The absorption of EU funds has doubled in the last 6 months. Dragoș Pîslaru: “2026 is the Year of PNRR”
The Minister of European funds, Dragoș Pîslaru, presented on Monday, January 5, the real figures of the absorption of European funds and PNRR in recent months, showing that in the last six months the rate of payments and reimbursements has doubled and several programs have been unlocked.
Dragoș Pîslaru PHOTO gov.ro
“For the first time, I'm EXCLUSIVELY bringing you the real numbers of where we are, that you won't hear on TV or anywhere else”the minister wrote on his Facebook page.
Unlocked programs
Regarding cohesion, the Minister of European Funds Dragoș Pîslaru said: “The comparative analysis of the data highlights a massive and unprecedented acceleration of the absorption process in the last 6 months compared to the entire period from the beginning of the financial year 2021-2027 (January 1, 2021 – June 23, 2025).”
According to the minister, the amounts requested from the European Commission have increased significantly, indicating a doubling of absorption in just six months.
“At the current rate of absorption of amounts requested from the European Commission, the performance is even more remarkable – from 3 billion 9.91% we jumped to 6.3 billion 20.4%. This means a doubling of absorption in the last 6 months.” he wrote, adding that, also at the level of effective reimbursements, the money entered into Romania's budget has doubled compared to the previous period.
For skeptics, even at the effective absorption rate of refunds from the European Commission, we found 2.9 billion, i.e. 9.41%, and we managed to take it to 5.2 billion, i.e. 16.6% in just 6 months. That is, 2.3 billion euros entered the state's accounts during this period”he also wrote.
According to him, in the period from January 2021 to June 2025 (54 months) an average of €86.6 million was paid per month, while in the period from June 2025 to December 2025 (6 months) the pace increased to €456.2 million per month.
In terms of reimbursements from the European Commission, the pace increased almost seven times compared to the previous period: “The ability to bring money back into the state budget has increased exponentially Previous period The average was about €54 million per month Current mandate The average has jumped to €374 million per month Conclusion: The rate of repayment has increased by almost 7 times”the minister added.
He also added that the last six months had a disproportionate impact on the overall results of the 2021-2027 financial year.
“Although it represents only 10% of the time elapsed since the beginning of the 2021-2027 program, the last 6 months have decisively contributed to Romania's overall results 37% of all payments made in this financial year 2021-2027 were made in the last 6 months of the mandate 43% of the total reimbursements from the European Commission for the period 2021-2027 were collected in this short interval”the minister also claimed.
He added that in terms of the 2026 target, the goal is more than €5 billion raised on cohesion alone this year.
“There will be no abrupt interruption; we are already preparing the continuity for the 2028-2034 programming through a coherent country plan. We are already an active actor in the negotiations in Brussels on the new multiannual financial framework and we will maximize Romania's interest in attracting over 60 billion euros of non-refundable money”wrote Dragoș Pîslaru.
PNRR: from stall to acceleration
Dragoș Pîslaru explained the critical situation of the PNRR in mid-2025 and the steps taken to unlock it: “In June 2025 PNRR was at a critical point. Negotiations with the European Commission were blocked, we had a suspended payment request and a total bubble in implementation with overcontracting without number and culminating in a total lack of transparency and management tools to keep things under control. Today things are completely different.”
The Minister presented the results of the current government in the implementation of the PNRR: “In the last 6 months, similar to what we saw on Cohesion, we absorbed a third of everything collected through the PNRR from 2021 until now. On 30.06.2025, the execution was 6.8 billion euros. On 31.12.2025, the execution reached 9.7 billion euros with 3 billion euros more absorbed only in the Bolojan government. We renegotiated the PNRR and put it on a responsible person to maximize absorption. We made everything transparent through the PNRR Dashboard. All the 20,000 projects under implementation can be followed by the whole society. We submitted the Payment Request No. 4 in the amount of €2.62 billion. In short, the government knows what it is doing and why it is doing things on the PNRR. 2026 is the Year of PNRR. We have an ambitious target of €10 billion for this year.”
A team effort for Romania
The minister emphasized the role of the team and inter-institutional collaboration: “This success is not only mine. I want to thank my colleagues from the Ministry of Investments and European Projects and other ministries, local authorities, private beneficiaries and, in particular, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and President Nicușor Dan for their constant support and understanding of the vital importance of this money for the modernization of Romania.
I am realistic: the challenges are huge, the social tension exists, and the time for the PNRR and the implementation of European funds is short. But I'm also optimistic! Our target for 2026 is to double the historical maximum of attracting European funds. A minimum of €15 billion to go into key investments in hospitals, schools, highways, local infrastructure and economic competitiveness.
Based on the uptake and pace increase over the past 6 months, it really is possible. A collective effort, patriotic if you like, through which we modernize Romania together. A broad partnership, which can show that it is also possible in Romania”the minister added.
