The European Commission has paid Romania €2.25 billion in grants under the EU’s post-pandemic recovery programme, marking the country’s fourth payment from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the main funding tool within NextGenerationEU, the EU’s recovery package set up after the Covid-19 pandemic to support member states’ economies, the Commission announced on Tuesday.
The latest payment follows Romania’s fourth request, which was submitted on 19 December 2025 and covered 38 “milestones” and 24 “targets” — checkpoints used by the EU to release funds based on progress with reforms and investments.
The Commission approved Romania’s fourth request for €2.62 billion on 14 May 2026, and the €2.25 billion disbursed now reflects the amount after pre-financing is taken into account.
Where the money is linked to reforms
Measures associated with the payment include steps related to sustainable forest management, changes in transport and energy policy linked to decarbonisation, and reforms to tax administration, the Commission said.
The reforms and investments also cover Romania’s public pension system, healthcare infrastructure and medical equipment for infection prevention and control in public hospitals, as well as social infrastructure for people with disabilities.
Other areas include measures on government decision-making, digitalisation, the efficiency of the justice system, anti-corruption work and education reform.
Romania’s recovery and resilience plan is financed by €21.41 billion overall — €13.57 billion in grants and €7.84 billion in loans — and the latest payment brings the total funds disbursed to 60.6% of Romania’s allocation.
Member states must complete outstanding milestones and targets by 31 August 2026 and submit final payment requests by the end of September 2026, with the facility due to close at the end of 2026.
