Romania’s Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan warned Monday that ministers and state secretaries risk dismissal if the country fails to secure funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) due to delays in implementing reforms and investments. The ultimatum came during a meeting of the Interministerial Committee for Coordinating the PNRR, as the nation faces a critical deadline to meet its commitments.
Bolojan stated that accountability for failing to meet PNRR obligations will be “political” for ministers and state secretaries, explicitly including the possibility of revocation from their positions if Romania loses funds. He also indicated that consequences would extend to directors and staff within the administration, emphasizing that performance-based bonuses for European funds are unacceptable if the country fails to achieve its milestones.
“The responsibility for non-fulfillment of commitments will be of two categories. There will be political responsibility for ministers and state secretaries. I refer including to revocations from office in the event that Romania loses money from PNRR,” Bolojan said, according to a translation of his remarks.
The Prime Minister also demanded the prompt payment of invoices for work completed under PNRR projects, aiming to eliminate further obstacles to implementation. The committee reviewed the status of payment requests 3 and 4, already submitted to the European Commission, and began preparations for requests 5 and 6, which are slated for submission in the coming months.
Romania has six payment requests in total, according to a recent decision by the Council. Requests 5 and 6, scheduled for 2026, represent a significant undertaking, encompassing 28 targets and milestones in request 5 and 151 in request 6, covering both non-reimbursable and reimbursable components.
Dragoș Pîslaru, Minister of Investments and European Projects, stressed the need to significantly accelerate the rate of absorption of PNRR funds. “If last year we increased absorption from PNRR from approximately 4 billion euros to over 10.5 billion euros, in the next six months we must move to an even more intense pace to double this amount. I appeal to each ministry to submit updated information on progress and a schedule of activities to MIPE by the end of the week,” Pîslaru stated.
The government is preparing to allocate substantially increased funding to PNRR projects in the 2026 budget. Florin Zaharia, a State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, announced that the budget could increase by as much as 70% compared to the previous year, reaching approximately 73 billion lei, including co-financing and ineligible expenses. Zaharia noted that local public authorities will benefit from the largest budgets in their history, intended to expedite project implementation.
As of Monday, Romania has surpassed 50.08% of the total value of the PNRR, receiving 10.72 billion euros. This includes pre-financing and payments related to requests 1 and 2, as well as a portion of request 3, with 6.4 billion euros representing the non-reimbursable component and 4.31 billion euros the reimbursable component.
