Tuesday, 24 May, the Commission signed a contribution agreement with Romania to use the InvestEU Fund as a tool to support the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plan. It is the first agreement under the so-called ‘Member State compartment of the InvestEUprogramme, a new mechanism allowing Member States to make voluntary contributions to the InvestEU Fund to finance additional financial operations under InvestEU. Under this agreement, Romania will channel part of its Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds to the Member States compartment of the InvestEU Fund and the InvestEU Advisory Hub. These resources will unlock more than EUR 700 million in the form of additional financial guarantees allocated to Romania under InvestEU. They are also expected to mobilise at least EUR 2.5 billion in funding to strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in Romania and improve the energy efficiency of buildings. The European Investment Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will act as implementing partners and implement a number of InvestEU financial products to support the objectives of Romania’s recovery and resilience plan. The agreement signed yesterday underlines the importance of synergies between EU funds and the role that InvestEU plays in achieving the objectives of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Through the InvestEU programme, the EU will have key long-term funding, mobilising substantial public and private funding in support of a sustainable recovery and EU policy priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. Through the EU budgetary guarantee of EUR 26.2 billion (the so-called “EU compartment”), the programme is expected to mobilise at least EUR 372 billion of additional investment across the EU.
June is the richest month. The most awaited two weeks in my annual festival pilgrimage. The route starts with Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), followed by Italy’s (and the world’s) most comprehensive festival for restored and archival film: Il Cinema Ritrovato. To shake up the traditional article on the two, I’ll start with the […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Roughly 70% of Romanians are “very” or “moderately” concerned about how AI accesses and uses their data, according to the latest survey conducted by RoCoach in partnership with Novel Research between May and June 2025. Distrust in automated decision-making and the demand for regulation are becoming more pronounced, as Romania rolls out major digitalization projects […]
The Armenian Street Festival returns for a 9th edition between August 1 and 3, 2025, in the “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanical Garden in Bucharest. The festival brings into focus the living heritage of the Armenian community in Romania and the diaspora. According to the organizers, this year’s edition aims to strengthen the Bucharest–Chișinău–Yerevan cultural axis, articulated […]
The Romanian mergers and acquisitions market registered a total of 122 announced transactions in the first half of 2025, with a value exceeding EUR 2.7 billion, marking a slight increase of 6% in volume and 4% in value compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by George Ureche, partner at PwC Romania. […]
