also  expected  to  have  a  positive  effect  on  territorial 
cohesion.  The  broadband  investment  included  in  component  7  (Digital  transformation)  will 
provide  coverage  of  very  high-speed  internet  access  (at  least  100  Mbps  upgradeable)  to  areas 
where market cannot deliver these services on its own. These are in particular villages, including 
disadvantaged areas. The investment will give absolute priority to rural municipalities not served 
with fixed networks. 

Several additional reforms and investments across the Plan also have the potential to bring 
the  country  closer  together.  For  example,  trainings  foreseen  in  component  5  (Renovation 
Wave)  will  be  delivered  in  different  regions  uniformly  spread  across  the  Romanian  territory. 
Investment  on  e-Health  in  component  7  (Digital  transformation)  equally  aims  to  increase  the 
access  of  rural  areas  and  small  urban  areas  and  vulnerable  groups  to  specialised  consultations, 
while  reducing  the  waiting  time  by  using  telemedicine.  Component  15  (Education)  focuses  on 
regional and economic disparities in several investment projects in areas such as early-childhood 
education  and  care,  early  school  leaving  or  infrastructure  and  equipment  improvements 
throughout the education system. 

Taking into consideration all reforms and investments envisaged by Romania, its Recovery and 
Resilience  Plan  is  expected  to  have  a  high  impact  on  strengthening  the  growth  potential,  job 
creation, and economic, social and institutional resilience of the Member State, on contributing 
to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, including through the promotion 
of  policies  for  children  and  youth,  and  on  mitigating  the  economic  and  social  impact  of  the 
COVID-19  crisis,  thereby  enhancing  the  economic,  social  and  territorial  cohesion  and 
convergence within the Union. This would warrant a rating of A under the assessment criterion 
2.3 of Annex V to the RRF Regulation. 

50 

 
 
Box 3: Employment and social challenges in light of the Social Scoreboard accompanying the 
European Pillar of Social Rights 

The  Social  Scoreboard  supporting  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights  points  to  a  number  of  employment 
and  social  challenges  in  Romania.  Due  to  the  COVID-19  pandemic  outbreak  the  Romanian  labour  market 
outcomes deteriorated, generating risks of increasing poverty levels. The unemployment rate is on the rise, having 
reached  5%  in  2020,  one  of  the  highest  levels  in  the  past  years,  though  still  below  the  EU  average  (7.1%).  The 
employment rate (70.8%) declined by 0.1 pp and the gender employment gap remains one of the highest in the EU 
(19.3  pp).  Despite  a slight  improvement  relative  to  2019,  the  share  of  young  people aged  15-29  not  in  education, 
employment or training (NEET) remains among the highest in the 
EU  (16.6%  in  2020).  Early  school  leaving  remains  a  large 
concern, the rate being among the highest in the EU (15.6%). The 
labour  market  policies  adopted  in  the  context  of  the  COVID-19 
outbreak  have  focused  on  employment  subsidies  and  flexible 
working arrangements.    

Persisting  high  poverty  and  inequalities  are  expected  to 
worsen due to the economic downturn. The share of people at 
risk  of  poverty  or  social  exclusion  (36.3%  in  2019)  and  income 
inequality  are  among  the  highest  in  the  EU.  Child  poverty 
remains the highest and the impact of social transfers on poverty 
reduction  is  critically  low.  Coverage  and  quality  of  social 
services, including childcare and healthcare services, are limited. 
High  regional  disparities  and  rural-urban  divides  persist,  and 
access  to  essential  services  is  critical,  a  challenge  made  even 
more acute during the pandemic. 

The Recovery and Resilience Plan addresses some challenges 
relevant  for  the  implementation  of  the  Pillar.  The  Plan 
introduces  measures  to  fight  undeclared  work  by  developing  a 
voucher  system  for  domestic  workers.  This  scheme  has  the 
potential  to  tackle  inactivity,  increase  employment  and  social 
protection,  in  particular  for  the  low-skilled,  older  workers  and 
people  in  rural  areas.  Digitalisation  of  the  public  employment 
services  will  contribute  to  better  targeted  services.  Significant 
investments  are  included  on  tackling  the  still  high  rate  of  early 
school  leaving.  Similarly,  the  Plan  aims  to  increase  the  low 
participation  in  early  childhood  education  and  care  and  to 

improve the labour market relevance of vocational education and training (VET).  

Due  to  the  COVID-19  crisis  and  the  deteriorated  economic  context,  the  importance  of  reforms  and 
investments  in  social  inclusion  has  significantly  increased.  The  Plan  proposes  a  minimum  inclusion  income 
reform and a reform of the pension system. Investments in social infrastructure for long-term care, child protection 
as  well  as  support  for  persons  with  disabilities  are  also  included  in  the  Plan. The  proposed  health  reforms  aim  to 
improve primary care and efficiency of funding, and to support human resources in the system.  

51 

Critical situationTo watchWeak but improvingGood but to monitorOn averageBest performersDynamic labour markets and fair working conditionsSocial protection and inclusionAt risk of poverty or social exclusion for children (in %) (2019)Disability employment gap (2019)Better than averageAt risk of poverty or social exclusion (in %) (2019)Employment rate(% population aged 20-64) (2020)Unemployment rate(% population aged 15-74) (2020)Long term unemployment(% population aged 15-74) (2020)GDHI per capita growth (2019)Update of 16 September 2021. Members States are classified on the Social Scoreboard according to a statistical methodology agreed with the EMCO and SPC Committees. It looks jointly at levels and changes of the indicators in comparison with the respective EU averages and classifies Member States in seven categories. For methodological details, please consult the proposal for a Joint Employment Report 2021, COM(2020) 744 final; NEET: neither in employment nor in education and training; GDHI: gross disposable household income.Impact of social transfers (other than pensions) on poverty reduction (2019)Children aged less than 3 years in formal childcare (2019)Self-reported unmet need for medical care (2019)Housing cost overburden (2019)Equal opportunities and access to the labour marketSocial Scoreboard for ROMANIAEarly leavers from education and training(% of population aged 18-24) (2020)Youth NEET(% of total population aged 15-24) (2020)Gender employment gap (2020)Income quintile ratio (S80/S20) (2019)Individuals' level of digital skills (2019) 
 
 
4.4. The principle of ‘do no significant harm’ 

Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  assesses  compliance  with  the  ‘do  no  significant 
harm’ (DNSH) principle. The assessment follows the methodology set out in the Commission’s 
technical  guidance  on  the  application  of  ‘do  no  significant  harm’  under  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience Facility Regulation (2021/C 58/01). It covers the six environmental objectives within 
the meaning of Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 2020/852, namely climate change mitigation, 
climate change adaptation, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, circular 
economy,  pollution  prevention  and  control,  and  protection  and  restoration  of  biodiversity  and 
ecosystems.  The  environmental  impact  is  assessed  per  reform  or  investment.  Hence,  the  171 
measures  (reforms  and  investments)  in  Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  translate  into 
171 ‘do no significant harm’ assessments, based on the six objectives.  

Each  ‘do  no  significant  harm’  assessment  follows  a  two-step  approach.  The  first  step 
assesses whether there is a risk that a measure could do significant harm to one or more of the 
environmental  objectives.  In  some  cases,  the  assessment  concludes  that  there  is  no  risk  of 
significant harm, in  which case the measure is  assessed as compliant with this objective of the 
Regulation.  In  cases  where  the  analysis  identifies  a  risk,  as  a  second  step,  a  more  detailed 
assessment is performed in which Romania demonstrates the absence of significant harm.  

Where needed, the requirements of the DNSH assessment are enshrined in the design of a 
measure  and  specified  in  a  milestone  or  target  of  this  measure.  This  ensures  that  any 
disbursement  for  the  respective  measures  can  only  be  made  once  compliance  with  the  DNSH 
principle is ensured. For instance, the Plan contains a number of support schemes for the industry 
and  the  private  sector,  either  via  tenders  or  via  financial  instruments.  In  these  cases,  the 
milestones  specify  that  certain  types  of  activities  cannot  be  supported  (for  example  fossil  fuel 
activities and landfills) and require that the selected projects are checked for compliance with the 
applicable  national  and  European  environmental  legislation  in  order  to  be  eligible.  The 
respective milestones ensure that these criteria are integrated in  the call for projects  or call for 
tender before it is awarded. Similarly, support that is provided through financial instruments has 
to  go  through  sustainability  proofing,  in  addition  to  the  above  requirements,  which  is  also 
specified in a milestone and will need to be integrated in the investment policy of the financial 
instrument before any investments are made. 

The potential harm of certain mobility investments is offset by flanking measures. The Plan 
entails  large  support  for  road  investments  on  the  TEN-T  core  network.  These  kinds  of 
investments generally have the potential to do harm to several environmental objectives, namely 
climate  change  mitigation,  air  pollution  and  biodiversity.  In  particular,  Romania  provided 
analyses  for  each  motorway  section  showing  that  the  investments  are  expected  to  generate 
additional  GHG  emissions.  However,  flanking  measures  are  expected  to  prevent  this  when 
mitigating GHG emissions, such as through green taxation measures in line with “polluter pays 
principle”,  incentives  for  zero-emission  vehicles  both  for  private  and  public  use,  scrapping  of 
polluting  vehicles,  increases  in  the  number  of  electric  vehicle  charging  stations  from  1 800  to 
30 000  over  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  implementation  period,  planting  of  forest 

52 

 
 
curtains  and  new  forests  (45 000  Ha),  as  well  as  digitalisation  of  transport  (e.g.  Intelligent 
Transport Systems) to improve traffic efficiency. 

The Plan includes measures related to power and heat generation and related distribution 
infrastructure  using  natural  gas.  As  Romania  faces  significant  challenges  in  the  transition 
away  from  carbon-intensive  energy  sources,  these  measures  can  exceptionally  be  approved,  in 
accordance  with  Annex  III  of  the  DNSH  Technical  guidance.  The  Plan  demonstrates  that  this 
support contributes to the EU’s decarbonisation objectives for 2030 and 2050 for the following 
reasons.  

The Plan demonstrates that the construction  of a gas  distribution network in the Oltenia 
region is future-proof, enabling the transportation of green hydrogen. The Plan shows that 
the  distribution  network  shall  carry  at  least  20%  of  renewable  hydrogen  (by  volume)  when 
commissioned  by  30  June  2026  and  100%  renewable  hydrogen  in  2030.  Moreover,  the  Plan 
provides evidence that air pollution will be significantly reduced when using gaseous fuels from 
a  smart  grid  rather  than  using  biomass  and  coal  in  old  stoves  without  emission  treatment 
technologies. In this context, the measure is not expected to contribute to a significant increase in 
pollutants in the air, as natural gas, especially when blended with green hydrogen is much less 
polluting than solid fuels and biomass, which are currently used for domestic heating, domestic 
hot water and cooking. Gaseous fuels also do not produce emissions of pollutants such as sulphur 
dioxide (SO2) and fine particulate matter (PM10, PM 2,5), as in the case of biomass and solid 
fuels.  These  conditions  are  verified  by  intermediate  milestones  at  the  time  of  the  award  of  the 
contract.  To  ensure  the  safe  use  of  the  network  with  the  blending  of  at  least  20%  hydrogen, 
legislative  changes  will  ensure  that  only  hydrogen-ready  appliances  and  equipment  shall  be 
connected to this network. 

The Plan also covers the installation of future-proof, flexible and highly efficient gas-fired 
Combined Heat and Power enabled for the use of renewable and low-carbon gases. DNSH 
compliance  is  ensured  through  the  following  accompanying  measures:  i)  credible  plans  to 
increase usage of renewable and low-carbon gases through the adoption and implementation of a 
National  Hydrogen  Strategy  and  Action  Plan  and  the  installation  of  renewable  hydrogen 
production  capacities;  ii)  the  closure  of  coal  and  lignite  power  and  heat  generation  facilities, 
which  is  significantly  more  carbon-intensive  than  the  high-efficient  gas-fired  Combined  Heat 
and Power under this investment; iii) at least 3 000 MW of additional renewables capacity being 
installed by 2026, as well as a second round of auction for the award of Contracts for Difference 
(CfD)  for  renewables,  which  shows  that  Romania  has  a  credible  trajectory  for  increasing  the 
share  of  renewables  towards  their  2030  renewables  target  set  out  in  the  National  Energy  and 
Climate Plan; iv) concrete reforms and investments to increase the share of renewables, such as 
the  implementation  of  the  Contracts  for  Difference,  the  establishment  of  renewables  Power 
Purchase Agreements  (PPAs), the simplification of the licensing and permitting procedures for 
renewables  investments,  short  and  binding  administrative  response  times  and  accountability 
procedures  for  unnecessary  delays,  reduction  of  the  necessary  documentation  and  procedures, 
and introduction of a new dedicated framework for offshore renewables plants. 

53 

 
 
While investments in water management may contribute to the climate and environmental 
objectives, they should not lead to the deterioration of the ecological status of the affected 
water bodies. In particular, DNSH compliance must be ensured for investments in component 1 
(Water  management),  to  repair  and  refurbish  damaged  dams  and  flood  prevention  polders  on 
existing flood defence lines in order to restore and maintain their capacity to prevent flooding, 
for  which  revised  feasibility  studies  concluded  that  there  are  no  feasible  alternatives  to  reduce 
flood risks. The Plan rehabilitation will be done in accordance with the requirements set out in 
the feasibility studies and project designs, and fully respect the results and conditions set by the 
comprehensive  and  cumulative  Environmental  Impact  Assessment  that  should  have  been 
completed  in  accordance  with  Directive  2011/92/EU  (EIA  Directive),  as  well  as  relevant 
assessments  in  the  context  of  Directive  2000/60/EC  (Water  Framework  Directive)  and  the 
Appropriate  Assessment  under  Directive  92/43/EEC  (Habitats  Directive),  including  the 
implementation of required mitigation measures. The investments for the modernisation of flood 
protections  included  in  Component  2  (Forests  and  Biodiversity  protection)  will  integrate  and 
strictly comply with any measure identified in the framework of the assessment under Directive 
2000/60/EC  (Water  Framework  Directive)  as  necessary  to  ensure  compliance  with  the  DNSH 
principle. 

