The Foundation for the Defense of Citizens Against State Abuse (FACIAS) reports severe delays in the implementation of the priority PNRR milestone in the construction and operationalization of 110 nurseries.
According to PNRR, the deadline for signing contracts was June 30, however, only the request for projects has been released at the end of last month. Given Romania’s urgent need for new nurseries, the authorities have not hastened the contract-signing process.
According to official data, Romania ranks last in the EU in terms of offering nursery places for children under the age of three. According to 2021 reports, just 20,334 of the 587,808 children aged 0 to 3 have access to nurseries. Currently, less than 10% of children up to the age of three have a spot in a nursery.
We restate the fact that if PNRR deadlines are exceeded by more than six months, Romania risks losing the 230 million euro funding for this milestone. Perhaps more crucially, Romania risks missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ease the shortage of nursery spots, in a context where the number of applications outnumbers the number of available places each year.
FACIAS, within the project "Transparency and Accountability - PNRR Monitoring", aims to make the much-needed investments for Romanian citizens possible, considering that the milestone in nurseries is essential for tens of thousands of families in Romania.
FACIAS Press Office