National system

The European Structural and Investment Funds may be accessed through seven Operational Programmes

Operational Programme for Competitiveness 2014-2020 (OPC)

OP Competitiveness (funded by ERDF) finances projects to enhance the competitiveness of Romania’s economy, especially by supporting research, development and innovation, and by granting funding aimed to support the information and communication technology infrastructure, more specifically:

• To strengthen research, technological development and innovation;
• To enhance the usage, quality and access to information and communication technology.

Budget: EUR 1.329 billion

Main beneficiaries: research organisations, RD or higher education institutions, SMEs, microenterprises, spin-offs, research organisations

Responsible Authorities:

• Managing Authority OPC – Ministry of European Funds

Funded interventions:

• Enhancing research, development and innovation capacity in smart specialisation fields and healthcare;
• Increasing Romanian participation in research at EU level;
• Increasing private investment in research, development and innovation;
• Increasing transfer of knowledge, technology and personnel with research, development and innovation skills between the public and private research environments;
• Extending and developing high-speed broadband communication infrastructure;
• Increasing the contribution of the ICT sector to economic competitiveness;
• Increasing the use of e-government systems;
• Increasing the Internet use level.

 Operational Programme Human Capital 2014-2020 (OPHC)

OP Human Capital supports inclusive growth by investments in:

• Encouraging employment and workforce mobility, especially among young people and unemployed;
• Promoting social inclusion and fighting poverty;
• Supporting education, skills development and lifelong learning.

Budget: EUR 5 billion

Main beneficiaries: local and central public authorities, NGOs, training providers, social economy entities, social services providers, education institutions.

Responsible Authority:

Managing Authority OPHC – Ministry of European Funds;

Funded interventions:

• Improving participation of job seekers and inactive people on the labour market, targeting especially long-term unemployed, older workers  (55‐64 years old), Roma people, people with disabilities, rural population and other vulnerable groups;
• Increasing employment by encouraging entrepreneurship and start-ups;
• Fostering employers’ participation in employee training;
• Adaptation to change of workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs;
• SPO modernisation.

Operational Programme Large Infrastructure 2014-2020 (OPLI)

The Operational Programme Large Infrastructure supports the development of transport, environmental, energy infrastructure and risk prevention according to European standards, in order to provide the prerequisites for sustainable growth, providing protection and efficient use of natural resources.

Budget: EUR 9.4 billion.

Main beneficiaries: road, railway, naval, port, airport and metro infrastructure administrators, appointed according to law, authorities of the central public administration responsible for the management of customs offices, institutions responsible with structural reforms in the transport sector, local public authorities, Ministry of Transport, units under the coordination or authority of the Ministry of Transport.

Responsible Authority: Managing Authority OPLI – Ministry of Transport

Funded interventions:

• Development and modernisation of road, railway and naval infrastructure in the TEN-T network
• Ensuring regional mobility by connecting to the road, railway, naval and airport infrastructure of TEN‐T;
• Development of intermodal transport;
• Road safety measures;
• Traffic decongestion at border crossing points by developing infrastructure and endowing customs offices with specific equipment;
• More efficient transport systems, including reform measures;
• Investment in water and wastewater infrastructure, by continuing integrated regional projects;
• Investments in the integrated waste management infrastructure, considering the waste hierarchy;
• Maintaining the conservation status of species and habitats of Community importance;
• Decontamination of historically polluted sites;
• Development of the air quality monitoring system;
• Non-structural and structural measures to prevent risks generated by climate change (with a focus on draught and coastal erosion) and to strengthen the capacity to respond to crisis situations;
• Development and modernisation of power generation capacity in micro hydroelectric power plants, of electricity and thermal energy generation in biomass plants, of thermal energy in geothermal power stations;
• Supporting investments in extending and modernising the electricity distribution networks, to take over the energy generated from renewable sources under safety conditions;
• Development of highly efficient cogeneration power plants;
• Implementation of smart distribution grid for residential customers (pilot projects implemented by the 8 regional power distributors);
• Monitoring the power consumption at the level of industrial platforms by smart meters;
• Extending and strengthening the electrical power transport network;
• Enhancing the flexibility of the National Natural Gas Transmission System;
• Modernisation of the centralised thermal energy supply system in Bucharest;
• Extending the metro lines and modernising the existing network / Procurement of rolling stock material for the new metro lines.