The Plan also places a strong focus on the renovation of buildings. While this has a positive 
impact  on  the  energy  system  as  well  as  on  emissions  reductions,  it  can  also  create  significant 
amounts of construction waste and hence cause harm to the circular economy objective. Romania 
ensures that there will be no significant harm to the circular economy objective by detailing in 
the Plan for each of the measures that at least 70% (by weight) of the non-hazardous construction 
and  demolition  waste  generated  on  the  construction  sites  will  be  prepared  for  reuse,  recycling 
and  other  material  recovery.  Where  a  construction  of  new  buildings  is  envisaged,  it  will  be 
ensured  that  they  meet  all  the  EU  legislation  requirements  to  ensure  that  no  harm  to  climate 
change mitigation is done, and notably that they will be Near Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB).  

Taking  into  consideration  the  assessment  of  all  the  measures  envisaged,  no  measure  for  the 
implementation  of  reforms  and  investments  projects  included  in  Romania’s  Recovery  and 
Resilience  Plan  is  expected  to  do  a  significant  harm  to  environmental  objectives  within  the 
meaning  of  Article  17  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  2020/852  (the  principle  of  ‘do  no  significant 
harm’). This would warrant a rating of A under the assessment criterion 2.4 of Annex V to the 
Regulation.
RRF 

54 

 
 
4.5. Green transition  

Climate target 

Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  correctly  follows  the  methodology  for  climate 
tracking  set  out  in  Annex  VI  to  the  RRF  Regulation.  It  identifies  intervention  fields  and 
corresponding  coefficients  for  the  calculation  of  support  to  the  climate  objectives,  for  most 
measures. The choice of intervention fields for the climate transition is well justified and reflects 
the nature, focus, objective or expected outcome of the investments.  

It should be noted that:  

 

the measures of the Plan often consist of several sub-measures – for these measures, the 
Plan  indicates  an  intervention  field  for  each  sub-measure  and  computes  the  climate 
contribution at sub-measure level;  

  where  relevant,  milestones  and  targets  include  specifications  that  ensure  that  the 
requirements  of  an  intervention  field  are  met  (for  instance,  where  intervention  field 
025bis – “Energy efficiency renovation of existing housing stock, demonstration projects 
and  supporting  measures  compliant  with  energy  efficiency  criteria”  is  used,  a  target 
specifies  that  the  measure  must  achieve  the  conditions  of  the  intervention  field  i.e.  on 
average,  at  least  a  medium-depth  level  renovation  as  defined  in  the  Commission 
Recommendation on Building Renovation (EU) 2019/786; 

Measures supporting climate change objectives in Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan 
account  for  EUR  11 969.62  million,  which  represent  41%  of  the  Plan’s  total  allocation  of 
EUR 29 182  million.  Of  the  15  components  in  the  Plan,  14  components  (Water  Management, 
Forests  and  Biodiversity  Protection,  Waste  Management,  Sustainable  Transport,  Renovation 
Wave,  Energy,  Digital  Transformation,  Business  Support  and  RDI,  Local  Fund,  Tourism  and 
Culture, Healthcare, Social Reform, Good governance, and Education) include expenditure that 
contributes to climate objectives.  

With a total of EUR 4 134.6 million, the largest climate contribution of the Recovery and 
Resilience Plan results from component 4 (Sustainable Transport). This component notably 
includes  investments  worth  EUR  2 832  million  in  the  construction  or  modernization  of 
electrified  or  zero-emission  railways,  which  benefit  from  a  100%  climate  coefficient  under 
various  different  intervention  fields  listed  in  annex  VI  of  the  RRF  Regulation  (064,  065,  067, 
069bis). 
068, 

and 

55 

 
 
Table 6. Contribution to climate objectives per component 

Component 

Total cost 
(EUR million) 

1.  Water management  
2.  Forests and Biodiversity protection 
3.  Waste management 
4.  Sustainable transport 
5.  Renovation Wave 
6.  Energy 
7.  Digital transformation 
8.  Tax and pension reforms 
9.  Business  support, 

research,  development  and 

innovation 
10.  Local fund  
11.  Tourism and culture 
12.  Healthcare 
13.  Social reforms 
14.  Good governance 
15.  Education 
Total 

Green transition 

1 462.00 
1 173.00 
1 239.00 
7 620.00 
2 200.00 
1 620.00 
1 884.96 
456.93 

2 558.63 

2 100.00 
449.00 
2 450.01 
196.74 
165.60 
3 605.97 
29 181.84 

Contribution 
to climate 
objectives 
(EUR million) 
238.82 
926.80 
448.55 
4 134.60 
2 185.72 
1 039.00 
163.89 
0.00 

Share of 
contribution 
to climate 
objectives 
0.8% 
3.2% 
1.5% 
14.2% 
7.5% 
3.6% 
0.6% 
0% 

100.00 

1 613 
253.68 
239.68 
1.87 
22.09 
601.92 
11 969.62 

0.3% 

5.5% 
0.9% 
0.8% 
0.01% 
0.1% 
2.1% 
41% 

The  measures  in  Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  are  expected  to  effectively 
contribute  to  the  green  transition,  and  to  addressing  the  challenges  resulting  therefrom. 
The Plan supports Romania’s decarbonisation and energy transition objectives, as set out in the 
National  Energy  and  Climate  Plan  (NECP).  Energy  and  climate  investments  and  reforms 
envisaged  in  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  are  consistent  with  the  NECP.  Romania  has 
systematically ensured through its do-no-significant-harm assessment that none of the proposed 
measures  cause  harm  to  the  protection  and  restoration  of  biodiversity  and  ecosystems  and  has 
demonstrated  how  certain  measures  in  the  Plan  contribute  to  biodiversity,  notably  through 
component 2 (Forests and Biodiversity Protection), which amounts to EUR 1 173 million, and of 
which  at  least  EUR  1 147  million  are  tracked  with  a  100%  environment  coefficient  under 
relevant intervention fields listed in annex VI of the RRF Regulation (035, 050, and 040).  

In particular, the Recovery and Resilience Plan broadly addresses the key policy challenges 
identified in the Commission’s recommendations on the Romanian NECP. These concern: i) 
boosting  renewable  energy  generation;  ii)  fostering  the  renovation  of  buildings  and  the  energy 
efficiency  of  district  heating  networks;  iii)  improving  transport  infrastructure  and  sustainable 
mobility,  including  reforming  the  transport  agencies  and  supporting  the  deployment  of 
recharging and refuelling infrastructure; iv) supporting the phase-in of green taxation and green 
budgeting.  Various  components  of  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  contribute  to  the 
achievement of the energy and climate targets set out in the NECP and are expected to have a 
lasting impact. 

56 

 
 
 
The Plan includes a key reform on the phase out of coal and lignite power production by 
2032  in  component  6  (Energy).  The  reform  is  crucial  for  the  decarbonisation  of  the  energy 
sector  and  for  greenhouse  gas  (GHG)  emissions  reductions  in  Romania,  considering  that  the 
energy  sector  is  the  largest  source  (66%)  of  GHG  emissions  in  Romania.  The  reform  will  be 
implemented gradually with concrete targets for the decommissioning of coal and lignite power 
production  capacity,  starting  already  in  2021.  The  reform  will  deliver  the  closure  of  a  large 
proportion (i.e. 3 780 MW) of the total coal/lignite fired electricity production capacity installed 
(i.e., 4 590 MW) by 2025. The reform is realistic and takes into account the main challenges in 
the  transition  away  from  coal  and  lignite  energy  sources  by  proposing  the  replacement  of  the 
coal and lignite power production capacity with high-efficient gas-fired power production or gas-
fired Combined Heat and Power, in line with the do no significant harm principle. The amount of 
new gas-fired capacity is significantly lower than the corresponding amount of decommissioned 
capacity and is required to be future-proof in terms of use of renewable and low-carbon gases. 
The  reform  is  expected  to  have  a  significant  positive  long-term  impact  on  environmental 
objectives. 

The  coal  phase-out  is  also  accompanied  by  key  measures  in  component  6  (Energy)  to 
increase  and  speed-up  the  deployment  of  renewables  power  production  and  alternative 
energy sources, such as green hydrogen. The Plan’s implementation is expected to lead to at 
least  3 000 MW  of  additional  electricity  generation  capacity  from  renewables  by  2026,  with  a 
focus  on  solar  and  wind  technologies.  The  new  Energy  Law  will  in  particular  introduce 
Contracts  for  Difference  (CfD)  as  the  main  support  mechanism  for  investments  in  renewables 
power  production  and  allow  direct  negotiation  of  renewables  Power  Purchase  Agreements 
(PPAs). The reform is expected to remove bottlenecks and help unlock the existing potential of 
private investment  in renewables by simplifying the licensing and  authorisation procedures for 
renewables investments. During the preparation of the new CfD support scheme for renewables, 
additional investments in wind and solar technologies are also proposed to be financed under the 
Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility,  and  a  specific  support  framework  for  offshore  renewables 
investments in currently under-exploited regions is planned. In addition, the Plan addresses the 
need to facilitate the integration of renewables with investments in batteries and storage aiming 
to increase the flexibility of the electricity grid. Those investments are expected to complement 
the  necessary  investments  in  the  transmission  and  distribution  network  that  are  planned  to  be 
financed  under  the  Modernisation  Fund.  The  Plan  also  intends  to  use  the  potential  for  green 
hydrogen production by developing a National Hydrogen Strategy and Action Plan, accompanied 
by  investments  in  electrolyser  capacity,  which  is  expected  to  provide  a  reliable  investment 
framework for investors. The goal is for 100MW of electrolyser capacity, which will produce at 
least 10 000 tons of green hydrogen. 

The  Plan  has  a  very  strong  focus  on  investments  in  energy  and  resource  efficiency.  The 
investments in component 5 (Renovation Wave) are expected to achieve total CO2 savings of at 
least 0.15 million tons for private buildings and at least 0.075 million tons for public buildings. 
Tracking  of  the  impact  of  the  investment  will  be  ensured  by  the  establishment  of  a  national 
building  stock  database  to  collect  information  on  the  energy  consumption  and  seismic  risk  of 
buildings. The energy-efficiency reforms and investments, in particular the large investments in 

57 

 
 
energy renovation of residential buildings, are expected to contribute to the lowering of energy 
bills,  thus  partly  mitigating  the  economic  effects  of  the  crisis.  The  combination  of  energy 
renovation  with  seismic  renovation  will  also  ensure  a  lasting  impact  of  the  energy-renovation 
investments and add resilience to the building stock, as Romania is one of the EU countries with 
the  highest  seismic  risk.  Moreover,  the  reforms  and  investments  in  component  5  (Renovation 
Wave) are expected to tackle the challenges of the energy renovation of historic buildings such 
as  historic  monuments  and  buildings  located  in  protected  areas.  Aside  from  buildings, 
component  6  (Energy)  also  aims  at  increasing  energy  efficiency  of  the  industry,  notably  by 
reducing  energy  consumption,  developing  systems  to  digitalise  energy  consumption  metering, 
and increasing energy and heat self-consumption. This is expected to lead to a 30% reduction in 
direct and indirect GHG emissions compared to ex-ante emissions for at least 50 projects, to be 
monitored through an IT platform for centralising and analysing national energy consumption. 

A  large  share  of  the  proposed  measures  aim  to  contribute  to  the  reduction  of  GHG 
emissions and air pollution in the transport sector. The Plan includes reforms and investments 
to promote urban mobility through zero-emission public transport, green taxation in line with the 
“polluter pays principle”, incentives for zero-emission vehicles for public and private use, modal 
shift to rail and water transport, and measures to improve road safety with the objective to reduce 
deaths/serious injuries by 25% between 2019 and 2025. In particular, component 4 (Sustainable 
Transport) and component 10 (Local Fund) include significant investments in rail infrastructure 
and rolling stock, in sustainable urban transport,  as well  as in  electric vehicle (EV) recharging 
infrastructure,  which  are  expected  to  also  reduce  the  impact  of  new  motorways.  These 
investments  will  likely  contribute  to  improving  Romania’s  connectivity  and  the  attractiveness 
and  sustainability  of  its  transport  system  as  well  as  increasing  the  use  of  public  transport  by 
citizens. Proposed reforms and investments related to the greening of road transport operations, 
in  particular  vehicle  taxation  and  EV  charging  stations  will  likely  contribute  to  a  more 
sustainable transport sector in Romania. Investments and reforms to improve road safety are also 
welcome and will have a positive impact on people’s lives, as long as they complement the new 
Road Safety Strategy and related targets. In addition, the development of the Shipping Strategy is 
a necessary and important step in shifting freight to waterborne modes as well as improving the 
environmental  performance  of  shipping  and  ports.  Investments 
in  segregated  cycling 
infrastructure  will  increase  safety  and  encourage  more  people  to  cycle  as  long  as  they  are 
complemented by the appropriate strategic and normative reforms. 

