20.12.2022
€1.39 BILLION FOR ROMANIA UNDER THE REPOWEREU PLAN
Romania will benefit from 1.39 billion euros under the REPowerEU plan to reduce energy dependence on the Russian Federation, Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan (European People's Party/National Liberal Party) announced, Digi 24 TV reports.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have agreed on the final form of the REPowerEU plan, which will allow member states to access a total of €20 billion for energy investment.
Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan, who is one of the three co-rapporteurs of the European Parliament on the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and the REPowerEU plan, said at the end of the meeting that the outcome of the negotiations was beneficial for Romania.
"The best news is that we managed to reach an agreement on the REPowerEU plan before the end of the year, as we had promised. This means that REPowerEU will enter into force at the beginning of next year," Mureşan pointed out, specifying that the amount from which will benefit Romania, amounting to EUR 1.39 billion The funds will be used for investments in energy efficiency, reducing dependence on gas imports from Russia, improving energy infrastructure and investing in renewable energy sources.
Mureşan explained that through this new fund, around 20 billion euros are made available to help member states, people, businesses and regions facing the consequences of the crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Romanian MEP recalled that the grants under the REPowerEU plan will be added to the approximately 30 billion euros that Romania already receives under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan within the European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
The agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union provides that all member states will receive 20 percent of upfront funding when the European Commission and the Council of the EU approve the new REPowerEU pillars of the recovery plans. It also provides for retroactive funding of energy investments from February 2022, when the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine.
"This is very good news for Romania and the other member countries, which had to take a number of measures to reduce their energy dependence on the Russian Federation. The agreement we reached gives the member states more funds for investment projects in the field of energy security than the very beginning and allows them to cover the costs incurred in the past in the context of the invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, through REPowerEU," said Siegfried Muresan.
The agreement foresees that the remaining unused funds from the Recovery and Sustainability Mechanism - about 200 billion euros - can be used by countries that want to invest more in energy projects. Thus, Member States that have not yet accessed the full credit component of their national recovery and resilience plans will have only 30 days from the entry into force of REPowerEU to notify the European Commission of their intention to access these means. If they do not intend to take advantage of these funds, the countries concerned will lose the advantage of accessing funds from the credit component.
Siegfried Muresan said that for Romania this is very important news, as the country has already announced its intention to access all credits.
The agreement must be formally ratified by the Council of the European Union and voted by the European Parliament to become European law and for REPowerEU to officially enter into force.
The REPowerEU plan aims at a series of measures to rapidly reduce Russia's dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the environmental transition, while increasing the resilience of the European Union's energy system.
