Romania has entered the final stage of the NRRP with an updated budget of 20.1 billion euros and approximately 7.57 billion euros left to be collected, according to the Monitor PNRR platform, part of the public policy department of the USR.
In order to receive these last sums by the deadline of August 31, Romania must close investments, adopt the remaining reforms, and create the administrative framework for nearly completed projects to be accepted and settled.
The current situation
- Following the renegotiation of the NRRP in July 2026, Romania has given up 1.3 billion euros from the loan component, so at this moment, the NRRP has a budget of 20 billion euros.
- Financial stakes – from an updated NRRP budget of 20.1 billion euros, Romania has already collected approximately 13 billion euros, while 7.57 billion euros represent the theoretically remaining amount to be attracted.
- The works received by the end of August will be funded from the NRRP; for delayed projects, Romania will face penalties by reducing the amounts received from European funds.
- Over 15,000 projects are active nationwide, and approximately 4,500 investments have not yet been received, according to an assessment made by the platform. In parallel, the government must complete the reforms that condition European payments.
- The fifth payment request has also been submitted, the penultimate one Romania can submit under the NRRP.
4,500 investments must cross the finish line
- In the last days of the program, the reception of works becomes one of the main administrative issues. It is not enough for the works to be physically executed. For the investment to be considered completed within the NRRP, the entire administrative process must be completed: drafting the reception report, registration in the land book, and uploading the final documentation to the electronic platform.
- Only investments received by August 31 will benefit from NRRP funding, while delayed projects risk reducing European amounts.
- There are ongoing projects at the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Health, and local authorities, including schools, medical offices, dispensaries, energy efficiency projects, and urban infrastructure.
Changes undergone by the NRRP compared to the debut year, 2021
The NRRP budget has been reduced by 9 billion euros
- Romania has undergone a major restructuring of the program. Renegotiations with the European Commission in July 2026 led to a new reduction of the loan component by 1.3 billion euros.
- The total budget of the NRRP has thus reached 20.1 billion euros, 9 billion euros below the level envisaged in the program's initial form from 2021.
- The most significant adjustment occurred in the loan area, which decreased from 14.9 billion euros in the initial form to 6.6 billion euros in the current configuration.
Six objectives eliminated
The renegotiation also meant the definitive abandonment of a series of milestones and targets:
- Three milestones were eliminated: M237, regarding the automatic evaluation system for properties, M511, concerning concessions for areas accelerating renewable energy, and M533, regarding the pediatrics and neonatology section of the Constanta County Hospital.
- Three targets were also eliminated: T138, regarding 200 MW of photovoltaic capacities, T271, regarding the adoption of 80% of the support mechanism recommendations, and T372, regarding 24 family planning cabinets.
The fifth payment request has been submitted – 2.84 billion euros
Each payment request contained two components, one of milestones and targets financed through grants and another through loans. In the last payment request submitted, the fourth one, Romania did not submit the grant component. The remaining grant component was divided into two separate tranches in 2026, numbered today as 4 and 5.
Thus, Romania can submit one component from grants and one from loans at the next two payment requests, or attach the two loan components to the last tranche of grants.
From the value of each tranche of a payment request, the pre-financing already collected, 13%, is deducted.
- An important part of the last stage is payment request number 5, officially submitted by Romania on August 14, 2026. The request has a value of 2.84 billion euros and covers 75 milestones and targets: 21 reforms and 54 investments.
- The request includes 1.65 billion euros in grants and 433 million euros in loans. With its processing, grant absorption is expected to reach approximately 78%, or 10.58 billion euros.
The energy milestone at Turceni and Rovinari, renegotiated
One of the most important negotiations focused on milestone 119a, concerning the elimination of 710 MW of coal capacities:
- A parliamentary amendment conditioning the closure of energy groups on the commissioning of similar capacities generated what the European Commission considered a "reversibility" risk. The initially established penalty was 770 million euros.
- The government argued in negotiations for the necessity of maintaining energy supply security during the winter and presented the fact that 25% of the milestone had already been achieved, with 3,000 MW of renewable capacities.
- The negotiation result was a tenfold reduction of the penalty by decreasing the coefficient from 5 to 0.5.
Relaxation of rules for investment reception
To limit the risk of losing funding due to minor technical delays, authorities introduced, through Law no. 141/2026, the exceptional partial reception mechanism.
What the exceptional mechanism entails:
- the essential works can be received;
- auxiliary works can remain to be executed;
- these must represent at most 5% of the contract value;
- the completion deadline is a maximum of 120 days;
- the deadline can be extended in objectively justified situations.
Find out from the analysis The Last 2 Weeks of NRRP, the situation by domains: 4,500 projects remain to be received and 7.57 billion euros to be collected – Possible scenarios at the finish line on August 31, published on Curs de Guvernare, which investments need to be completed by August 31