The  introduction  of  green  budgetary  planning  will  also  contribute  to  better  support  the 
implementation  of  green  policy  objectives.  By  developing  and  applying  a  methodology  for 
assessing the impact of individual budget lines on environmental objectives, in line with the EU 
Taxonomy for sustainable activities and the DNSH Principle, the reform included in component 
6 (Energy) will allow the monitoring of green budgetary expenditure and the assessment of the 
environmental and climate impact of fiscal policy. 

The  measures  in  the  Plan  are  expected  to  not  only  contribute  to  decarbonisation  and 
energy  and  resource  efficiency,  but  also  to  increasing  climate  adaptation  and  resilience, 
biodiversity and environmental protection. The reform of forest management and governance 

58 

 
 
systems, based on a new National Forest Strategy, is expected to put in place a robust strategic 
and  regulatory  framework  for  sustainable  forestry  that  will  not  only  substantially  contribute  to 
biodiversity  protection  but  also  increase  Romania’s  resilience  to  the  adverse  effects  of  climate 
change. In addition to improving sustainable forest management, the reform aims at combatting 
illegal  logging and the strategy will set  out  sustainability  criteria  for forest  biomass  for energy 
use.  Associated  investments  aim  at  afforesting  or  reforesting  a  total  area  of  56 700  ha  and 
creating  3 150 000 m2  of  urban  forests,  thus  contributing  to  both  climate  resilience  and 
biodiversity.  This  will  be  supported  by  90  new  and  renovated  tree  nurseries,  with  tree  species 
and ecotypes that are adapted for the future climatic conditions of Romania and while avoiding 
short rotation or monoculture production. Other reforms and investments related to biodiversity 
include the reform of the management system of protected natural areas, in order to effectively 
implement the EU Biodiversity Strategy, coupled with investments to update management plans 
for  protected  natural  areas,  as  well  as  the  ecological  restoration  of  2 800 ha  of  grasslands. 
Moreover,  a  number  of  investments  aim  specifically  at  the  protection  of  habitats  and  species 
directly dependent on water, notably through the restoration of 1 700 ha of riparian habitats, and 
investments in wild sturgeon monitoring along the Lower Danube, in order to fight poaching. In 
this  context,  a  number  of  investments  contribute  directly  to  increasing  resilience  to  climate 
change,  specifically  by  reducing  flood  risks,  such  as  through  the  rehabilitation  of  existing 
defence  lines  in  accordance  with  the  National  Strategy  for  Flood  Risk  Management  and  the 
Floods Directive.  

Regarding resource efficiency, material reuse and reducing waste generation, as a result of 
the  implementation  of  component  3  (Waste  management),  a  Circular  Economy  Strategy  and 
Action  Plan  is  expected  to  be  adopted  by  2023  to  ensure  Romania’s  transition  to  a  circular 
economy by 2030. These actions will be accompanied by a number of investments in separated 
waste  collection  and  recycling  facilities,  agricultural  waste  recycling  and  waste  management 
enforcement.  The  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  therefore  supports  Romania  in  meeting  the 
national  energy  and  climate  targets  set  out  in  the  NECP  2030  and  RNC  2050  and  thus  in 
achieving carbon neutrality in 2050.  

Taking  into  consideration  the  assessment  of  all  the  measures  envisaged,  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience  Plan  is  expected,  to  a  large  extent,  to  make  a  significant  contribution  to  the  green 
transition or to address the challenges resulting from it and ensures that at least 37% of its total 
allocation contribute to the climate target. This would warrant a rating of A under criterion 2.5 
of Annex V to the RRF Regulation. 

4.6. Digital transition  

Digital tagging 

The Recovery and Resilience Plan correctly follows the methodology for  digital tagging in 
Annex  VII  by  identifying  intervention  fields  and  corresponding  coefficients  to  calculate 
support  to  the  digital  objectives  for  each  investment  measure.  Romania  has  split  the 
measures  into  sub-measures  based  on  their  costs  whenever  possible  in  order  to  ensure  an 
accurate selection of the intervention fields and to avoid any overestimations of the contributions 

59 

 
 
of certain measures to the digital objectives. In a limited number of cases, Romania has indicated 
for  the  same  measure  two  different  intervention  fields  for  the  purpose  of  climate  and  digital 
tagging respectively. This has been done when the measure could not be split into different sub-
parts, when no single intervention field that reflects the contribution to both climate and digital 
objectives could be applied or when the measure was considered as fully or partly contributing to 
both climate and digital objectives. The Plan does not propose any increased digital coefficients 
for any measure.  

Overall, based on the methodology, the Plan contributes to digital objectives for 20.5% of 
Romania’s  allocation  (this  amounts  to  EUR 5.97  billion)  and  the  digital  target  of  20%  is 
therefore considered to have been met. The most significant contributions to the digital target 
are  included  in  pillar  2,  but  pillars  1,  3  and  6  have  a  substantial  contribution  as  well  and  all 
components  include  at  least  some  digital-related  measures.  In  particular,  in  component  4 
(Sustainable  transport),  the  Plan  allocates  EUR  864  million  as  digital  contribution,  while 
component 7 (Digital transformation), focused on the digital transformation of the public sector, 
cybersecurity  and  connectivity,  allocates  EUR  1 817  million  (the  largest  contribution  for  a 
component).  Equally  significant  contributions  are  made  by  component  9  (Business  support, 
research,  development  and  innovation),  earmarking  EUR  1  064  million  for  the  support  of 
businesses’ digitalisation and a multi-country project planned to be implemented as an Important 
Project  of  Common  European  Interest  (IPCEI)  on  ‘Low-power  processors  and  semiconductor 
chips’ and by component 15 (Education), tackling reforms and investments for the digitalisation 
of the education process, amounting EUR 1 129.5 million.  

Table 7. Contribution to digital objectives per relevant component 

Component 

1.  Water management  
2.  Forests and Biodiversity protection 
3.  Waste management 
4.  Sustainable transport 
5.  Renovation Wave 
6.  Energy 
7.  Digital transformation 
8.  Fiscal and pension reforms 
9.  Business  support, 

research,  development  and 

innovation 
10.  Local fund  
11.  Tourism and culture 
12.  Healthcare 
13.  Social reforms 
14.  Good governance 
15.  Education 
Total 

Total cost 
(EUR million) 

Contribution 
to digital 
objectives 
(EUR million) 

Share of 
contribution 
to digital 
objectives 

1 462.00 
1 173.00 
1 239.00 
7 620.00 
2 200.00 
1 620.00 
1 884.96 
456.93 
2 558.63 

2 100.00 
449.00 
2 450.01 
196.74 
165.60 
3 605.97 
29 181.84 

114.11 
7.16 
118.74 
864.00 
5.00 
32.00 
1 817.08 
386.76 
1 064.00 

317.50 
19.26 
70.00 
4.03 
27.33 
1 129.50 
5 976.46 

0.4% 
0.02% 
0.4% 
3% 
0.02% 
0.1% 
6.2% 
1.3% 
3.7% 

1.1% 
0.07% 
0.2% 
0.01% 
0.09% 
3.9% 
20.5% 

60 

 
 
Digital transition  

Romania’s Plan puts a strong emphasis on the digital transition and addresses challenges 
resulting from it across all sectors.  The measures of the Plan cover five of the seven  priority 
areas  identified  in  the  Annex  VII  of  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  Regulation: 
connectivity,  human  capital,  digital  public  services,  digitalisation  of  businesses,  investment  in 
digital  capacities  and  deployment  of  advanced  technologies.  The  reforms  and  investments  also 
cover  four  digital  flagship  initiatives  presented  in  the  Annual  Sustainable  Growth  Strategy 
202131: Connect, Modernise, Scale-up, Reskill and upskill. 

The  Plan 
is  expected  to  address  digitalisation  challenges  related  to  the  public 
administration  such  as  fragmentation,  lack  of  interoperability  as  a  major  obstacle  in  the 
development  of  user-centred  digital  services,  and  elimination  of  bureaucratic  barriers. 
Romania  ranks  low  in  the  last  DESI  report  as  regards  the  digital  public  services  dimension. 
Therefore, the Plan has  a strong  focus on this sector. A key  reform on the development  of the 
Government  Cloud  in  component  7  (Digital  transformation)  aims  to  modernise  the  public 
administration  by  establishing  the  necessary  framework  for  achieving  interoperability  of  the 
various public institutions’  IT&C systems,  ensuring  coherence with  the eIDAS  Regulation  and 
implementing  the  “once  only”  principle  embedded  in  the  Single  Digital  Gateway  Regulation 
(EU)  2018/1724.  Furthermore,  a  second  reform  shall  establish  a  general  framework  for  the 
development  and  management  of  a  cloud  infrastructure  which  shall  be  underpinned  by 
significant investment aimed at connecting 30 public institutions in a newly created Government 
Cloud;  these  measures  are  expected  to  fundamentally  transform  the  public  administration’s 
processes that are currently fragmented, dated, vulnerable to cyberattacks and non-interoperable. 
In the long term, the measures are expected to save time for citizens and businesses, optimise the 
services  provided  by  the  public  sector,  and  ensure  business  continuity  for  critical  IT  services, 
thereby contributing to the economic resilience of the country. 

A  broad  range  of  complementary  investments  in  the  digitalisation  of  the  public 
administration  included  in  component  7  (Digital  transformation)  is  equally  expected  to 
contribute to the modernisation of key areas of the public sector. The component covers the 
digitalisation  of  health,  the  justice  system,  environmental  public  services,  the  employment  and 
social  protection  and  public  procurement  systems.  The  efficiency  gains  resulting  from  the 
digitalisation  of  the  public  administration  are  expected  to  have  a  lasting  impact  beyond  the 
lifetime of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.  

The  Plan  has  a  particular  focus  on  e-health  and  telemedicine  systems.  The  e-Health 
investment included in component 7 aims to foster the integration of health institutions through 
digital  infrastructure,  facilitating  the  access  to  data  for  the  Ministry  of  Health  and  other 

31 COM(2020) 575 - Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2021, 17 September 2020 

61 

 
 
 
                                                           
stakeholders  (such  as  public  health  directorates),  reducing  fragmentation  and  increasing  the 
quality  of  health  data.  A  new  Health  Insurance  IT  platform  shall  strengthen  the  capacity  of 
central, regional and local health institutions to digitally manage health data, connecting over 25 
000 healthcare providers to the platform. Telemedicine is expected to increase the access of rural 
areas  and small  urban  areas and vulnerable  groups to  specialised consultations, while reducing 
the waiting time. Increasing the access to information on family planning and related education 
aimed at preventing unplanned pregnancies are also targeted by the telemedicine investment. 

The  digitalisation  of  the  justice  system  forms  part  of  the  efforts  to  digitalise  the  public 
sector. The key measure in this regard is expected to support the finalisation of ECRIS V system 
(new case management system), which is the central element of the digital transformation of the 
judiciary in Romania. This tool is expected to provide key functionalities supporting the flow of 
cases  in  courts  and  prosecution  offices,  the  collection  of  statistical  data  and  the  generation  of 
certain pre-defined statistical reports, as well as the electronic transfer of data between different 
actors  (courts,  prosecution  offices  and  the  public  prosecutor’s  office).  The  development  of  the 
system  is  financed  by  the  Operational  Programme  Administrative  Capacity  and  the  Plan  shall 
complement  these  funds.  Furthermore,  the  digitalisation  of  the  judiciary  shall  also  entail 
technical  infrastructure  for  teleworking  and  the  digitalisation  of  documents  with  the  aim  of 
increasing  the  resilience  of  the  judicial  system,  the  improvement  of  cybersecurity  capabilities 
and the implementation of a new system allowing secure videoconferencing. 

An  integrated IT system is  expected to support the digitalisation of  environmental public 
service. Moreover, the Plan focuses on the development of the infrastructure for the supervision, 
control and assurance of forest integrity and the transport of wood, with the aim of combatting 
illegal logging. 

The  Plan  also  supports  the  digitalisation  of  employment  and  social  protection.  The  Plan 
includes measures to digitalise the services offered by the Public Employment Service in order to 
respond effectively to the evolving needs of the labour market by optimising operations for the 
benefit of citizens and by providing digital skills trainings for managing specific activities (such 
as  online  submission  of  documents  for  registration  of  beneficiaries  and  award  of  benefits, 
possibility  to  register  and  attend  online  trainings  and  the  assessment  of  professional 
competences,  online  advisory  sessions)  and  upgrade  of  the  IT  infrastructure.  Moreover,  the 
control activity of the Territorial Labour Inspectorates and the social assistance benefits managed 
by the National Agency for Payments and Social Inspection will also be digitalised. As a result, 
many  related  processes  will  be  optimised  and  simplified,  leading  to  easier  access  to  data 
information in this sector. The measure also includes creating a functional IT System for serving 
Minimum Inclusion Income beneficiaries (underpinning a reform in component 13).  

The  investment  on  qualified  electronic  identity  cards  and  digital  signature  is  essential  in 
facilitating the digital interaction between public/private entities and citizens. It is expected 
to  deliver  8.5  million  electronic  identity  cards  during  the  implementation  of  the  Plan.  The 
electronic identity card is a key enabler of the adoption of government digital services and will 
facilitate  citizens’  access  to  various  electronic  services  (banking,  tax,  social,  financial);  this  is 

62 

 
 
expected  to  lead  to  a  much-improved  quality  and  accessibility  of  public  services,  with  major 
effects on simplifying the relationship between citizens, businesses and public authorities. 

