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Minister Bolos: Romania's REPowerEU Plan hasn't been rejected, it is in the informal consultation phase.
Romania's REPowerEU Plan hasn't been rejected, but it is in the informal consultation phase, as the European Commission is asking for additional information about the investments we want to include in the new chapter, the documents following to be submitted after a consensus is reached, Minister for European Investment and Projects Marcel Bolos posted on his Facebook page on Friday.
"How could the European Commission reject a plan that hasn't been yet submitted? It is true that the political life, especially on the verge of electoral campaigns, might sometimes push one to be as 'sincere' as possible, you should however bear in mind that jeopardizing Romania's strategic interests is by no means a virtue. The situation with Romania's REPowerEU plan is as follows: the Plan has not been rejected. We are in the informal consultation phase, the European Commission is asking us for additional information about the investments we want to include in the new chapter, and only when we reach a consensus shall we submit the documents," Bolos wrote.
According to him, Romania, based on the 1.4 billion EUR it receives, aims to ensure the resilience of the energy system by increasing the share of electricity production from renewable sources (solar and hydropower).
"Regulation (EU) 2023/435 on the REPowerEU chapters makes it clear: the member states can submit to the European Commission the new chapters to the Recovery and resilience plans as of 1 March 2023. The European Commission has recommended that member states submit proposals for amendments to the plans, including the new chapter, by the end of April 2023 and no later than 31 August 2023, which is the legal deadline for submitting an amended plan following a loan application," Bolos explains.
In tis regard, the Ministry of European Investment and Projects (MIPE) launched the public consultation process from 17 to 26 March 2023 for the submission of reform and investment proposals for the new REPowerEU chapter by interested stakeholders.
Subsequently, on 24 March, a public consultation took place, attended by representatives of associations, local and regional authorities, civil society, organisations with relevant expertise in the area, as well as stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
"We are now in a constructive dialogue with representatives of the European Commission, whom I thank on this occasion. On Monday, I will leave with the team to Brussels and, based on the mandate received by the Government, we will discuss with the experts there. This is the reality. REPowerEU is a new instrument, approved only in April 2023, and Romania, like all member states, is working on a form that will represent its strategic interests as closely as possible. Moreover, as Siegfried Muresan rightly pointed out, only two countries have submitted the plan so far. And if we continue discussions with the EC in the same note, we have every chance to be among the leading countries that do this thing," the head of the MIPE also noted.
