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.
Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on Friday, January 10. According to the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the US without the need for a visa starting March 31, 2025. "Romania becomes the first country in the […]
Cluj-Napoca, the city in Romania with some of the highest rents and a fast-growing IT industry, is closer to banning smoking in playgrounds and parks after mayor Emil Boc expressed his support for the measure. The mayor cited the prioritization of public health as the reason behind such a ban. He mentioned that he has […]
Romania's Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital will receive a robotic system to prepare cytostatic drugs needed by cancer patients, along with other equipment, after the County Council obtained funds from the European Regional Development Fund. With an estimated value of EUR 1 million, the "Robotic Composition System for Sterile Preparations of Cytostatic Drugs" is among […]
Romania’s government adopted in its January 10 meeting a decision granting an extra day off to public sector employees at the beginning of May. Thus, Friday, May 2, will be an official day off for public sector workers, linking the legal holiday of May 1 (Labor Day) with the weekend (May 3-4). This...
The Ministry of Environment announced that 2024 was the hottest year in the history of Romania's meteorological records. Red alerts for heat waves began in June of 2024, with the longest consecutive periods of persistent and intense heat waves, six consecutive days, between July 13-18 and August 15-20. "The year 2024 is the hottest year...
Supporters of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu gathered outside the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, which houses the Constitutional Court, on January 10, demanding a rerun of the second round of the presidential elections. The protest, dubbed "The Great Judicial Union," was initiated by Georgescu, who called on his supporters to challenge the election annulment, as […]