The  digital  measures  included  in  the  Plan  are  expected  to  increase  the  country’s 
competitiveness. In particular, Romania is expected to be able to improve the efficiency of the 
economy and to take much better advantage of its digitalisation potential by: (i) accelerating the 
digitalisation  of  both  SMEs  and  large  companies  with  significant  investments  included  in 
component  9  (Support  for  the  private  sector,  research,  development  and  innovation);  (ii) 
adjusting digital skills to labour market needs and (iii) implementing electronic forms in public 
procurement procedures. As regards the digitalisation of SMEs, several financing schemes shall 
be  established  to  enhance  the  innovation  potential  of  businesses  by  focusing  not  only  on  the 
adoption  of  existing  digital  technologies  but  also  on  the  development  of  advanced  digital 
technologies  such  as  blockchain,  quantum  and  cloud  computing  and  artificial  intelligence. 
Furthermore,  a  key  reform  will  streamline,  simplify  and  fully  digitalise  business-related 
regulatory  requirements,  in  particular  those  related  to  setting  up  a  company,  exiting  from  the 
market/closure of a business  and the reporting of labour market  obligations.  In addition,  2 000 
SMEs  are  expected  to  be  supported  for  the  development  of  digital  skills  through  dedicated 
trainings. 

The  implementation  of  eForms  (electronic  forms)  in  the  field  of  public  procurement  is 
expected  to  contribute  to  streamlining  the  public  procurement  practices  at  national  and 
European level.  This  measure  will enhance transparency in  public procurement procedures by 
providing  digital  tools  aimed  at  preventing  irregularities,  (thereby  contributing  to  preventing 
corruption and fraud), harmonising interfaces and processes and by improving access to public 
procurement procedures for businesses through a transparent and predictable use of the national 
electronic procurement system. It will also improve the efficiency of the public administration, 
simplify  the  procedures  and  cut  unnecessary  red  tape  for  both  contracting  authorities  and 
economic operators, thereby achieving evidence-based public procurement governance. 

On  connectivity,  the  reforms  in  component  7  (Digital  transformation)  are  expected  to 
accelerate  the  national  roll-out  of  5G  networks  and  to  improve  broadband  coverage.  In 
particular, the reform is accompanied by an investment to provide coverage with very high-speed 
internet access (at least 100 Mbps upgradeable) for areas where there is currently no broadband 
infrastructure  and  where  this  infrastructure  is  unlikely  to  be  developed  soon  (‘white  areas’). 
These measures will tackle the rural – urban digital divide, reduce the administrative burden and 
streamline procedures and fees associated with 5G deployment, thereby creating the prerequisites 
for equal access to digital services and very high-speed Internet for all citizens. 

Another key area where the Plan is expected to contribute to the digital transformation is 
cybersecurity.  By  establishing  the  legal  and  institutional  framework  for  the  organisation  and 
conduct  of  activities  in  the  areas  of  cybersecurity  and  cyber  defence  and  by  clarifying 
cooperation  mechanisms  and  the  responsibilities  of  various  institutions,  the  reform  on 
cybersecurity will continue the process of strengthening the resilience to cyber risks of the public 
and private entities owning critical infrastructures. Measures include, among others, securing the 

63 

 
 
infrastructure  of  101  public  and  private  entities  which  have  IT&C  infrastructures  with  critical 
value for national security, training of cybersecurity trainers, a “government toolkit and services” 
to  increase  the  level  of  cybersecurity  maturity  of  1 000  “key  players”  (such  as  economic  and 
public  administration  actors,  including  companies,  SMEs,  schools,  hospitals,  central  and  local 
government bodies), as well as upgrading and expanding the Gigabit Internet access network for 
the public administration and public services provided in order to mitigate cyber security risks.  

Improving  digital  skills  is  also  a  priority  in  the  Plan,  with  significant  measures  in 
component  7  (Digital  transformation)  and  component  15  (Education).  By  including  the 
definition  of  new  digital  occupations  in  the  Classifications  of  Occupations  Code,  the  labour 
market is expected to better align to the latest developments in the digital sector. A broad range 
of trainings  and investments  in  digital  skills  also accompany the  reform,  including funding for 
civil servants and libraries in component 7 (Digital transformation). Component 15 (Education) 
has a very significant focus on the digitalisation of educational processes. A reform is expected 
to set minimum and optimal standards for ensuring the quality of digital education and to align 
the educational  system  to  DigComp  European  framework  for digital  competences  for students, 
including  by  updating  the  curriculum  and  developing  digital  teaching  materials  and  linking 
teacher’s  competences  profile  and  the  curriculum  for  initial  vocational  training,  continuing 
vocational  training  and  the  one  for  skills  training.  The  corresponding  investments  include  the 
development of thematic training courses, for digital literacy and digital pedagogy competences, 
in  particular  for  teachers  in  rural  and  disadvantaged  areas,  grants  for  computer  science 
laboratories  and  smart  hubs,  development  of  open  educational  resources  and  schemes  for 
digitalisation of universities. 

Romania  intends  to  be  part  of  a  digital  multi-country  project  that  is  planned  to  be 
implemented  mainly  through  participation  or  association  to  an  Important  Project  of  Common 
European  Interest  (IPCEIs)  in  the  area  of  ‘Low-power  processors  and  semiconductor  chips’. 
Through  this  project,  the  Plan  aims  to  support  Romania’s  involvement  in  the  microelectronics 
field  by  coordinating  with  capabilities  and  needs  at  European  level,  including  through  the 
participation of at least ten members of the national ecosystem to this multi-country project. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  assessment  of  all  the  measures  envisaged,  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience  Plan  is  expected,  to  a  large  extent,  to  make  a  significant  contribution  to  the  digital 
transition or to address the challenges resulting from it and ensures that at least 20% of its total 
allocation  contribute  to  support  digital  objectives.  This  would  warrant  a  rating  of  A  under 
criterion 2.6 of Annex V to the RRF Regulation. 

4.7. Lasting impact of the Plan  

Structural change in administration and institutions 

Reforms  and  investments  in  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  are  expected  to  have  a 
lasting impact on the functioning of the public administration in Romania (component 14). 
For  instance,  reforms  of  recruitment,  wages  and  career  progression  in  the  public  sector  should 
help attract and retain skilled and professional human resources. Performance-based evaluation 
and  the  conversion  of  temporary  and  precarious  contracts  into  more  stable  work  arrangements 

64 

 
 
will  increase  the  effectiveness  of  civil  servants,  and  their  independence  from  undue  external 
pressures. Moreover, with the establishment of the task-force to implement and monitor Digital 
Transformation  reforms  and  investments  (component  7),  civil  servants  will  develop  specific 
digital skills, thus enabling continuous improvements in the delivery of quality public services. 

Better and more integrated planning will favour a more coherent and efficient use of EU 
funds.  Component  14  (Good  governance)  establishes  mechanisms  and  coordination  bodies 
directly  under  the  Prime  Minister’s  office  to  align  skills  in  the  public  administration  to 
technological developments and guide the sector through the digital transition. A more integrated 
planning process will ensure a coherent approach to policy-making across ministries, and better 
linkages with the budgetary process.  

Investments in the area of tax administration will strengthen Romania’s fiscal capacity.  A 
thorough and independent review of the tax administration will point at all numerous tax credits 
and loopholes for tax avoidance. Subsequent reforms that take on the review’s recommendations 
will make the tax system fairer and more efficient. A broader use of green taxation will moreover 
nudge citizens and companies into adopting a more environmentally sustainable behaviour, while 
making  the  taxation  system  fairer  towards  non-pollutants.  Enhanced  fiscal  capacity  will  create 
room to offer higher quality services, which swiftly adapt to the needs of taxpayers and reduce 
the administrative burden they may face. 

The Plan creates the conditions for a more integrated delivery of public services at the local 
level,  but  overarching  decentralisation  reforms  will  be  needed  to  make  these  conditions 
permanent.  In  particular,  the  Plan  provides  neighbouring  territorial  administrative  units  that 
have  social  and  economic  interlinkages  with  new  tools  and  incentives  to  coordinate.  Within 
metropolitan  areas  and  rural  consortia,  municipalities  will  be  able  to  pool  resources,  jointly 
provide public services, and target issues that go beyond traditional administrative borders – such 
as traffic congestion, air pollution, water management and housing policy.  

Structural change in policies 

Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  is  expected  to  have  lasting  change  in  the  way 
policies are designed, implemented and monitored  – especially when they regulate the use 
of  natural  resources  and  the  environment.  For  example,  the  strengthening  of  the  regulatory 
framework for water management (component 1) will encourage more sustainable demand and 
supply  of  water  and  accelerate  people’s  access  to  quality  services.  The  simplification  and 
upgrade  of  the  legal  framework  regulating  the  planning  and  use  of  space  (component  5)  will 
support investment  for the construction of clean  buildings and the retrofitting of existing ones, 
thus  creating  momentum  for  the  green  transition  as  well  as  resilience  to  natural  hazards.  The 
energy mix will become more diversified, thanks to new laws that phase out energy production 
based on coal and lignite and that create incentives for private investments in the production of 
renewable energy – notably, the Energy Law (component 6). 

The implementation of measures that aim at making transport more sustainable will bring 
about a structural change in the relevant policies (component 4). The Directorate-General for 
Strategy  within  the  Ministry  of  Transport  and  Infrastructure  (MTI)  will  introduce  and  update 

65 

 
 
quality  standards  to  regulate  the  construction  and  renewal  of  road  infrastructure,  in  order  to 
ensure  their  environmental  sustainability.  For  instance,  roads  will  have  a  minimum  number  of 
charging stations for electric vehicles and will be constructed with recycled materials. MTI will 
implement  measures  aimed  at  increasing  the  quality  of  the  services  provided  through  public 
service  contracts.  The  service  provided  will  be  monitored  on  the  basis  of  a  set  of  quality 
indicators,  thereby  establishing  bonus  or  penalty  mechanisms  for  granting  compensation 
depending on the achievement of indicators.  

Structural  changes  in  public  policies  will  improve  the  provision  of  public  services  to 
citizens  and  enhance  the  competitiveness  of  Romania  and  its  capacity  to  innovate.  The 
establishment of metropolitan areas and  rural  consortia under  component 10 (Local  Fund) will 
broaden the policy tools that neighbouring municipalities have at their disposal to face issues that 
usually  cross  administrative  boundaries  -  such  as  pollution,  housing  and  traffic  congestion. 
Similarly,  legal  provisions  will  encourage  the  voluntary  merging  of  research  institutions,  thus 
enhancing the research and innovation capacity of the country.  

The planned health reforms are expected to bring medium to long-term effects at all levels 
of the healthcare system (component 12). The access, quality and coverage of primary care are 
expected to increase due to the introduction of performance-based funding, and revised payment 
mechanisms and incentives for primary health providers. Cost-efficiency and effectiveness of the 
health  system  funding  should  improve  and  lead  to  sustainability.  The  skills  development 
framework coupled with the revision of the payment mechanisms, should secure healthcare staff. 

The  implementation  of  the  minimum  inclusion  income  reform  is  expected  to  lead  to  a 
structural change in the delivery of social benefits. This will help improve the adequacy of the 
social  payments  system  while  at  the  same  time,  and  especially  if  coupled  with  activation 
measures, promote the re-integration into the labour market of those currently inactive. Positive 
labour market outcomes are expected to occur also as a result of complementarities between the 
introduction  of  the  voucher  scheme,  the  improvement  of  the  digital  services  provided  by  the 
employment services, and the development of digital skills of the population.  

Some of the reforms proposed in education (component 15) are also expected to contribute 
to structural  changes in this policy. Having a  better-defined and more  attractive professional 
education  route  for  example  (with  a  strong  dual  VET  component)  should  help  have  a  lasting 
impact on the provision of skills needed by the economy. The planned development of a unitary, 
inclusive  and  quality  early-childhood  education  system  for  children  from  birth  to  6  years-old 
would  also  have  a  lasting  impact  on  policies  on  the  provision  of  this  form  of  education.  The 
corresponding  increase  in  enrolment  rates  is  expected  to  benefit  those  from  the  most 
disadvantaged communities. 

Lasting impact 

Reforms  and  investments  in  Romania’s  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  address  some  root 
causes  of  inequalities  and  poverty.  A  reform  of  the  pension  system  (Component  8)  will 
redefine contributions to the pension system, thus correcting current long-lasting inequities of the 
public pension system. The Plan envisages social reforms (Component 13) to improve access to 

66 

 
 
labour market for disadvantaged groups, especially through active policies, and create incentives 
for  the  formalisation  of  jobs.  Moreover,  better  integration  of  labour  market  policies  and  social 
policies is expected to reduce poverty.  

Investments  into  the  education  system  will  boost  the  competitiveness  of  the  Romanian 
economy, while preparing its pupils to the new technological challenges and opportunities 
and  fostering  social  inclusion.  Component  15  (Education)  strikes  a  good  balance  between 
investments in educational infrastructure and investments in human capital and proper staffing of 
the  educational  institutions.  The  creation  of  10  consortia  for  dual  education  further  aims  to 
improve  labour  market  relevance.  The  strong  emphasis  placed  on  equipping  educational 
establishments  from  all  levels  with  IT  labs  and  equipment  will  provide  the  circumstances  for 
improving the digital skills of the future labour force. The extension of the crèches network will 
create the conditions for further integrating women in the labour market. 

The  Plan  will  give  a  strong  impetus  to  the  digital  transformation  of  Romania,  thus 
preparing  it  for  the  digital  transition  and  ultimately  improving  its  citizens’  well-being. 
Investments proposed in digital technologies, such as the realisation of the government cloud and 
the  development  and  migration  of  existing  digital  public  services  applications,  will  lead  to 
interoperability  of  all  digital  public  services  in  Romania.  At  the  same  time,  investments  in 
cybersecurity  will  ensure  better  protection  of  personal  data  to  the  benefit  of  the  all  country’s 
security (component 7). 

