The National Trade Union Bloc (BNS) proposed, during a meeting with representatives of the European Commission (EC), the extension of PNRR and its correlation with the 2021-2027 programming period, as well as the extension of the project implementation period, given that there is no possibility of phasing them.

BNS representatives took part on Thursday in a meeting requested by representatives of the European Commission, with the main topic of discussion being the implementation of PNRR . Other representatives of trade union confederations and representative employer organizations in Romania also participated in the meeting, according to Agerpres.

According to a press release from BNS, the organization’s representatives proposed a series of solutions to unblock the critical situation in which the PNRR is in Romania, with significant delays in implementation.

Thus, the trade unionists requested the extension of the NRRP  and its correlation with the 2021 – 2027 programming period, including by attaching the N+2 rule (there is a deadline by which EC money can be spent, ed.), the extension of the implementation period of projects under implementation, given that there is no possibility of phasing projects, as well as the approach of a mechanism for transferring expenses from the NRRP to the Multiannual Financial Framework given the existence of a considerable risk of disengagement.

The trade unionists also request increased transparency and predictability of the implementation process related to the NRRP, the application of the assumed rules regarding the monitoring committee and its consolidation, and the improvement of audit and control mechanisms.

According to the cited source, the BNS provided, during this meeting, a detailed analysis of the status of the NRRP implementation, highlighting a series of critical problems facing this program.

At the same time, the BNS believes that the NRRP was approached from the draft stage in an erroneous manner.

“From the very beginning, it was designed with major errors (e.g. the assumed timing for certain reforms, reforms generating additional expenses were assumed such as the new public pension law, the public sector salary reform before the tax reform). Also, the allocations of financial resources for investments were somewhat discretionary (focused on certain counties where the political interest of the leaders of the time was maximum, deepening the gaps in economic and social development at the territorial level and moving us away from the objectives and principles of the European cohesion concept),” the press release states.

On the other hand, the entire process of drafting the NRRP and negotiating it was a ‘strict secret for the representative social partners and for the political opposition at the time’.

“The implementation of the NRRP remains delayed, and many reforms and investments risk not being completed by 2026, as is the case for many member states. At EU level, only 47% of the available funds were disbursed by the end of 2024. The cross-cutting problems faced by the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism are also relevant for Romania, but cannot be attributed exclusively to our country, namely excessive bureaucracy, reduced administrative capacity, lack of efficient coordination and clear evaluation mechanisms, respectively a series of problems related to the efficiency of investments made, especially in the area of ​​green transition and climate compliance,” the document also states.