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The stakes of this plan are simple. In financial terms, this means € 30 billion to be absorbed over the next few years. In general terms, it is about the possibility of investing and reforming public systems.
At the beginning of the week the National Recovery and Resilience Program was published on the website of the Ministry of European Funds, which after a few hours, without any explanation, was withdrawn. USR-Plus representatives took the moment to attack the plan on multiple fronts.
According to sources, the media informed that yesterday the president of Romania had a meeting with the prime minister and some ministers on the subject of the recovery and resilience program. Which shows that something is happening with this capital program for Romania.
It must be said that the published document is thick, numbered 260 pages and covers all the important areas.
It is difficult to say whether the plan is well structured, especially since, at the moment, European regulation is underway for this new program, which will be financed by the European Union.
There are a number of technical documents, at European level, prepared by independent experts, which ask this question: how to “pilot” the new program of recovery and resilience at the political and economic level?
Therefore, at the European level, answers and solutions are also sought, certain only of the great objectives, namely the need for reforms and investments, common to all the States of the European Union. Obviously, with their nuances and peculiarities.
Therefore, USR-Plus’ sustained attack on the government program seems disproportionate. The critical paper, published by USR-Plus, talks about the lack of transparency in the composition of the plan (which, if real, can be worrying), states that the program does not include real reforms (although the plan is built on each chapter with clarifications on the reforms it proposes) and also states that certain areas such as social cohesion or research and development are being ignored.
Obviously, apart from the political approach, which can include many criticisms of the national recovery and resilience program drawn up by the ministry led by Marcel Boloș, it is much more important to look at the technical observations.
Therefore, the government was specifically criticized for missing the opportunity to create a national energy renovation program for public and residential buildings. The truth is that the European Union has an important program, called “A new wave of building renovation”, which correlates the positive effects on the environment with those of boosting the economy.
Therefore, the energy renovation of buildings is, indeed, an important European and Romanian issue. But was this objective missing from the recovery and resilience program?
Let’s go to the source. The national plan devotes 10 pages to energy and thermal efficiency and presents a series of specific objectives. These are: the renovation of 250 public buildings for which 500 million euros should be allocated, the energy renovation of residential buildings, for which 750 million euros should be allocated, and smart heat supply networks, which would have a budget of 550 million euros.
Therefore, it can be said that the appropriations for energy renewal are too small, but not that the issue does not exist in the national plan.
In conclusion, Romania has April 2021 as the deadline to send the national recovery and resilience plan to the European Commission. Compliance with the deadline, European requirements and transparency rules are key elements for the success of a key document for the economy and society. Author Constantin Rudnitschi
(Rador)
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