Reforms in the health sector should have a durable positive impact on the supply of quality 
and modern public healthcare services. In particular, investments in both pre-hospital (such as 
outpatient centres or integrated community centres) and in hospital infrastructure, could alleviate 
structural  issues  such  as  regional  and  rural-urban  disparities  in  terms  of  healthcare  service 
provision  or  outdated  hospital  infrastructure  and  equipment.  They  also  have  the  potential  of 
easing the mounting pressure on the public hospital system, by increasing the stock of available 
hospital beds, as well as reducing the rate of preventable diseases. 

Taking into consideration all reforms and investments envisaged by Romania in its Recovery and 
Resilience Plan, their implementation is expected, to a large extent to bring about a structural 
change  in  the  administration,  in  relevant  institutions  and  in  relevant  policies,  and  to  have  a 
lasting  impact.  This  would  warrant  a  rating  of  A  under  criterion  2.7  of  Annex  V  to  the  RRF 
Regulation. 

4.8. Milestones, targets, monitoring and implementation  

Adequacy  of  the  structure  tasked  with  the  implementation  of  the  Plan,  monitoring  of  progress 
and reporting 

The Recovery and Resilience Plan adequately describes the arrangements to ensure that a 
clearly  identified  body  is  responsible  for  the  implementation  of  the  Plan.  The  Ministry  of 
Investment and European Projects is the national coordinator for the implementation of the Plan, 
with the establishment of a specialised structure. It will be responsible for monitoring, verifying 
and  validating  the  achievement  of  milestones  and  targets.  The  Ministry  of  Investment  and 

67 

 
 
European  Projects  is  also  responsible  for  ensuring  the  implementation,  development  and 
operation of the computer system which meets the requirements laid down in Article 22 (2) (d) 
of the RRF Regulation, with the contribution of user bodies. The coordination will be ensured by 
the  Inter-ministerial  Committee for the Coordination of the Plan, in  close cooperation with  the 
Ministry of Investment and European Projects.  

The  monitoring  and  reporting  mechanism  is  thorough.  The  Ministry  of  Investment  and 
European  Projects  is  responsible  to  ensure  continuous  monitoring  of  the  progress  achieved  for 
each  milestone  and  target,  as  well  as  reporting  on  the  achievement  of  milestones  and  targets 
based  on  information  provided  by  the  reform  coordinators.  It  will  also  be  responsible  for 
preparing payment requests and submitting them to the European Commission. The Ministry is 
also responsible for the verification of the legality and regularity of expenditure and shall ensure 
the  prevention,  detection  and  correction  of  conflict  of  interest,  fraud,  corruption  and  double 
funding at the level of projects financed under the Plan. Section 4.10 lays out further information 
on the designation of entities and the description of their respective tasks. 

Milestones, targets and indicators 

Milestones, targets and indicators of the Romanian Plan are of sufficient quality to enable 
an effective monitoring of the Plan’s implementation. Each reform and investment in the Plan 
is accompanied by milestones and targets. The implementation of the 171 measures in the Plan is 
tracked  through  an  adequate  number  of  milestones  and  targets  that  ensures  that  progress  in 
implementing the Plan can be robustly monitored, while remaining manageable. The request for 
loan is accompanied by  additional milestones and targets to measure progress in the additional 
reforms and investments supported. 

Overall, milestones and targets are sufficiently specific, clear and comprehensive to ensure 
that their completion can be traced and verified. Milestones and targets for reforms include 
an  appropriate  level  of  qualitative  information  to  ensure  that  the  key  policy  intentions  can  be 
measured at specific moments of the implementation process. Milestones and targets  related to 
investments  are  precise  and  clear  on  the  expected  output.  Their  sequencing  is  sufficiently 
regular. Larger investments and key reforms  generally follow a lifecycle approach that ensures 
that  their  progress  through  key  stages  on  the  way  to  full  implementation  is  appropriately 
monitored. 

In  terms  of  content,  the  proposed  milestones  and  targets  strike  an  acceptable  balance 
between realism and ambition. For key reforms addressing country-specific recommendations 
milestones and targets ensure that the most important deliverables are reflected while taking into 
account  quality  and  appropriate  stakeholder  consultations.  For  investments,  expected  outputs 
reflect  the  ambition  of  the  measures  while  factoring  in  possible  challenges  in  terms  of 
complexity and the completion of contracts awarding processes. 

The proposed data and verification mechanisms are generally robust. Data indicators are in 
principle under the control  of the Romanian State and can be properly measured through data-
collection mechanisms. 

68 

 
 
Overall organisational arrangements 

While  the  arrangements  set  up  to  devise,  negotiate  and  ensure  an  efficient  and  regular 
implementation  of  the  Romanian  Plan  are  credible,  the  implementation  of  the  Plan  will 
hinge on the administrative and implementation capacity of the implementing bodies and 
will need to be closely monitored. The specialised structure under the Ministry of Investment 
and European Projects was designated for the implementation of the Plan with a legal mandate 
established  in  the  national  legal  framework  with  the  Government  Ordinance  155/2020,  as 
subsequently  amended  and  supplemented.  The  professional  experience  of  the  staff  of  the 
specialised  structure  focuses  on  European  funds  management,  which  is  relevant  for  the 
performance  of  implementation  functions,  namely  verifying  the  achievement  of  the  milestones 
and targets  of investments  and reforms  (monitoring, authorisation, control  — irregularities and 
anti-fraud).  Procedures  are  in  place  to  ensure  that  adequate  staff  with  complementary  work 
experience, are available at all levels. 

The arrangements proposed by Romania in its Recovery and Resilience Plan are expected to be 
adequate  to  ensure  effective  monitoring  and  implementation  of  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Plan, including the envisaged timetable, milestones and targets, and the related indicators. This 
would  warrant  a  rating  of  A  under  the  assessment  criterion  2.8  of  Annex  V  to  the  RRF 
Regulation.” 

4.9. Costing  

Romania  submitted  information  about  estimated  total  costs  for  the  measures  of  the  Plan 
involving costs. For the measures across the 15 components of the Plan, a cost estimate has been 
provided, accompanied by relevant information on the methodology and its calculation. Romania 
provided evidence  and justification for the  cost  estimates. The estimated total  costs  are for the 
most part based on unit costs derived from comparisons with previous procurement contracts for 
similar services or past investments of similar nature or based on actual offers. 

All  measures  financed  by  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  for  Romania  refer  to  costs 
incurred  and  actions  that  commenced  after  1  February  2020  and  do  not  cover  recurrent 
costs,  except  for  duly  justified  exceptions.  All  measures  included  in  the  Plan  started  after  1 
February  2020,  and  all  the  estimated  costs  incur  after  that  date.  In  addition,  some  costs,  for 
instance staff costs within the digital / public administration components and subsidized public 
places  under  the  education  component,  are  included  in  the  Plan,  given  their  strict  temporary 
nature,  their  close  link  with  the  implementation  of  a  specific  investment  or  reform  of  the  Plan 
and  their  sustainability.  All  costs  are  therefore  fully  in  line  with  Article  5(1)  of  the  RRF 
Regulation. Romania has not provided an independent validation for any of the measures of the 
Plan, which was optional. 

Reasonable costs 

The methodology and assumptions used to estimate the costs of the Plan are overall clear 
even  though  they  vary  across  measures.  In  some  cases,  the  total  costs  are  estimated  using 
feasibility  studies  or  tender  documents.  In  other  cases  they  are  estimated  by  aggregating  the 

69 

 
 
estimated  cost  of  the  various  inputs  required  for  the  implementation  of  the  measure  at  stake.  
Some measures refer to market prices to define the estimated cost. 

The  assessment  of  the  cost  estimates  and  supporting  documents  shows  that,  for  the  vast 
majority of the projects, the estimated total costs appear to be reasonable. For the most part, 
there is sufficiently detailed information and evidence that the estimated total cost of Recovery 
and Resilience Plan is reasonable as the calculations were clearly spelt out, and it is possible to 
clearly  identify  the  methodology  and  underlying  assumptions  used.  Previous  projects  or 
procurement  contracts  linked  to  the  proposed  investments  are  often  presented  to  serve  as  a 
benchmark and to justify the unit cost estimates. 

Plausible costs 

The volume and quality of information about the cost estimates is sufficient even though it 
varies across  measures. The details  as  regards the methodology and the assumptions made to 
estimate the total costs are thorough in many cases, while more limited for other measures. The 
quality of the description of the methodologies and calculations made to estimate the total costs  
and comparative cost data is relatively heterogeneous. The sources taken as a reference to justify 
the  plausibility  of  the  cost  estimates  are  clear  for  most  measures.  Many  of  them  refer  to  past 
projects  financed  by  the  European  Structural  Investment  Funds  (ESIF).  The  other  references 
mention  various  studies  and  evaluations  both  from  public  and  private  sectors.  For  a  limited 
number of measures, clear explanations were missing on how the costs references were used as 
the  basis  for  the  estimates,  or  adjusted  to  derive  the  estimated  total  costs.  In  addition,  for  few 
measures (such  as in  energy  and digital), the cost  estimates, though not implausible, are in  the 
higher range compared to costs for similar projects. 

For  a  limited  number  of  measures  (such  as  energy,  transport,  financial  instruments  and 
education)  the  information  provided  does  not  allow  to  conclude  that  the  justification  on  the 
amounts of the estimated total costs is reasonable and plausible to a full extent, for example due 
to uncertainty about the future demand for support to SMEs. For this reason, the justification on 
the amounts of the estimated total cost of the Plan can be considered reasonable and plausible to 
a medium extent. 

No double Union funding 

The cost estimates of the Plan provide a relatively high level of assurance about the risk of 
double financing from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and other Union funds. While 
the individual costing  fiches for each  component  do not  consistently provide clear information 
about  the  possibility  of  financing  the  same  investments  using  other  EU  funds,  the  risk  of 
covering  the  same  costs  is  addressed  by  governance  and  control  systems,  as  described  in  the 
following section. On this basis, Romania is considered to have provided sufficient information 
and evidence that the amount of the estimated total cost of the Recovery and Resilience Plan to 
be financed under the Facility is not covered by existing or planned Union financing. 

Commensurate and cost-efficient costs 

70 

 
 
The estimated total cost of the Plan is commensurate to the expected economic and social 
impact. The Recovery and Resilience Plan is expected to contribute to effectively addressing all 
or a significant subset of challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations 
and contains measures that are expected to foster economic growth and economic cohesion in an 
inclusive  manner,  to  boost  the  growth  potential  of  the  Romanian  economy,  to  stimulate  job 
crisis.
creation, 

mitigate 

adverse 

effects 

and 

the 

the 

of 

71 

 
 
Conclusion 

The  justification  provided  by  Romania  on  the  amount  of  the  estimated  total  costs  of  the 
Recovery and Resilience Plan is to a medium extent reasonable, plausible, in line with the 
principle  of  cost-efficiency  and  is  commensurate  to  the  expected  national  economic  and 
social  impact.  Romania  provided  sufficient  information  and  evidence  that  the  amount  of  the 
estimated  cost  of  the  reforms  and  investments  of  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  to  be 
financed under the Facility is not covered by existing or planned Union financing. 

This  would  warrant  a  rating  of  B  under  the  assessment  criterion  2.9  of  Annex  V  to  the  RRF 
Regulation. 

4.10. 

Controls and audit  

Robustness of internal control system and distribution of roles and responsibilities 

The  internal  control  system  described  in  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  is  based  on 
robust  processes  and  structures  and  clearly  identifies  actors  and  their  roles  and 
responsibilities  for  the  performance  of  the  internal  control  tasks.  Based  on  the  experience 
acquired over time in managing European cohesion funds, the Romanian set-up for the Recovery 
and  Resilience  Facility  internal  control  system  is  structured  in  a  similar  way,  i.e.  a  centralized 
management and decentralized implementation. At central level, the coordination is ensured by 
the  Inter-ministerial  Committee  for  the  Coordination  of  the  Plan,  responsible  for  examining 
progress in the implementation of the Plan, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Investment 
and European Projects (MIEP). MIEP was appointed the national coordinator for the preparation, 
negotiation  and  approval  of  the  Plan,  assisted  by  the  Ministry  of  Public  Finances  (for  tasks 
related to signing the loan agreement and the financing agreement), with the establishment of a 
specialized structure. MIEP is also in charge of the control and monitoring of the Plan, including 
the  monitoring  of  the  achievement  of  the  milestones  and  targets,  as  well  as  ensuring  the 
prevention, detection and correction of serious irregularities. Finally, the same Ministry is also in 
charge  of  drawing-up  and  signing  the  payment  claims  and  management  declarations.  The 
implementation of the Plan will be ensured by line ministries and their subordinated structures, 
through  the  conclusion  of  financing  agreements  with  MIEP.  The  contracts  will  comprise 
provisions related to the monitoring of the investments and reforms, financial planning execution 
as well as reporting obligations. 

The Audit Authority within the Court of Auditors will be in charge of audits. This body is 
the  same  audit  authority  as  the  one  used  for  the  ESI  Funds.  Its  independence  from  the 
coordination  body  and  institutions  responsible  for  the  implementation  of  the  reforms  and 
investments is confirmed. The Plan includes the main elements on the audit works of the audit 
body and a commitment to prepare an audit strategy within 3 months of the adoption of the Plan, 
which  will  be  afterwards  updated  annually.  The  overall  audit  approach  will  encompass  two 
major  elements.  First,  system  audits  to  provide  reasonable  assurance  that  the  system  functions 
effectively,  including  for  the  prevention,  detection  and  correction  of  serious  irregularities. 
Secondly, the substantive audits will aim at obtaining reasonable assurance on the correctness of 
declared milestones and targets at investment and reform level. 

