EU Investment Minister, Cristian Ghinea said on Monday that Romania will ask the European Commission to postpone the official filing of its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) by one month, according to euractive.com.
The Romanian government is facing some setbacks in the negotiations with the Commission as the plan includes investments of more than €41 billion, €11 billion more than the allocation for Romania in the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The Romanian government sent a preliminary version of the RRP and various ministers already visited Brussels to discuss the plan with the Commission.
„The EU executive disagrees with Romania’s interpretation on some issues, including agriculture and transport infrastructure projects. The Commission is reserved when it comes to funding gas distribution infrastructure,” said Ghinea.
Romania is known for its weak administrative capacity and delays in the implementation of EU funded projects, the EU executive is hoping to see mature projects that can be completed before the end of 2026.
EU Investment Minister, Romanian Prime Minister Florin Cîțu and leaders of the parties that form the governing coalition met with President Klaus Iohannis on Monday to discuss negotiations on the recovery programme.
After the meeting, Ghinea explained that he would tell the Commission’s Executive Vice-President, Margrethe Vestager in a video conference scheduled for Tuesday, that Romania will file its Recovery and Resilience Program by 31 May.
The Commission recommended the plans to be sent by the end of April. There are already a few member states that announced they will file their plans after the deadline that has been set for 30 April.