Preliminary assessment of the third payment request of Romania (2024)

deviation from the requirement of the Council Implementing Decision, the National Forest Strategy had entered into force at the time of the assessment. Commission Preliminary Assessment: Satisfactorily fulfilled

Related Measure: Sustainable transport, decarbonisation and road safety / Road Number: 66 safety Name of the Milestone: Entry into force of the road safety – legislation - legislation on monitoring, enforcement and sanctions on road safety offences Qualitative Indicator: Provision in the legislation indicating the entry into force Time: Q4 2022 of the road safety legislation Context:

Reform C4.R1 on sustainable transport, decarbonisation and road safety aims to support the transition towards sustainable and smart mobility by improving the strategic, legal and operational framework of the transport system in Romania. The sub-measure C4.R1.3 concerning road safety requires the adoption of a National Road Safety Strategy and its implementation by means of legislative changes and the entry into force of enforcement measures.

Milestone #66 requires the entry into force of legislative changes regarding road safety to: (i) enforce compliance rules and introduce higher penalties for breaches of the law; (ii) monitor road offences using automatic equipment; (iii) reduce speed limits in specific areas or roads based on accidents data/risk analysis and best practices at EU level; (iv) introduce speed management system and mandatory safety features, including revising traffic rules and priority for vulnerable users; (v) phase out old/deficient vehicles from the national register, and (vi) increase safety inspections and checks. Road safety legislation aim to reach a 50% reduction of fatalities in road accidents by 2030 compared to 2019, in line with the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030.

Milestone #66 is the second milestone in the implementation of the reform, and it follows the completion of milestone #65, related to the adoption of the National Road Safety Strategy and assessed as satisfactorily fulfilled in the context of Romania’s second payment request. It will be followed by target #67 related to the installation of equipment to increase speed enforcement and compliance with road safety rules and target #68 requiring a reduction in the number of road accident victims by at least 25% compared to 2019. The reform has a final expected date for implementation in Q1 2026.

Evidence provided:

The following evidence was provided:

  i.    Summary document duly justifying how the milestone (including all the constitutive
        elements) was satisfactorily fulfilled.
  ii.   Copy of Government Ordinance No. 1 of 27 January 2022 amending and supplementing the
        Government Emergency Ordinance No. 195/2002 for traffic on public roads, published in
        the Official Journal No. 89 of 28 January 2022.
 iii.   Copy of Law No. 383 of 29 December 2022 regarding some measures to improve the
        efficiency of road traffic monitoring, published in the Official Journal No. 1279 of 30
        December 2022.
 iv.    Copy of Government Decision No. 682 of 25 May 2022 for the approval of the National
        Road Safety Strategy, published in the Official Journal No. 535 of 31 May 2022 and Annexes,