COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 18.12.2024 amending Commission Implementing Decision of 21 September 2023 on the authorisation of the disbursement of the second instalment of the non-repayable support and the second instalment of the loan support for Romania

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 18.12.2024 C(2024) 9224 final COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 18.12.2024 amending Commission Implementing Decision C(2023) 6464 final of 21 September 2023 on the authorisation of the disbursement of the second instalment of the non-repayable support and the second instalment of the loan support for Romania (Only the Romanian text is authentic) EN EN  COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 18.12.2024 amending Commission Implementing Decision C(2023) 6464 final of 21 September 2023 on the authorisation of the disbursement of the second instalment of the non-repayable support and the second instalment of the loan support for Romania (Only the Romanian text is authentic) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility1, and in particular Article 24(5) thereof, Whereas: (1) According to Article 4(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the specific objective of the Recovery and Resilience Facility is to provide Member States with financial support with a view to achieving the milestones and targets of reforms and investments as set out in their recovery and resilience plans. (2) Council Implementing Decision of 3 November 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Romania2 (the ‘Council Implementing Decision’) provides that the Union is to release instalments in accordance with the Financing Agreement and Loan Agreement conditional on a decision by the Commission, taken in accordance with Article 24(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, that Romania has satisfactorily fulfilled the relevant milestones and targets identified in relation to the implementation of the recovery and resilience plan. (3) On 16 December 2022, Romania submitted a request for payment, accompanied by a management declaration and a summary of audits. The request concerned the second instalment of the non-repayable support and the second instalment of the loan support. Pursuant to Article 24(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the Commission assessed on a preliminary basis whether the relevant milestones and targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision had been satisfactorily fulfilled. (4) The Commission made a positive preliminary assessment of the satisfactory fulfilment of all 29 relevant milestones and targets related to the non-repayable support and 20 out of 22 relevant milestones and targets related to the loan support. On that basis, the Commission by means of Implementing Decision on the authorisation of the disbursement of the second instalment of the non-repayable support and the second instalment of the loan support for Romania of 21 September 20233 authorised the 1 OJ L 57, 18.2.2021, p. 17. 2 ST 12319/2021 INIT; ST 12319/2021 ADD 1; as amended by ST 15833/2023 INIT; ST 15833/2023 ADD 1. 3 C(2023) 6464 final. EN 1 EN  disbursement of EUR 2 147 491 242 of non-repayable support and EUR 1 026 833 397 of loan support. (5) Following the procedure provided for by Article 24(6) of Regulation 2021/241, the Commission established that milestone 129, ‘Signature of contracts for the construction of at least 60MW(H2) of new electrolysers capacity’, and milestone 133, ‘Signature of contracts for high-efficient gas cogeneration and district heating projects’ had not been satisfactorily fulfilled. On that basis, the Commission, by means of Implementing Decision on the partial suspension of the disbursement of the second instalment of the loan support for Romania of 21 September 2023 suspended EUR 53 364 833 from the disbursement of the second instalment of the loan support. Pursuant to Article 24(6) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the Commission determined the suspended amount by applying the methodology for the determination of payment suspension under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation explained in its Communication of 21 February 20234. (6) On 20 March 2024, Romania presented additional justification related to milestone 129, ‘Signature of contracts for the construction of at least 60MW(H2) of new electrolysers capacity’, and milestone 133, ‘Signature of contracts for high-efficient gas cogeneration and district heating projects’. (7) On the basis of the additional justification provided, the Commission made a positive preliminary assessment of the satisfactory fulfilment of milestone 133, ‘Signature of contracts for high-efficient gas cogeneration and district heating projects’. (8) Milestone 133 provides for the signature of contracts for the construction or retrofitting of electricity production capacity of future-proof, flexible and high- efficient gas-fired combined heat and power (‘CHP’). Romania has submitted as evidence two contracts for the construction or retrofitting of electricity production capacity in future-proof, flexible and high-efficient gas-fired combined heat and power.5 On the basis of the due justification provided, the milestone should be considered as satisfactorily fulfilled. (9) On the basis of the additional justification provided, the Commission made a positive preliminary assessment of the progress made towards achieving the satisfactory fulfilment of milestone 129, ‘Signature of contracts