The Ministry of European Investment and Projects (MIPE) is launching a public consultation on the Just Transition Operational Program (POTJ), which has a total allocation of 2.53 billion euros and is designed to support the business environment and create jobs in Gorj, Hunedoara, Dolj, Galați, Prahova and Mureş, according to News.ro.
According to MIPE, the Just Transition Operational Program (POTJ) was developed to meet the investment needs defined at the level of territorial plans for a just transition (PTTJ), developed for the counties of Gorj, Hunedoara, Dolj, Galați, Prahova and Mureş, territories identified in Annex D of the Country Report for 2020 to be supported from the 2021-2027 Just Transition Fund.
“With a total allocation of € 2.53 billion, of which €2.13 billion is European funding, the program comes to support the sustainable development of entrepreneurship, in order to create new sustainable jobs with an attractive level of pay, in the counties most affected by the implementation of the measures by which Romania will fulfill its commitment to transition to climate neutrality,” the quoted source shows.
In addition to supporting productive economic activities in order to increase the competitiveness and capacity of local economies, measures will be adopted to ensure the population’s access to qualification and retraining programs, as well as assistance services and active inclusion measures, with priority given to the needs of people with medium or basic training, for which employment will be more difficult.
“It is a program through which we will remove from economic stagnation several disadvantaged areas or more inaccessible micro-regions of Romania. In the end, the health and quality of life of the people in these counties will improve significantly. Moreover, the socio-economic impact of the transition to climate change neutrality of the territory will be attenuated,” said Minister Marcel Boloş.
The transition to climate neutrality is also favored by investments that improve the quality of life and combat energy poverty. To address this shortcoming, the POTJ will support the installation of photovoltaic / photothermal panels at the household level, as a first step towards creating energy communities. In addition to the need to sustainably supply homes with electricity and heat, the program will also support the expansion of green interurban transportation.
All POTJ investments will contribute to the transition to a low carbon economy (2050) and the achievement of related environmental targets.