Operational Programme Technical Assistance 2014 – 2020 (POAT)

The Operational Programme Technical Assistance 2014 – 2020 provides horizontal assistance to meet the needs of all structures involved in the coordination, management and control of European Structural and Investment Funds in Romania, and the needs of all actors involved in the implementation of projects financed by these funds. The programme implementation period is 2014‐2023.

Budget: EUR 1212.76 million

Main beneficiaries: structures responsible with ESIF coordination and control, namely  Ministry of European Funds, Audit Authority, Certifying and Paying Authority, National Authority for Regulating and Monitoring Public Procurement, Public Procurement Coordination and Verification Unit within the Ministry of Public Finance and Public Procurement Verification Units at regional level, Anti-Fraud Department, and for the ESIF management level, the Managing Authorities and Intermediary Bodies for OPLI, OPC and OPTA.

Responsible Authorities:

• Managing Authority OPTA – Ministry of European Funds

Funded interventions:

• Information and awareness raising activities for the various categories of public to ensure the overall understanding of interventions under the Structural Instruments and to develop the partnership culture at implementation system level.

 

Operational Programme Aid to the Most Deprived 2014-2020 (OPAD)

OPAD supports distribution of food and basic material assistance to the most deprived. “The most deprived” means natural persons who may be individuals, families, households or groups of individuals, whose assistance needs have been established against objective criteria set by the competent national authorities in consultation with the actors in the sector, avoiding conflicts of interest, or whose assistance needs have been defined by partner organisations and approved by the respective competent national authorities and include the necessary items to reach the most deprived in certain geographical areas.

The structure of the financing programme considers the following types of deprivation:

• P1 – food deprivation (lack of basic food)
• P2 – child poverty (lack of school supplies)

Budget: EUR 440 million

Main beneficiaries: Ministry of European Funds (MFE) – distribution of food aid; Ministry of National Education (MEN) – distribution of school supplies; public institutions (city halls, schools, etc.) – partner organisations.

Responsible Authority:

Managing Authority OP AD – Ministry of European Funds

Funded interventions :

Support to distribute food and basic material assistance to the most deprived:

• Families and single persons for whom the mayor established, by written decision, the right to the minimum guaranteed income;
• Families benefitting from family support allowance;
• Unemployed receiving monthly unemployment benefits of up to RON 400, according to legal provisions;
• Unemployed registered with the county employment agencies or the Bucharest Municipality Employment Agency who do not receive unemployment benefits;
• Pensioners of the public pension system whose retirement rights are lower than RON 400/month;
• Pensioners of the public pension system who benefit from social retirement allowance;
• People with severe and moderate disabilities, non-institutionalised, adults and children;
• Beneficiaries of legal provisions on war invalids, veterans and widows as well as other categories with no other incomes than those from pecuniary rights in amounts lower than RON 400/month;
• Children in public primary and secondary education supported by families whose net average income/family member is maximum 50% of the national gross minimum salary.

 

Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 (POR)

ROP intends to ensure the continuity of the strategic vision on regional development in Romania, by extending and developing the regional development directions and priorities included in the National Development Plan (NDP) and the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007 – 2013 and implemented under the Regional Operational Programme 2007 – 2013, as well as other national programmes.

ROP supports investments in:

• Supporting and promoting sustainable economic and social progress in the Romanian regions, the actions expected to be implemented in the programming period 2014-2020 bringing a significant contribution to the sustainable development of the regions;
• Development of transport infrastructure;
• Ensuring energy efficiency and sustainable use of energy;
• Conservation, protection, promotion and development of the natural and cultural heritage.

