The Romanian Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism will use structural and cohesion funds for thermal rehabilitation. The Ministry will reveal the new financing scheme at the beginning of 2012.

The new financing scheme will be included in the OP Regional - Priority Axis 1- Support for the sustainable development of towns. In order to develop the scheme, the Ministry is cooperating with the European Commission (DG REGIO), the Authority for Coordination of Structural Instruments (ACIS), and JASPERS experts - European Investment Bank.

Romanian authorities drew up a list of 60 priority projects funded with structural and cohesion funds. Projects vary from €22,6 million to €745,5 million. A number of 51 projects are financed under OP Environment, while 9 projects are funded under OP Transport.

The Romanian Ministry of European Affairs complied with the demands of the European Commission to revise its public procurement system, as a prerequisite for future reimbursements. Improvements cover the role and responsibilities of relevant institutions and the conflict of interest. Pending on the Commission’s approval, the Ministry of European Affairs hopes that the reimbursement process will be unblocked in early December the latest.

According to an analysis by the European Commission, Bulgaria, Greece and Romania are still facing major competitiveness challanges. The full report is available here. For your information, country specific information is presented below.

Bulgaria