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

fiche below). It will be followed by milestone #290 and targets #291, #292 and #293. Milestone #290 requires the signature of public transport service contracts, target #291 aims to quantify the reduction of air pollutants, target #292 requires the reduction of people killed or seriously injured in car accidents in urban municipalities, and target #293 requires a 20% increase in yearly total passenger volume using local public transport in 2026 compared to 2019. The reform has a final expected date for implementation in Q2 2026.

Evidence provided:

The following evidence was provided:
   i.    Summary document duly justifying how the milestone was satisfactorily fulfilled;
  ii.    Copy of law No. 155 on sustainable urban mobility published in Official Journal No. 486 on
         31 May 2023;
 iii.    Annex to Government Decision No. 1575/2022 published in Official Journal No. 1275
         published on 30 December 2022 adopting the National Strategy for Integrated Urban
         Development for resilient, green, inclusive and competitive cities 2022-2035 (hereinafter
         referred to as “the urban policy”);
 iv.     Annex to Government Decision No. 682/2022 published in Official Journal No. 535 bis on 31
         May 2022 adopting the National Road Safety Strategy for 2022-2030.
Analysis:

The justification and substantiating evidence provided by the Romanian authorities cover all constitutive elements of the milestone.

Entry into force of legislation in the field of sustainable urban mobility Law No. 155/2023 on sustainable urban mobility (hereinafter referred to as “the Law”) was published in Official Journal No. 486 on 31 May 2023 and entered into force within three days of its publication in the Official Journal, that is, on 3 June 2023, as established by Article 12(1) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts.

The legislation for sustainable urban mobility shall include:

• - measures to stimulate the renewal of the public transport fleet with clean vehicles and

secure minimum national quality standards and access to public transport;

Articles 15, 16, and 9(9) of the Law aim to stimulate the renewal of the public transport fleet with clean vehicles. Article 15 sets the following targets for the share of zero-emission vehicles in the fleet of county municipalities’ public transport services: at least 5% by 2025, 10% by 2028, 20% by 2031, 30% by 2034 and 40% by 2037. Article 16 provides that vehicles purchased, including buses, must comply with the minimum targets set by directive (EU) (2019/1161), which introduces minimum targets for “clean” (low and zero-emission) vehicles in public procurements. Article 9(9) provides that from 1 November 2026 onwards, municipalities must have Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) in place to receive funds for urban mobility.

Article 16 secures minimum national quality standards for the vehicles to be purchased by requiring that they comply:

• • with EU Regulation 2019/2144 setting EU vehicle safety requirements; and
• • with Government Emergency Ordinance 71/2021 which transposes Directive (EU)

2019/1161 (the so-called Clean Vehicles Directive) which sets out minimum targets for low and zero emission vehicles in public procurement.

In addition, Articles 17 and 18 secure access to public transport by establishing that urban planning