Preliminary assessment of the second payment request of Romania

“Specific Guide for the conditions for accessing European funds related to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in the framework of the call for projects PNRR/2022/C15/01, PNRR/2022/C15/02 (Component 15 – Education, Investment 1)”, published in the Official Journal, Part I, No. 623 on 24 June 2022 (page 10). The Annex to Ministerial Order No. 1254/2022, published in the Official Journal, Part I, No. 623Bis on 24 June 2022 (pages 3 to 55) (hereinafter referred to as “the Annex”) specifies further details of the call such as type of call, eligibility criteria and eligible amounts and application period. On page 7, the Annex describes the overall objective of the funding scheme to increase the capacity for 0-3 year-olds in early childhood education services. The grant scheme shall be based on the following criteria: i. the existence of a local strategy for the development of these services; ii. the number of children up to 3 years-old relative to the coverage capacity of existing services

within a max. 2/3km radius; iii. the number of pending requests from parents for these services (at least 50); iv. a needs analysis, taking into account the specific needs of marginalised communities; v. newly-constructed buildings shall comply with the objective of achieving a primary energy demand (PED) at least 20% lower than the nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) requirement according to national guidelines, which shall be ensured through energy performance certificates. Point B of the Annex (page 13) contains six eligibility criteria which must be fulfilled by projects to pass the first phase of the evaluation. The first five criteria are same as specified in the description of milestone 456. In addition, the Annex has a criterion that the applicant must provide the necessary land situated in the built-up area. Following the selection of a random sample of 60 selected projects, Romania submitted copies of

60 signed contracts, one for each selected project. In addition, the Romanian authorities provided an Excel file, which specifies for each signed contract contained in the sample the relevant extracts to show alignment with the five eligibility criteria as defined in the description of the milestone. Furthermore, the Excel file details for each sampled contract where the description of the above conditions can be found. The evidence provided for the sample of 60 contracts confirmed that the contracts are signed for the financing of the construction of small, medium or large crèches with territorial distribution. Each contract specifies the terms and conditions for the grant and contains a description of the three main parties to the contract: the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, the National Investment Company as the implementing body, and the public operator (municipality). In relation to the National Investment Company, in charge of the implementation of this milestone, the Preliminary clarifications section includes a reference to Government Order

No. 25/2001 on the establishment of the National Investment Company, describing the nature of this body2. The “Extract T456” (point v in the Evidence provided) containing the relevant parts of the grant specifications of the project proving alignment with the description of the milestone and of the description of the investment in the CID annex, confirms for each signed contract in the sample that the grant specifications of the project are aligned with the requirements in the description of the milestone and the investment in the Council Implementing Decision (that is, containing the

2 Further complemented, in the context of milestone 456, with Government Emergency Ordinance No. 173/2022 (published in the Official Journal Part I, 1192 of 12 December 2022) on the role of the National Investment Company.

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