Vulnerable people will benefit from the thermal rehabilitation of the home free of charge

The government adopted, on Wednesday, an emergency ordinance introducing new regulations in the field of projects financed by European funds, in order to attract the 5 billion euros that can still be attracted from the 2014-2020 programming period, but also to ensure quick, easy and transparent access to Cohesion Policy funds related to the period 2021-2027, worth 46 billion euros.

“We are continuing our efforts to ensure that Romania benefits from the entire budget for the period 2014-2020 made available through the cohesion policy in order to complete the infrastructure projects, which are a strategic priority for Romania. In this sense, we adopted today new regulations to respond to the situations identified during the project implementation process, so as to eliminate the risk of their delay and to ensure that the 5 billion euros we still have at our disposal are used to to improve the living conditions of Romanians and to support the economy, with an emphasis on intelligent specialization, research and innovation. Also, for the period 2021 – 2027, we have the prospect of investments of 46 billion euros through the cohesion policy and it is mandatory that the applicable regulations support the priority objectives established in the programs related to this period and ensure easy and transparent access to funds. We also have two changes that will have a strong social impact. On the other hand, for vulnerable people who received support for paying their heating bills, the thermal rehabilitation of their homes will be done free of charge, without being charged for this. Moreover, we will allow the cult units access to European funds to enable the rehabilitation of the historical heritage and its valorization from European funds”, declared Minister Marcel Boloş.

The ordinance aims to adjust the prices of investment projects in accordance with the evolution of the price of materials and utilities, in order to eliminate blockages in implementation, by reference to the annual indices published by the INS and the increase in construction costs estimated by the National Strategy and Forecast Commission. Also, to increase the eligible value of a project’s expenses, the beneficiary of non-reimbursable external funds must use at least 50% of the eligible value allocated by the financing contract.

Also, public property issues are regulated, especially for administrators who own land owned by the state to allow local public authorities to implement projects with an impact on people’s quality of life, such as regeneration and urban mobility. Currently, the transfer of real estate from state ownership to the administration of beneficiaries is a cumbersome process, which can last up to 12 months, and the adopted provisions ensure the reduction of the time required for these procedures and the acceleration of project implementation.

At the same time, the ordinance provides for the granting of support for research and technology transfer projects, so that research institutes have the necessary conditions for the transfer of research results to the market and for strengthening partnerships with the business environment. Also, free access to the thermal rehabilitation of apartment blocks is provided for people with disabilities, pensioners with low incomes, veterans and war widows.

The ordinance approved on Wednesday updates Government Emergency Ordinance no. 18/2009, so that the following types of owners will be the category of those for whom social aid is granted, expenses, of the following categories of beneficiaries:

a) disabled persons or families with disabled persons under maintenance;

b) single persons/families who, in the last 3 months prior to the carrying out of the social survey by the local public administration authority, achieved average net monthly incomes per single person/family member below the average net salary for the economy;

c) war veterans and their surviving spouses;

d) pensioners, regardless of their status, whose average net monthly income per single person/family member is below the average net salary in the economy;

e) people in energy poverty (no single person/family who, for reasons of health, age, insufficient income or isolation from energy sources, require social protection measures and additional services to ensure at least their minimum energy needs ).

As a result of the request to include religious units in the eligible target group for the financing of urban regeneration projects, the normative framework was regulated to allow the religious units access to European funds for the rehabilitation of the historical heritage and its valorization.