for the construction of at least 60MW(H2) of new electrolysers capacity’. (10) Milestone 129 provides for the signature of contracts for the construction of at least 60 MW of new electrolysers capacity. The evidence provided by Romania demonstrates that four valid contracts were signed for the construction of new electrolysers for an installed a capacity of 41.83 MW(H2) with an expected volume generated of at least 8 300 tons of renewable hydrogen This capacity however still falls short of the targeted electrolyser capacity of ‘at least 60 MWH2 with an expected volume generated of at least 10 000 tons of renewable hydrogen’ required by the milestone. On the basis of the due justification provided, the progress made towards 4 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 21 February 2023 ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility: two years on A unique instrument at the heart of the EU’s green and digital transformation’ COM (2023) 99 final. 5 Contract No. 1 with the municipality of Constanta (‘UAT Constanta’), for the construction of a CHP plant with an installed capacity of 52 MW electricity and 45 MW thermal; and contract No. 3 with the Municipality of Arad (‘UAT Arad’) for the construction of a CHP plant with an installed capacity of 31.2 MW electricity and 26.7 MW thermal. EN 2 EN  achieving the milestone has been positively assessed while noting that the milestone should not be considered as satisfactorily fulfilled. (11) In accordance with Article 24(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the Commission provided its findings to the Economic and Financial Committee asking for its opinion on the satisfactory fulfilment of the relevant milestones and targets. In accordance with Article 25(4) of that Regulation, the Commission provided the competent committee of the European Parliament with an overview of its preliminary findings concerning the satisfactory fulfilment of the relevant milestone. The Committee agreed with the Commission positive preliminary assessment and provided an opinion that Romania had satisfactorily fulfilled milestone 133 associated with the second payment request. The Commission has taken the opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee into account for its assessment. (12) Following the partially positive assessment concerning Romania’s payment request, in accordance with Article 24(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the disbursement of the loan for the second instalment of the loan support, for an additional amount of EUR 42 592 252, should be authorised. (13) In accordance with Article 3(3) of the Council Implementing Decision, as specified in the Loan Agreement, the pre-financing of the loan shall be cleared by being proportionally deducted against the payment of the instalments. As Romania received EUR 1 942 479 890 of the loan as pre-financing, an amount of EUR 139 025 335 of the payment should be utilised to clear the pre-financing. Given that EUR 133 488 342 was utilised to clear pre-financing from the payment to Romania authorised by Implementing Decision on the authorisation of the disbursement of the second instalment of the loan support for Romania of 21 September 2023, an additional EUR 5 536 993 should be utilised to clear the pre-financing6. (14) This Decision should be without prejudice to procedures relating to distortions of the operation of the internal market that may be undertaken, in particular under Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It does not override the requirement for Member States to implement the measures in accordance with Union and national law and, in particular, to notify instances of potential State aid to the Commission under Article 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. (15) Commission Implementing Decision of 21 September 2023 on the authorisation of the disbursement of the second instalment of the non-repayable support and the second instalment of the loan support for Romania should therefore be amended accordingly. (16) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 35(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, 6 Taking into consideration the additional amount authorised and the additional amount cleared, an additional EUR 37 055 259 shall be provided to Romania by means of payment to the bank account indicated in the Loan Agreement. EN 3 EN  HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 Commission Implementing Decision of 21 September 2023 on the authorisation of the disbursement of the second instalment of the non-repayable support and the second instalment of the loan support for Romania is amended as follows: (1) Article 2 is replaced by the following: “Article 2 Authorisation of the disbursement of the loan support The disbursement of the second instalment of the loan support as laid down in Section 2.2.2) of the Annex to the Council Implementing Decision of 3 November 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Romania for an amount of EUR 1 069 425 649 is authorised. In accordance with the Loan Agreement concluded pursuant to Article 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 between the Commission and Romania, EUR 139 025 335 shall be utilised to clear the pre-financing of the loan and EUR 930 400 314 shall be provided to Romania by means of payment to the bank account indicated in the Loan Agreement.” Article 2 Addressee This Decision is addressed to Romania. Done at Brussels, 18.12.2024 For the Commission Valdis DOMBROVSKIS Member of the Commission EN 4 EN