The Ministry of Investments and European Projects has received official approval from the European Commission for the Sustainable Development Program, for the 2021–2027 programming period.
The Sustainable Development Program benefits from a total allocation of 5,254,203,319 euros and will create the premises for achieving social, economic and territorial cohesion by supporting an economy with low greenhouse gas emissions, so as to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and ensure the efficient use of natural resources.
How 5.2 billion from the Sustainable Development Program are allocated
Thus, the program will finance four investment priorities from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF): water and wastewater infrastructure (2,937,775,940 euros); waste management (480,000,000 euros); biodiversity conservation (111,764,706 euros); air quality and decontamination of polluted sites (88,235,295 euros); risk management (51,881,857 euros); adaptation to climate change by improving energy efficiency, increasing the use of renewable energy and developing smart energy systems (1,118,545,521 euros).
"Romania is at an important moment today in terms of improving people's quality of life. We are talking about record investments in climate change adaptation by increasing energy efficiency and developing smart energy systems, water and wastewater infrastructure, decontamination of polluted sites and risk management. We have the guarantee that all 21 project, worth 4.5 billion euros, which we are preparing, will mean connecting over two million beneficiaries to the water network. And these projects are only a small part of the objectives we have through the Sustainable Development Program. According to available analyses, the degree of population connection to the water network, after the completion of all investments from European money, will be over 85%", Minister Marcel Boloș said.
The strategically important operations that will be supported through the PDD with an implementation period of 2021–2029 will be:
- development of smart electricity networks (Smart Grids);
- integrated investments in the development of water and wastewater systems that contribute to compliance with the directives;
- improving municipal waste management to ensure the transition to a circular economy;
- improving air quality monitoring to meet the monitoring and emission reduction requirements resulting from the directives;
- preliminary and detailed investigation of contaminated sites.
Expected results after the completion of the Sustainable Development Plan
The investments that will be made aim to achieve the following major results:
- 3,768 km of new or optimized pipes for distribution systems in the public water supply network;
- 3,209 km of new or optimized pipes for the public wastewater collection network;
- additional waste recycling capacities for a quantity of 360,000 t/year;
- protecting 116,955 ha of Natura 2000 sites subject to protection and restoration measures;
- protection and restoration of 2,310 ha of degraded ecosystems outside Natura 2000 sites;
- increasing the area covered by air pollution monitoring systems installed in 54 air quality zones;
- investigation of 1,183 potentially contaminated sites;
- protecting 955 ha against floods through green infrastructures built or optimized for climate change adaptation;
- new or reinforcement works for flood protection for 4.5 km in the coastal area;
- 155 km of newly constructed or improved district heating and cooling network pipes;
- 259 enterprises supported for investments in energy efficiency;
- additional production capacity of 14 MW for renewable energy;
- 1,437 km of newly built or improved gas transmission and distribution network pipelines.
Cohesion Policy 2021–2027
In October, the signing event of the Partnership Agreement between the Government of Romania and the European Commission took place, the strategic document covering the Cohesion Policy funds and the Maritime and Fisheries Policy funds for the 2021 - 2027 Programming period.
Thus, in the third financial year through which the Romanian state will benefit from European funds, sixteen Programs will be implemented, through which Romania will be allocated over 31 billion euros.
By this time, all the final versions of the Programs have already been submitted, 9 of them having already been approved.
The first Programme approved by the European Executive under the 2021–2027 Cohesion Policy was the Technical Assistance Programme, on August 23, with an allocation of 0.96 billion euros. Subsequently, 7 of the 8 Regional Programmes received the positive opinion of the European Executive.
