Romania's PNRR plagued by management flaws and delayed energy payments

Romanian Minister of Investments and European Projects Dragoș Pîslaru said the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) was run by officials who did not understand its specific rules, applying practices from EU cohesion funds instead. He noted the absence of a unified dashboard, with about 21,000 projects lacking overall visibility, and highlighted that ministries used over‑contracting provisions of up to 100 % – a rule meant for cohesion funds, not the PNRR, risking loss of financing for unfinished projects.

The Ministry of Energy reported that payments to energy‑sector projects funded by the PNRR reached more than €130 million in 2026, bringing the cumulative disbursements since the programme began to €342.77 million. Around 35 transfer requests from 2025 (€78.89 million) and 47 from 2026 (€54.96 million) are being processed, while contracts worth €67.07 million have been terminated. The ministry said it is extending implementation deadlines and prioritising monitoring visits to accelerate final payments and support the country's energy transition.