72 

 
 
Adequacy of control systems and other relevant arrangements 

The  outline  of  the  control  system  put  in  place  seems  appropriate  and  control  actors  are 
identified  across  all  levels.  For  the  management  verifications  at  component  level,  the 
information  is  not  sufficient  to  draw  conclusions  on  adequacy  of  management  verifications 
carried out by the institutions responsible for the implementation of the reforms and investments. 
However,  the  verifications  at  Plan  level,  detailed  described,  will  apply  equally  for  all 
components.  The  second  level  of  the  control  system  is  entrusted  to  an  independent  audit  body 
which acts with complete autonomy and independence from the bodies responsible for managing 
the actions and operations covered by each component. Furthermore, the Plan indicates that the 
IT system that will be implemented (which is the system used also for the ESI Funds, adapted for 
the Recovery and Resilience Facility) will facilitate the monitoring and reporting and it will store 
all information related to the Plan, therefore ensuring an appropriate audit trail. This way, MIEP 
will be able to collect and report the required data. The IT system will provide data required by 
Article  22(2)(d)  of  the  RRF  Regulation.  Collection  of  data  and  continuous  monitoring  of  the 
achievement status of the milestones and targets are described in the Plan and are deemed to be 
sound.  In  relation  to  this  IT  system,  the  audit  body  committed  that  the  first  audit  performed 
before  the  first  payment  request  will  also  include  it.  However,  as  the  IT  system  is  not  yet 
operational, a milestone was inserted to this end.  

Adequacy of arrangements to avoid double EU funding 

The  Romanian  authorities  will  use  the  following  mechanisms  and  tools  to  avoid  double 
funding. Prior to the conclusion of the financing contract between the reform coordinators and 
the  beneficiaries,  the  specialized  structure  in  MIEP  will  carry  out  a  preliminary  check  in 
ARACHNE, but also in the IT system used for structural funds (SMIS2014), to ensure that the 
project in question is not already included in the ESIF evaluation, contracting or implementation. 
Furthermore,  the  Romanian  authorities  will  also  implement  other  measures  during  the 
implementation  phase,  i.e.  invoices  checking,  as  well  as  ex-post  checks  carried  out  by  the 
authorizing  structure,  prior  to  the  submission  of  payment  claims.  Lastly,  in  the  process  of 
monitoring  the  implementation  of  the  Plan,  possible  overlaps  identified  as  well  as  necessary 
measures  will  be  raised  within  the  Inter-ministerial  Coordination  Committee.  The  use  of 
ARACHNE  is  also  envisaged  for  the  verification  of  double  funding.  The  fact  that  the 
implementing bodies for the Recovery and Resilience Facility are also involved in implementing 
ESI  Funds  gives  additional  assurance  for  cross-checking  the  data  with  traditional  ESI  Funds 
management systems and avoid double funding.  Mechanisms to  avoid double funding with the 
Technical  Support  Instrument  should  also  be  ensured  by  MIEP  and  the  TSI  Coordinating 
Authority, in close coordination with the European Commission services. 

Legal empowerment and administrative capacity of control function 

Within  30 days  of  the approval  of  the  Plan,  MIEP  together  with  the  Ministry  of  Finance 
will submit to the Government for approval the Government Emergency Ordinance on the 
financial, implementation, control and audit mechanism. This legislative act will regulate in 
detail the institutional framework and the activities carried out by the institutions involved. This 

73 

 
 
Ordinance  will  set  the  legal  mandate  for  MIEP  to  exercise  all  the  tasks  related  to  monitoring, 
verification,  control  and  recovery,  drawing  up  and  signing  payment  declarations,  management 
declaration and the audit summary. The effective implementation of this act is a milestone in the 
Plan. In relation to the administrative capacity, the specialized structure in MIEP with exclusive 
tasks related to the Recovery and Resilience Facility will have a total staff of 75 with experience 
in structural funds. Romania has assessed this to be the necessary number of staff by comparing 
with an OP in terms of size, complexity and diversity of investments. The preventive department 
will have eight persons. In addition, the tasks per person have been clary identified.  

Romania  has  stated  that  the  Audit  Authority  has,  in  accordance  with  the  current  law, 
competencies, therefore mandate, to perform audit on all EU funds. However, the Government 
ordinance that will be submitted for approval within 30 days after the approval of the Plan will 
specify the activities that the audit body will perform as part of its mandate. The audit authority 
will have 17 persons with adequate expertise allocated to the Recovery and Resilience Facility, 
with the possibility to increase or hire external expertise if necessary.  

The arrangements proposed by Romania in the Recovery and Resilience Plan to prevent, detect 
and correct corruption, fraud and conflicts of interest when using the funds provided under the 
Facility, including the arrangements aimed to avoid double funding from the Facility and other 
Union  programmes,  are  assessed  to  be  adequate.  This  would  warrant  a  rating  of  A  under  the 
assessment criterion 2.10 of Annex V to the RRF Regulation. 

4.11. 

Coherence  

The  Romanian  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan  is  structured  around  six  coherent  pillars 
supporting  the  common  objectives  of  the  Plan  and  the  recovery  of  Romania’s  economy. 
Each pillar is built around components including consistent packages of mutually reinforcing and 
complementary reforms and investments. 

Mutually-reinforcing measures 

The first pillar includes several  measures that mutually reinforce the effects on the green 
transition. In particular, measures on energy and resource efficiency, sustainable mobility, clean 
energy  transition  and  circular  economy  are  interlinked  and  will  contribute  to  shift  Romania’s 
economy  towards  carbon  neutrality.  Digital  solutions  included  across  the  Plan,  in  particular, 
those  in  the  transport  and  energy  sectors,  are  also  expected  to  contribute  decarbonising  the 
economy, and to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. 

The  second  pillar  includes  complementary  and  mutually-reinforcing  reforms  and 
investments  contributing  to  the  digital  transition.  Reform  measures  necessary  to  set  up  the 
governmental  cloud  and  to  ensure  interoperability,  improving  connectivity  and  security  of  5G 
networks, increasing the protection and the cybersecurity of public and private entities, including 
by adopting a National Cybersecurity Strategy 2021-2026 and increasing the digital competences 
for  the  public  sector  are  underpinned  by  a  broad  range  of  key  investments,  such  as  the 
development  of  the  governmental  cloud,  the  digitalisation  of  health,  the  judiciary,  the 
environment,  employment  and  social  protection,  public  procurement,  non-governmental 

74 

 
 
organisations,  connectivity  for  white  areas,  ensuring  cybersecurity  for  different  structures  and 
increasing  the  skills  both  in  cybersecurity  and  for  civil  servants  and  the  population  at  large. 
Digital measures are also mainstreamed across the Plan. 

The third  pillar  includes  complementary and mutually-reinforcing measures  contributing 
to  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth.  Measures  to  strengthen  the  Romanian  business 
environment  under  component  9  (Business  support  and  R&D&I)  focus  on  implementing 
regulatory  changes  to  reduce  the  administrative  burden  for  firms,  simplifying  legislation/start-
up/exit procedures, as well as obtaining licenses, supported by investments in digital platforms 
on  legislative  transparency,  de-bureaucratisation  and  procedural  simplification  for  businesses. 
These are complemented by measures under component 8 (Tax and Pension reforms) to enhance 
the  relationship  between  the  tax  administration  and  taxpayers  through  increased  transparency, 
mainly by increasing the digitalisation of the tax administration, thus contributing to improve the 
business  environment  and  foster  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth.  Reforms  and 
investments  to  improve  SMEs’  access  to  finance,  like  the  operationalisation  of  the  National 
Development  Bank  under  component  8  and  the  portfolio  guarantee  for  resilience  and  the 
Recovery  Venture  Capital  Fund  under  component  9  complement  each  other  and  are  mutually-
reinforcing with the measures to prioritise large and mature public investment projects towards 
more sustainable and inclusive growth. 

The fourth pillar, focusing on social and territorial cohesion includes mutually-reinforcing 
measures  with  green  and  digital  transitions  in  municipalities,  tourism  and  culture. 
Measures in component 13 (Social reforms) include regulatory changes to prevent the separation 
of  children  from  their  families,  to  address  the  des-institutionalisation  process  for  persons  with 
disabilities,  to  start  the  implementation  of  the  Minimum  Inclusion  Income,  to  decrease 
undeclared  work  and  allow  inactive  persons  to  find  a  job.  Measures  shall  equally  support  the 
reform of the long-term care services for the elderly as well as the establishment of an objective 
minimum  wage  setting  mechanism.  The  complementary  investments  relate  to  the  creation  of  a 
network of day centres for children of risk of separation, rehabilitation and renovation of social 
services of persons with disabilities, the creation of a digital platform to implement the voucher 
system  for  domestic  workers,  and  the  creation  of  day  care  and  rehabilitation  centres  for  the 
elderly. Other measures under component 10 (Local Fund) include regulatory changes to support 
the functional urban and rural areas approach, through the implementation of metropolitan areas 
and  of  administrative  consortia  to  increase  access  to  local  public  social  services,  education, 
healthcare,  housing  and  improved  territorial  planning.  Investments  supported  by  these  reforms 
relate  to  the  construction  of  housing  facilities  for  vulnerable  youngsters,  health  and  education 
professionals,  renewals  of  public  transport  fleets,  infrastructure  for  green  and  more  secure 
transport, modernisation of local public buildings, and preparation/updating in a digital format of 
spatial planning and urban planning documents.  

The  fifth  pillar  includes  reforms  and  investments  which  intertwine  and  give  rise  to 
synergies  for  achieving  health  and  economic,  social  and  institutional  resilience.  Reforms 
undertaken within component 12 (Healthcare) are guided towards the adoption of a quality-based 
system for public healthcare expenditure, the setup of an agency capable of providing expertise 

75 

 
 
for major public healthcare infrastructure projects, and towards the increase in the quality of the 
human resources staffing the system, while investments  address  long-standing structural  issues 
through  a  shift  to  outpatient  care  and  the  modernization  of  the  pre-hospital  and  hospital 
infrastructure. The pre-hospital investments pay a particularly strong attention to achieving social 
and  spatial  cohesion  by  trying  to  focus  on  the  marginalized  and  disadvantaged  communities, 
reinforcing  the  measures  taken  in  component  13  (Social  reforms):  reforms  and  infrastructure 
projects (either by constructing new buildings or renovating and rehabilitating the existing ones) 
for the protection of the children at risk, of adults with disabilities, and of the elderly.      

The sixth pillar is focused on education and provides a set of reforms an investments aimed 
at reinforcing each other. For instance, in early-childhood education and care, the development 
of  a  unitary,  inclusive  and  quality  system,  improving  access  to  standard  and  complementary 
services,  to  increase  the  participation  rates,  will be  complement  by  investments  in  crèches  and 
complementary services at national level, as well as for the training of staff. Then regarding pre-
university education governance, the reform of school governance and the professionalisation of 
its  management,  with  increased  school  autonomy,  will  ensure  stability,  consistency  and 
competence. This will be followed by a training and coaching programme for school managers 
and inspectors. 

Complementarity of measures 

All  pillars  pursue  complementary  and  coherent  objectives.  In  particular,  measures  in  all 
pillars are expected to contribute to the green transition. This is the case, for example, for i) the 
purchase  of  electric  minibuses  to  develop  a  network  of  green  schools  in  component  15 
(Education),  ii)  for  the  construction  of  new  nearly-zero  energy  buildings  (NZEB)  in  several 
components, such as in components 12 (Healthcare), 14 (Good governance), 15 (Education), iii) 
investments in cycling infrastructures in component 11 (Tourism and Culture), iv) investments in 
clean  urban  mobility  in  component  10  (Local  Fund).  In  addition,  the  digital  dimension  is 
mainstreamed  across  all  pillars.  For  instance,  component  4  (Sustainable  transport)  includes 
measures  for  the  digitalisation  of  road  and  rail  transport.  Component  15  (Education)  covers 
measures  on  the  digitalisation  of  education  through  changes  in  the  legal  framework,  enabling 
integrated  approaches  and  improving  the  digital  skills  of  students  and  teachers,  as  well  as 
measures  to  finance  digital  technology  equipment  and  resources  for  schools.  Component  9 
(Business support and R&D&I) also includes financial instruments to be dedicated to the green 
and  digital  transition,  as  well  as  targeted  measures  for  the  digitalisation  of  SMEs  that  will  be 
complementary to the measures included in the first and second pillars. This is also expected to 
boost employment and lead to the creation of new jobs in the medium and long-term. The social 
dimension is also coherently addressed in the Plan and will contribute to the implementation of 
the European Pillar of Social Rights.  For example, complementarities between the introduction 
of  the  voucher  scheme,  the  improvement  of  the  digital  services  provided  by  the  employment 
services, and the development of digital skills of the population are expected to result in positive 
labour market outcomes.  

The Plan does not present inconsistencies or contradictions between pillars or components. 
The  large  investments  in  road  infrastructures  are  accompanied  by  flanking  measures  to 

76 

 
 
decarbonise road transport and are therefore coherent with the objectives of the Green transition 
pillar.  Similarly,  investments  in  gas  infrastructures  and  power  production  accompany  the 
transition towards a decarbonised energy sector, in the context of the reform on the coal phase-
out. In order to promote wider coherence across instruments, notably with the European cohesion 
policy funds, a balanced territorial allocation of resources is encouraged. 

