Renegotiating the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and fully unblocking the Payment Request 3 are immediate priorities to ensure maximum uptake of European funds allocated to Romania, says the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Marcel Bolos.

He participated on Monday, together with the technical team from the relevant ministry, at the working meeting of the PNRR Interministerial Coordination Committee, coordinated by the interim Prime Minister, Catalin Predoiu.

According to a press release from Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE), sent to AGERPRES on Monday, the discussions within the PNRR Interministerial Coordination Committee specifically targeted aspects that need to be expedited for the fully unblocking of Payment Request no. 3, respectively for the implementation of the reforms and investments that are to be included in Payment Request no. 4, in parallel with the completion of the renegotiation phase of the PNRR.

During this week, a government delegation led by MIPE will go to Brussels for a series of technical meetings with representatives of the European Commission.

To date, a series of joint analyses have been carried out with representatives of the European Executive, regarding the implementation stage of the investments, which have revealed on the one hand the need to adjust some of them, and on the other hand, the need to initiate measures to ensure their fulfillment within the deadlines assumed by Romania.

„The calendar we have requires a clear sequence: we cannot submit Payment Request No. 4 before completing the renegotiation of the PNRR. Only after the official approval of the amended plan will we be able to submit to the Commission a new payment request, in its restructured form, which will include the updated reforms and investments. Our objective is to submit Payment Request No. 4 in July, but for this it is essential that the renegotiation process is concluded by the end of May. The success of the negotiations and implementation of the PNRR depends, essentially, on close inter-institutional collaboration, on the coherence of technical positions and on the operational response capacity in relation to European partners. The renegotiation of the PNRR is already at an advanced stage, following the intense discussions that have already been held with the European Commission. This week, in Brussels, we will have the discussions with which we should „we are closing”, the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Marcel Bolos was quoted as saying in the press release.

In the case of Payment Request No. 3, the Commission considered the targets and milestones contained therein to be partially met and approved a partial payment of 1.3 billion euros. This amount is to be transferred to our country at the end of this month, the press release states.

To date, Romania has collected 9.2 billion euros out of the 28.5 billion euros it has for the implementation of the PNRR. Of this allocation, an amount of 13.6 billion euros is extended in the form of grants and 14.9 billion euros in the form of loans.

AGERPRES