Budget: EUR 6.298 million

Main beneficiaries: local public authorities, central public authorities, NGOs, denominational entities, partnerships, public and private social services providers, accredited according to law, public higher education institutions.

Responsible Authority:

Managing Authority ROP – Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration

Funded interventions:

• Development, modernisation and extension of innovation and technology transfer infrastructure, including endowment
• Building/modernisation and extension of SMEs production/service area, including endowment with installations, equipment (including IT systems), machinery, including new technologies;
• Development/ modernisation / extension of business incubators / accelerators, including development of related services;
• Energy efficiency in public buildings, including consolidation measures;
• Energy efficiency in residential buildings, including consolidation measures;
• Investment in public lighting;
• Measures for urban transport (vehicle lanes/ cycle lanes/ procurement of ecological/electric vehicles, etc.);
• Urban regeneration and revitalisation (modernisation of public areas, rehabilitation of abandoned buildings/lands, historical centres, etc.);
• Building/ rehabilitation / modernisation / endowment of ante pre-school education infrastructure (nurseries), pre-school education infrastructure (kindergartens) and compulsory education infrastructure (grades 1‐8);
• Rehabilitation / modernisation / extension / endowment of vocational schools and technological high schools infrastructure;
• Rehabilitation / modernisation / extension / endowment of higher education infrastructure.

 

Operational Programme Administrative Capacity 2014-2020 (OPAC)

The OPAC objective is to improve the efficiency, transparency and accessibility of the Romanian public administration and judiciary.

OPAC supports investment in:

• Strategic planning, programme budgeting, impact assessment, evaluation and monitoring, simplifying legislation, public procurement, reducing red tape in public administration and improving the administrative capacity to perform such functions, including by human resources development.
• Improving the functioning of the judicial system, including for the enforcement of the new legal codes.
• Enhancing the decision-making process in local public administration and judiciary, by introducing common standards and practices and quality management systems, with a view to improving the services provided to citizens and businesses.
• Setting up a preventive framework both in public administration and in the judicial system to address ethics and integrity challenges.

Budget: EUR 553.19 million

Main beneficiaries: central public authorities and institutions, autonomous administrative authorities, NGOs, social partners, accredited higher education and research institutions, Romanian Academy, CSM, IJ, ICCJ, PICCJ, DNA, DIICOT, SNG, INM, courts, prosecutor’s offices, MJ, subordinated institutions: ONPCCRC, ANP, DNP, ONRC, INEC, ANC.

Responsible Authority:

Managing Authority OPAC – Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration

Funded interventions:

• Strategic planning and programme budgeting at central level;
• Development of management systems and tools;
• Improving public policies and enhancing regulation quality;
• Simplifying administrative procedures and reducing red tape;
• Measures to support NGOs and social partners;
• Skills and knowledge development for the personnel of central public authorities and institutions (including policy-makers);
• Institutional and legal framework on human resources management;
• Integrated strategic and operational management system to ensure key decisions on administration of justice;
• Strengthened institutional capacity in the judicial system, including for the enforcement of the new codes;
• Improving the legal and institutional framework in the field of public procurement;
• Improving preparation and management of public procurement procedures and ensuring proper contract performance;
• Skills and knowledge development for the personnel of central public authorities and institutions (including policy-makers);
• Strategic, financial planning, management tools, processes at local level;
• Supporting NGOs and social partners;
• Skills development for the personnel of central public authorities and institutions (including policy-makers);
• Enhancing public administration transparency;
• Administrative mechanisms (audit, control, internal management control);
• Administrative capacity to prevent and reduce corruption;
• Anti-corruption education;
• Enhancing the training plans for the judiciary personnel, development of support materials for training, conferences, seminars, internships;
• Development and implementation of improved policies on legal aid;
• Information, legal education, awareness raising campaigns, guides/information materials, communication strategies, surveys/analyses;
• Diversification of legal advice and aid according to the citizen’s needs;
• Promoting and strengthening alternative dispute resolution methods;
• Improving judge decisions enforcement;
• Enhancing transparency, ethics and integrity within the judiciary and other professions related to the act of justice.