Taking into consideration the qualitative  assessment of all components  of Romania’s Recovery 
and  Resilience  Plan,  their  individual  weight  (importance,  relevance,  financial  allocation)  and 
their  interactions,  the  Plan  contains  measures  for  the  implementation  of  reforms  and  public 
investments which, to a high extent, represent coherent actions. This would warrant a rating of A 
under the assessment criterion 2.11 of Annex V to the RRF Regulation.” 

77 

 
 
 
 
ANNEX: Climate tracking and digital tagging  

Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

Int. 
field  

Coeff. 
%  

Int.  
field  

Coeff. %  

C1.I.4 

C1.I.4 

C1. I.4 

C1. I.4 

C1.1.5 

C1.1.5 

for 

Flood 

Rehabilitation  of  existing  defence 
lines 
the 
in  accordance  with 
Floods Directive and the National 
Strategy 
Risk 
Management 
Rehabilitation  of  existing  defence 
the 
in  accordance  with 
lines 
Floods Directive and the National 
Strategy 
Risk 
Management - Other types of ICT 
infrastructure 

Flood 

for 

96.97 

035  100% 

8.03 

055 

100% 

Rehabilitation 
accumulations 
emergency 
operation 

of 
that 
response 

existing 
require 
safe 

for 

250.63 

040 

40% 

of 
that 
response 

Rehabilitation 
accumulations 
emergency 
operation_Other 
infrastructure 

for 
types  of 

existing 
require 
safe 
ICT 

Appropriate  endowment  of  river 
basin  administrations  for  flood 
monitoring, 
and 
emergency response 

prevention 

Appropriate  endowment  of  river 
basin  administrations  for  flood 
monitoring, 
and 
emergency  response  _Other  types 
of ICT infrastructure 

prevention 

30.87 

055 

100% 

1.60 

035  100% 

5.20 

055 

100% 

C1.1.6 

Implementation  of 
cadastre 

the  water 

30.00 

055 

100% 

C1.1.7 

of 
the 
network 

Extension 
observation 
National 
Meteorological System (SIMIN) 

national 
the 
of 
Integrated 

40.00 

035  100% 

055 

100% 

78 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C2.I.1 

Afforestation  and 
national 
urban forests 

campaign, 

reforestation 
including 

730.00 

035  100% 

C2.I.2 

Development 
modern 
production  capacities  of  forest 
reproduction material 

of 

50.00 

035  100% 

C2.I.3 

C2.I.3 

C2.I.4 

C2.I.4 

C2.I.4 

of 

and 

and 

identification 

identification 

investments  for 
reconstruction 

Update  of  approved  management 
of 
plans 
potential areas for strict protection 
in  natural  terrestrial  and  marine 
habitats in order to implement the 
for 
EU  Biodiversity  Strategy 
2030_Update 
approved 
management plans 
Update  of  approved  management 
plans 
of 
potential areas for strict protection 
in  natural  terrestrial  and  marine 
habitats in order to implement the 
EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 
the 
Integrated 
ecological 
of 
habitats  and  the  conservation  of 
related 
species 
to  meadows, 
and  water-dependent 
aquatic 
in 
areas_Removing 
the 
to 
watercourses 
restoration  of  the  connectivity  of 
water-dependent 
and 
species 
the 
Integrated 
ecological 
of 
habitats  and  the  conservation  of 
related 
species 
to  meadows, 
and  water-dependent 
aquatic 
areas_Reconstruction  of  grassland 
habitats in protected natural areas 
Integrated 
the 
of 
ecological 
habitats  and  the  conservation  of 
related 
species 
to  meadows, 
aquatic 
and  water-dependent 
the 
areas_Decolourisation 
Danube Delta lakes in the Danube 
Delta to reduce eutrophication and 

investments  for 
reconstruction 

investments  for 
reconstruction 

obstacles 
facilitate 

habitats 

of 

120.00 

050 

40% 

5.00 

050 

40% 

150.00 

050 

40% 

35.00 

050 

40% 

35.00 

050 

40% 

79 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  
maintain biological diversity 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C2.I.4 

investments  for 
reconstruction 

the 
Integrated 
of 
ecological 
habitats  and  the  conservation  of 
related 
species 
to  meadows, 
aquatic 
and  water-dependent 
areas_Implementation  of  a  wild 
sturgeon  monitoring  system  along 
the Lower Danube 

7.16 

055 

100% 

C2.I.5 

Integrated  flood  risk  mitigation 
systems in forest river basins 

22 

040 

40% 

C3.I.1 

C3.I.1 

C3.I.1 

C3.I.1 

Development,  modernisation  and 
completion 
integrated 
of 
municipal  waste  management 
systems  at  county  level  or  at 
city/municipality 
level_Establishment  of  voluntary 
collection centres 
Development,  modernisation  and 
integrated 
of 
completion 
municipal  waste  management 
systems  at  county  level  or  at 
city/municipality 
level 
_Household  waste  management: 
prevention,  minimisation,  sorting, 
reuse, recycling measures 
Development,  modernisation  and 
integrated 
of 
completion 
municipal  waste  management 
systems  at  county  level  or  at 
city/municipality 
level  _Other 
types of ICT infrastructure 
Development,  modernisation  and 
completion 
integrated 
of 
municipal  waste  management 
systems  at  county  level  or  at 
city/municipality level _Integrated 
voluntary 
collection 
injection 
centres for agglomerations 

452.20 

042 

40% 

108.33 

042 

40% 

91.77 

055 

100% 

81.09 

042 

40% 

80 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C3.I.1 

C3.I.1 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  
Development,  modernisation  and 
completion 
integrated 
of 
municipal  waste  management 
systems  at  county  level  or  at 
city/municipality 
level 
industrial  waste 
_Commercial, 
prevention, 
management: 
minimisation, 
reuse, 
recycling measures 
Development,  modernisation  and 
integrated 
of 
completion 
municipal  waste  management 
systems  at  county  level  or  at 
city/municipality 
of  waste 
level_Construction 
recycling  facilities  to  meet  the 
recycling  targets  of  the  circular 
economy package 

sorting, 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

2.61 

044 

40% 

220.00 

042 

40% 

C3.I.2 

Development  of  infrastructure  for 
manure  and  other  compostable 
agricultural waste management 

255.00 

044 

40% 

C3.I.3 

C3.I.3 

C3.I.3 

and 

sorting, 

of 
control 

of 
control 

public 
Development 
monitoring, 
and 
institutional  capacities  for  waste 
pollution 
management 
prevention  _  Household  waste 
prevention, 
management: 
minimisation, 
reuse, 
recycling measures 
public 
Development 
monitoring, 
and 
institutional  capacities  for  waste 
pollution 
management 
prevention  _Other  types  of  ICT 
infrastructure 
Development 
public 
and 
monitoring, 
institutional  capacities  for  waste 
pollution 
management 
prevention_Air 
quality, 
radioactivity and noise monitoring 
equipment 
the  National 
Environmental Protection Agency 

of 
control 

and 

and 

for 

0.36 

042 

40% 

11.97 

055 

100% 

1.80 

048 

40% 

055 

100% 

81 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C3.I.3 

C4.I.1 

C4.I.1 

C4.I.1 

C4.I.1 

C4.I.1 

C4.I.1 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

for 

and 

of 
control 

public 
Development 
monitoring, 
and 
institutional  capacities  for  waste 
pollution 
management 
prevention_Air 
quality, 
radioactivity and noise monitoring 
the  National 
equipment 
Environmental Protection Agency 
Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways 
- 
Modernisation  of  TEN-T  Core 
sections — Railway infrastructure 
construction 
Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
- 
railways 
Modernisation  of  TEN-T  Core 
sections  —  digital  infrastructure 
with 
traffic 
the  exception  of 
management systems 

infrastructure 

infrastructure 

Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways 
- 
Modernisation  of  TEN-T  Core 
sections — ERTMS 

infrastructure 

Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
- 
railways 
infrastructure 
TEN-T 
Modernisation 
of 
sections  — 
Comprehensive 
Railway 
infrastructure 
construction 
Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
- 
railways 
infrastructure 
of 
Modernisation 
TEN-T 
Comprehensive 
sections  — 
the 
Digital 
exception  of  traffic  management 
systems 
Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
- 
railways 
infrastructure 
of 
Modernisation 
TEN-T 
Comprehensive 
sections  — 
ERTMS 

infrastructure  with 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

13.20 

055 

100% 

994.00 

064   100% 

115.00 

070   40% 

070 

100% 

46.00 

071 

40% 

071 

100% 

927.00 

065   100% 

183.00 

070   40% 

070 

100% 

38.00 

071   40% 

071 

100% 

C4.I.1. 

Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways  infrastructure  -  “Quick 
wins” sections TEN-T Core 

261.00 

067   100% 

82 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C4.I.1 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  
Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways  infrastructure  -  “Quick 
TEN-T 
sections 
wins” 
Comprehensive 

C4.I.1 

Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways  infrastructure  –  Renewal 
of 
Comprehensive 
sections 

TEN-T 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

191.00 

068   100% 

223.00 

068   100% 

C4.I.1 

Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways  infrastructure  –  Renewal 
of sections non TEN-T 

53.00 

069   40% 

C4.I.1 

Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways 
- 
Electricity 

infrastructure 

236.00 

069bis  100% 

C4.I.1 

Modernisation  and  renewal  of 
railways 
– 
Centralisers for railways stations 

infrastructure 

213.00 

070   40% 

070 

100% 

C4.I.2 

Railways  rolling  stock  -  Electric 
EMU/HEMU 
Locomotives, 
railcars, wagon retraction 

382.00 

072bis  100% 

C4.I.2 

Railways rolling stock - Hydrogen 
refuelling infrastructure 

15.00 

077  100% 

C4.I.2 

Railways  rolling  stock  -  ERTMS 
on  board  for  electric  locomotives, 
EMU/HEMU railcars 

C4.I.3 

C4.I.3 

Development  of  sustainable  road 
infrastructure 
-  TEN-T  Core 
sections  (A1,  A7,  A8)  —  ITS 
infrastructure 

Development  of  sustainable  road 
infrastructure 
TEN-T 
Comprehensive  (A3)  sections  — 
ITS infrastructure 

- 

15.00 

071 

40% 

071 

100% 

47.00 

063 

100% 

11.00 

063 

100% 

83 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C4.I.3 

Development  of  sustainable  road 
infrastructure  -  Infrastructure  for 
charging and control 

101.00 

063bis   40%  063bis 

100% 

C4.I.3 

C4.I.4 

C5.I.1 

C5.I.1 

C5.I.1 

C5.I.1 

Development  of  sustainable  road 
infrastructure  -  ITS  infrastructure 
(other than A1, A3, A7, A8), Road 
safety infrastructure — digital 

Development  of  the  underground 
transport 
the 
network 
municipalities  of  Bucharest  and 
Cluj-Napoca 

in 

existing 

existing 

Establishment  of  a  Renovation 
Wave  fund  to  finance  works  to 
improve  the  energy  efficiency  of 
the 
building 
stock_residential buildings 
Establishment  of  a  Renovation 
Wave  fund  to  finance  works  to 
improve  the  energy  efficiency  of 
building 
the 
stock_alternative 
fuels 
infrastructure 
Establishment  of  a  Renovation 
Wave  fund  to  finance  works  to 
improve  the  energy  efficiency  of 
the  existing  building  stock_public 
buildings 
Establishment  of  a  Renovation 
Wave  fund  to  finance  works  to 
improve  the  energy  efficiency  of 
building 
the 
stock_alternative 
fuels 
infrastructure 

existing 

95.00 

063 

100% 

600.00 

073  100% 

987.50 

025bis  100% 

12.50 

077  100% 

1 157.50 

026bis  100% 

12.50 

077  100% 

C5.I.2 

Implementation  of  the  National 
Building Register  

5.00 

011 

100% 

C5.I.3 

the  professional 
Strengthening 
capacity  of  professionals  and 
workers  in  the  renovation  sector 
by developing trainings on energy 
efficiency construction  

2.00 

01 

100% 

84 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C5.I.3 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Strengthening 
the  professional 
capacity  of  professionals  and 
workers  in  the  renovation  sector 
by developing trainings on energy 
efficiency construction 

C5.I.4 

Circular  economy  and  increased 
energy  efficiency  of  historic 
buildings 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

8.00 

01 

100% 

5.00 

023 

40% 

C5.I.4 

Circular  economy  and  increased 
energy  efficiency  of  historic 
buildings 

5.05 

026 

40% 

C5.I.4 

Circular  economy  and  increased 
energy 
efficiency  of  historic 
buildings 

1.70 

01 

100% 

C6.I.1 

New  capacities 
generation 
sources 

for  electricity 
renewable 

from 

460.00 

032  100% 

C6.I.2 

Green 
capacities 
electricity storage 

hydrogen 
and/or 

production 
for 
use 

115.00 

032  100% 

C6.I.3 

C6.I.4 

C6.I.4 

Development of flexible and high-
efficient  gas-fired  combined  heat 
and  power  generation  (CHP)  in 
district  heating  to  achieve  deep 
decarbonisation 
Industrial  chain  of  production 
and/or  assembly  and/or  recycling 
of batteries, cells and photovoltaic 
panels 
ancillary 
(including 
equipment),  and  new  electricity 
storage capacities 
Industrial  chain  of  production 
and/or  assembly  and/or  recycling 
of batteries, cells and photovoltaic 
panels 
ancillary 
(including 
equipment),  and  new  electricity 
storage capacities 

300.00 

034 

40% 

150.00 

027  100% 

50.00 

027  100% 

85 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C6.I.4 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  
Industrial  chain  of  production 
and/or  assembly  and/or  recycling 
of batteries, cells and photovoltaic 
panels 
ancillary 
(including 
equipment),  and  new  electricity 
storage capacities 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

