The budget needed for the implementation of the Strategy is estimated at EUR 5 billion by 2030, which will be covered by the state budget and European funds available through the new operational programmes for 2021-2027 and the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism: approx. EUR 870 million will come from the Regional Operational Programmes 2021-2027, and EUR 2.2 billion will be available through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is still being negotiated with the European Commission.
The elaboration of the Strategy started in 2019 under the coordination of the Ministry of Public Works, Development and Administration (MLPDA). The public consultations organized were attended by representatives of the ministries, local and regional public authorities, non-governmental organizations and associations, international and national financial institutions, as well as representatives of academia.
The recommendations and suggestions gathered from the consultations highlight, among other things, the lack of databases containing all the buildings and details on energy consumption, the limited capacity of the authorities to monitor renovation works, but also incoherent public policies and insufficient legislation to accelerate renovations. For example, the current legislative framework needs to be improved to better involve homeowners’ associations in supervising renovation work, simplifying public procurement procedures for renovation services which currently make it difficult to implement energy efficiency measures, but also to create a clear and accessible funding mechanisms for all those interested in increasing the energy performance of buildings.
At present the Strategy lacks an Action Plan for implementation, which is mandatory and must be presented within 9 months from the adoption of the Strategy by the Government. It is not clear whether this deadline will be met, given that there is currently no timetable for drawing up this Action Plan, and the responsible people have not been appointed yet[5].
The decarbonisation of the building stock in Romania needs a revised legislative framework adapted to the new energy efficiency objectives, coordinated authorities for the efficient development of renovation works, but also an increase of administrative capacity both to attract the necessary funds to implement the Strategy and to monitoring it.
[5]According to access to information answer from the General Secretariat of the Government