Romania submitted on Friday a request to the European Commission to amend its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and to add a new chapter on REPowerEU, which aims to strengthen the Union's strategic autonomy by diversifying energy supply and increasing the EU's independence and security of energy supply.According to a press release from the EU executive, the chapter on REPowerEU proposed by Romania covers two new reforms and six new investments, as well as a reinforced measure already in the plan. The reforms and investments in this chapter are related to increasing green energy production, improving the energy efficiency of buildings and strengthening the skills of the green energy workforce.The amendment to the plan proposed by Romania foresees the removal of four investments from the initial plan and the modification of about 70 measures.Romania's request to amend its plan is based on the need to take account of high inflation in 2022, supply chain disruptions and the downward revision of its maximum grant allocation under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM) from EUR 14.2 billion to EUR 12.1 billion. This revision is part of the June 2022 update of the RRM grant allocation key and reflects Romania's comparatively better economic performance in 2020 and 2021 compared to the initial forecast.Romania has requested the transfer of its share of the Brexit adjustment reserve, amounting to EUR 43.2 million, to the NRRP. Together with the grants provided to Romania through the RRM and REPowerEU (EUR 12.1 billion and EUR 1.4 billion respectively) and the RRM loans already committed under the original plan (EUR 14.9 billion), these funds bring the value of the amended plan presented to almost EUR 28.5 billion.The Commission will now assess whether the amended plan continues to meet all the assessment criteria set out in the RRM Regulation.If the Commission's assessment is positive, the EC will present a proposal to amend the Council Implementing Decision to take account of the changes to the Romanian plan.Member states will then have four weeks to approve the Commission's assessment.
Trade between Romania and Poland continues to grow, with annual bilateral exchanges in goods now valued at more than EUR 12 billion, according to figures presented by the Polish-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRBCC). The data was released during a reception in Bucharest marking Poland’s Independence Day and Romania’s National Day. Polish investments […]
As Romania moves closer to implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, local employers are preparing for one of the most consequential shifts in workplace regulation in over a decade. The directive, set for transposition by June 2026, introduces strict new rules on salary disclosure, pay reporting, and equal-pay verification, aiming to close persistent gender gaps […]
A young Romanian has developed a new system that allows people to return entire bags of recyclable packaging at once, replacing the traditional method of inserting bottles one by one into reverse-vending machines. The concept, called IZI, was created by Ștefan Parascanu, who returned to Romania after studying and working in the United Kingdom. The […]
JTI, the global owner of both Winston and Camel, announced on Thursday, November 27, a plan to build a new, state-of-the-art factory in Ștefăneștii de Jos, Ilfov County. Designed to replace the current Bucharest production site, which is operating under space constraints, the facility is scheduled for completion in 2027. Ground works at the new […]
The City Hall of Oradea, in northwest Romania, has begun installing new smart parking meters as part of its ongoing modernization and digitalization of the municipal parking system. The first batch of devices has already been placed in central areas, and the entire system is expected to become operational by the end of the year. […]
Orange Romania announced the launch of the 5G+ technology in the Bucharest subway, becoming the first operator in the country to reach mobile data speeds of up to 1 Gbps in the underground network. The company has begun activating the technology in several stations and plans wider deployment in the coming weeks. The first 5G+ […]