80.00 

033  100% 

033 

40% 

C6.I.5 

Ensuring  energy  efficiency  in  the 
industrial sector 

64.00 

024ter  100% 

C7.R.1 

Developing  and  implementing  a 
unitary framework for defining the 
architecture  of  a  government 
cloud system 

11.89 

011 

100% 

C7.I.1 

Deployment  of  the  Government 
Cloud Infrastructure 

374.73 

011bis  40%  011bis 

100% 

C7.I.2 

Cloud development and migration 

187.05 

011 

100% 

C7.I.3 

Development  of  eHealth  and 
telemedicine system 

400.00 

095 

100% 

C7.I.4 

Digitalisation 
the 
judiciary_construction  of  energy 
efficient buildings  

of 

35.00 

025ter  40% 

C7.I.4 

Digitalisation of the judiciary  

127.31 

011quater 

100% 

C7.I.5 

Digitalisation  in  the  field  of  the 
environment 

52.00 

011 

100% 

86 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C7.I.6 

Digitalisation  in  employment  and 
social protection 

85.00 

011 

100% 

C7.I.7 

Implementation  of 
forms 
electronic 
procurement 

the  eForms 
public 
in 

0.85 

011 

100% 

C7.I.8 

Qualified  electronic  identity  card 
and digital signature 

200.00 

011ter 

100% 

C7.I.9 

Digitalisation 
non-
governmental organisations sector 

the 

of 

10.30 

010 

100% 

C7.I.10 

Digital 
service management 

transformation 

in  civil 

10.00 

011 

100% 

C7.I.11 

C7.I.12 

C7.I.13 

C7.I.14 

Implementation  of  a  scheme  to 
support the use of communication 
services through different types of 
instruments for beneficiaries, with 
a focus on white areas 
Ensuring  cybersecurity  protection 
for both public and private IT & C 
infrastructures,  with  critical  value 
for  national  security,  using  smart 
technologies 

Development  of  security  systems 
for 
the 
protection 
government spectrum 

the 

of 

94.00 

054 

100% 

100.00 

021 
quinquies 

100% 

28.86 

055 

100% 

Increase  of 
the  resilience  and 
cybersecurity  of  Internet  Service 
Provider 
infrastructure  services 
provided  to  public  authorities  in 
Romania 

18.39 

021 
quinquies 

100% 

C7.I.15 

Creation  of  new  cybersecurity 
skills  for  the  society  and  the 
economy 

25.00 

108 

100% 

87 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C7.I.16 

Advanced  digital  skills  training 
programme for civil servants 

20.00 

108 

100% 

C7.I.17 

Funding  schemes  for  libraries  to 
become digital skills hubs 

21.00 

108 

100% 

C7.I.18 

transformation 

and 
Digital 
Robotic  Process  Automation  in 
public administration 

14.70 

011 

100% 

C7.I.19 

Schemes 
employees in firms 

to 

upskill/reskill 

36.00 

108 

100% 

C8.I.1 

Facilitating taxpayers’ compliance 
through the development of digital 
services 

4.20 

011 

100% 

C8.I.2 

C8.I.3 

tax 

and 

through 

Improving 
tax 
administration 
processes, 
the 
including 
implementation  of  integrated  risk 
management 
Ensuring  the  capacity  to  respond 
to  current  and  future  information 
challenges, 
the 
context  of  the  pandemic,  through 
the  digital 
transformation  of 
Ministry  of  Finance  /  National 
Agency for Fiscal Administration 

including 

in 

196.40 

011 

100% 

78.50 

011 

100% 

C8.I.4 

Implementation 
customs 

of 

electronic 

28.10 

011 

100% 

C8.I.5 

Improving 
programming mechanism 

the 

budgetary 

3.57 

011 

100% 

88 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C8.I.5 

C8.I.6 

Improving 
programming mechanism 

the 

budgetary 

Economic  modelling  instrument 
Options 
Reform 
(Pension 
Simulation  Toolkit)  to  improve 
institutional  capacity  to  forecast 
pension expenditures 

0.43 

0.40 

108 

100% 

011 

100% 

C8.I.7 

Technical support for the revision 
of the taxation framework 

3.00 

011 

100% 

C8.I.8 

Operationalisation  of  the National 
Development Bank 

9.00 

055 

100% 

C8.I.9 

C8.I.10 

C9.I.1 

C9.I.2 

Supporting 
assessing pension files 

the 

process 

of 

1.27 

011 

100% 

Operational 
advanced 
digitalisation  of 
system 

e-services 

efficiency 

and 
through 
the  pension 

61.88 

011 

100% 

Digital  platforms  on  legislative 
transparency,  de-bureaucratisation 
and  procedural  simplification  for 
business 

14.00 

011 

100% 

Financial 
private sector_digitising SMEs 

instruments 

for 

the 

50.00 

010 

100% 

C9.I.2 

Financial 
private 
economy 

instruments 
sector_low 

for 

the 
carbon 

100.00 

027  100% 

C9.I.3 

Private 
sector 
_digitising SMEs 

aid 

schemes 

315.00 

010 

100% 

89 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C9.I.3 

Private  sector  aid  schemes_IT 
for 
services  and  applications 
digital skills and digital inclusion 

35.00 

012 

100% 

C9.I.3 

sector 

Private 
_Investments 
technologies 

aid 

in 

schemes 
advanced 

130.00 

021quater 

100% 

C9.I.3 

sector 

schemes 
Private 
_Development and employment of 
cybersecurity technologies 

aid 

20.00 

021 
quinquies 

100% 

C9.I.4 

Cross-border  and  multi-country 
projects — Low Power Processors 
and Semiconductor Chips 

500.00 

021 
quater 

100% 

C10.I.1 

Sustainable  urban  mobility_clean 
urban transport rolling stock 

580.00 

074  100% 

C10.I.1 

Sustainable urban mobility_ ITS 

100.00 

076 

100% 

C10.I.1 

Sustainable  urban  mobility  — 
other ICT infrastructures 

175.00 

021ter 

100% 

C10.I.1 

Sustainable  urban  mobility  — 
recharging  points 
for  electric 
vehicles 

165.00 

077  100% 

C10.I.1 

Sustainable  urban  mobility  — 
Cycling 
at 
routes 
local/metropolitan level 

180.00 

075  100% 

C10.I.2 

Construction of housing for youth 
and for professionals in health and 
education_construction  of  energy 
efficient buildings 

282.50 

025ter  40% 

90 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C10.I.2 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  
Construction of housing for youth 
and for professionals in health and 
types  of  ICT 
education_Other 
infrastructure 

C10.I.3 

Moderate  rehabilitation  of  public 
improve  public 
buildings 
service  delivery  by  administrative 
territorial units 

to 

C10.I.4 

in  GIS 
Development/updating 
format  of  spatial  planning  and 
urban planning documents  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

2.50 

055 

100% 

575.00 

026bis  100% 

40.00 

011 

100% 

C11.I.1 

Promotion  of  the  12  touristic/ 
cultural routes 

10.05 

011 

100% 

C11.I.2 

Modernisation/ 
museums 
of 
construction 
efficient buildings 

of 
creation 
and  memorials  —
energy 
new 

15.46 

025ter  40% 

C11.I.4 

Implementation  of  3  000  km  of 
cycling routes 

247.50 

075  100% 

C11.I.6 

Development  of  a  digital  system 
for cultural funding processes 

3.75 

011 

100% 

C11.I.7 

Accelerating  the  digitalisation  of 
film production and distribution 

5.46 

021bis 

100% 

C12.I.1 

C12.I.1 

of 

Development 
medical 
Integrated 
of 
construction 
efficient buildings 

pre-hospital 
infrastructure  — 
centres 
community 
energy 
new 

Development 
medical 
of 
construction 
efficient buildings 

of 

pre-hospital 
infrastructure  — 
energy 

new 

28.14 

025ter  40% 

571.05 

025ter  40% 

91 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C12.I.2 

C13.I.1 

C13.I.2 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  
Development  of  public  hospital 
infrastructure  —  equipment  and 
facilities, new-born ATI, reduction 
of  the  risk  of  hospital  infections 
— part of telemedicine 

Creation  of  a  network  of  day 
centres  for  children  at  risk  of 
separation  — construction of  new 
energy efficient buildings 

renovation 

and 
Rehabilitation, 
development 
social 
infrastructure  for  persons  with 
disabilities — construction of new 
energy efficient buildings 

of 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

70.00 

095 

100% 

1.31 

025ter  40% 

3.36 

025ter  40% 

C13.I.3 

Operationalisation 
the 
introduction  of  work  cards  for 
domestic work  

of 

4.03 

055 

100% 

as  well 

Enhancing  the  predictability  and 
efficiency  of  decision-making 
the 
processes  by  strengthening 
capacity  for  policy  coordination 
and impact analysis at the level of 
the  government  and  coordinating 
by 
ministries, 
strengthening the tools to increase 
the quality of public consultations 
at all levels of the administration. 
Strengthening  coordination  at  the 
centre  of  government  through  an 
integrated  and  coherent  approach 
to  climate  change  and  sustainable 
development initiatives 

as 

C14.R.1 

C14.R.2 

C14.R.3 

Developing  performance  human 
resources  management 
the 
public sector 

in 

C14.R.9 

Improve 
procedural 
the 
framework for the implementation 
of corporate governance principles 
in state-owned enterprises 

2.80 

011 

100% 

5.23 

5.00 

1.46 

011 

100% 

011 

100% 

011 

100% 

C14.I.1 

Optimising  judicial  infrastructure 
to  guarantee  access  to  justice  and 
quality of services 

42.22 

025ter  40% 

92 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

C14.I.2 

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

the 

Development  of 
logistical 
infrastructure  (non-IT)  needed  to 
fight  corruption  and  recover  the 
proceeds  and  damage  caused  by 
crime,  including  training  in  these 
areas 

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

13.00 

025ter  40% 

C14.I.5 

Monitoring and implementation of 
the plan  

12.84 

011 

100% 

C15.I.1 

C15.I.2 

equipping 

Construction, 
and 
operationalisation  of  110  crèches 
—  construction  of  new  energy 
efficient buildings 

189.00 

025ter  40% 

up, 

Setting 
operationalising 
complementary 
disadvantaged 
digitalisation part 

equipping 

services 
groups 

and 
412 
for 
— 

4.37 

012 

100% 

C15.I.4 

educational 
Supporting 
establishments  with  high  risk  of 
drop-outs — part of digitalisation 

100.00 

012 

100% 

C15.I.6 

C15.I.6 

C15.I.7 

C15.I.7 

of 

10 

regional 
Development  of  10 
consortia  and  development  and 
equipping 
vocational 
campuses  —  construction  of  new 
energy efficient buildings 
Development  of  10 
regional 
consortia  and  development  and 
equipping 
vocational 
campuses  —  IT  services  and 
applications for digital skills 
agricultural 
Transformation  of 
into 
high 
schools 
centres 
professionalisation 
_construction  of  new  energy 
efficient buildings 

10 

of 

280.00 

025ter  40% 

33.80 

012 

100% 

6.99 

025ter  40% 

Transformation  of 
schools 
high 
professionalisation 
_energy renovation 

agricultural 
into 
centres 

15 

026 

40% 

93 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C15.I.7 

Transformation  of 
high 
schools 
professionalisation 
digitalisation 

agricultural 
into 
centres  —

3.88 

012 

100% 

C15.I.8 

In-service  training  programme  for 
teaching staff  

80.00 

108 

100% 

C15.I.9 

C15.I.10 

C15.I.10 

C15.I.10 

C15.I.11 

digital 

Ensuring 
equipment  and 
schools 

technology 
for 

resources 

Green-schools 
network 
development  and  purchase  of 
green  minibuses  — 
energy 
renovation  

Green-schools 
network 
development  and  purchase  of 
green minibuses —construction of 
new energy efficient buildings 

Green-schools 
network 
development  and  purchase  of 
green  minibuses  —  purchase  of 
electric minibuses 

Provision  of  facilities  for  pre-
university  classrooms  and  school 
laboratories/workshops  —  part  of 
digital laboratories 

478.50 

108 

100% 

150.00 

026 

40% 

75.00 

025ter  40% 

200.00 

074  100% 

60.00 

012 

100% 

C15.I.12 

for 

Support 
rural  school 
the 
consortia  —  construction  of  new 
energy efficient buildings 

28.82 

025ter  40% 

C15.I.13 

Equipping  of  IT  laboratories  in 
vocational  education  and  training 
(VET) schools 

C15.I.14 

Equipping  of  practice  workshops 
in  VET  schools  —  digitisation 
part 

16.36 

012 

100% 

30.00 

012 

100% 

94 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Measure  
ID  

Measure/  
Sub-Measure Name  

Budget  
(EUR m)  

Climate  

Digital  

C15.I.15 

Online 
Assessment 
platform and content development 

School: 

78.59 

012 

100% 

C15.I.16 

C15.I.16 

C15.I.17 

Digitisation  of  universities  and 
their  preparation  for  the  digital 
professions  of 
future  — 
National Board of Rectors 

the 

Digitisation  of  universities  and 
their  preparation  for  the  digital 
professions  of 
future  — 
universities 

the 

Ensuring  university  infrastructure 
(homes, 
recreation 
canteens, 
facilities)  —construction  of  new 
energy efficient buildings 

10.00 

012 

100% 

234.00 

108 

100% 

143.30 

025ter  40% 

C15.I.17 

Ensuring  university  infrastructure 
(homes, 
recreation 
canteens, 
facilities) — energy renovation  

116.70 

026 

40% 

95