Romania is responsible as a state for the content of the NRP. This country project was not imposed by any higher entity, but by the representatives of the Romanian Government itself. They also took it upon themselves to implement what they wrote.
At the moment there are problems on several levels:
- special pension reform
- respecting the 9.4% of GDP pension budget
- decarbonisation law
- the whistleblower law
Delays of more than 6 months in the implementation of the milestones will automatically lead to the loss of significant amounts of money.
The authorities have failed to meet their targets and The Foundation for the Defence of Citizens against State Abuses (FACIAS) has reported the shortcomings to the "Transparency and Accountability - Monitoring the NRRP" project. Despite the alarm signals, both about the mismanagement of the NRRPand about possible financial losses, state representatives have done nothing to remedy the shortcomings.
Consequently, FACIAS will take legal action against those responsible for the money lost from the PNRR and will seek compensation for the damage resulting from the failure to implement PNRR projects within the deadlines set.
Due to the way the National Recovery and Resilience Plan was drafted and negotiated, Romania has faced delays in its approval by the European Commission and thus in receiving funding. While other European countries were in possession of the pre-financing source, Romania had just received the approval of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and when the Romanian state submitted the first request for payment after meeting the targets and milestones for the fourth quarter of 2021, other countries received the money for the second request for payment submitted.
The plans approved by the European Union were proposed by the Romanian authorities, through designated specialists, and not imposed, so they are responsible for the content, which after approval, by European forums, became mandatory.
Due to the inefficient way in which the NRRP was negotiated and implemented, the Ministry of European Investment and Projects has already announced that, following recalculations, EUR 2.1 billion of the maximum amount that Romania could have benefited from - EUR 29.2 billion - will be lost.
Another €4 million or so will be lost through non-fulfilment of pension-related milestones. Given the legislative path and the date, the chances of success are minimal, as the draft law on reducing expenditure on special pensions should be adopted by the Government by 31 December 2022 and the new pension law should enter into force on 31 March 2023.
According to the European Commission, the possibility of replacing the pension ceiling of 9.4% of GDP (the European average is around 11%) with another benchmark mechanism is excluded and Romania needs to continue working on the implementation of this reform, which will be assessed in the context of future payment claims.
The court action will be filed by FACIAS once Romania has received a reply from the European Commission on the second payment claim, when the damage is certain and effective.