Romania joins the Catching-up Regions programme / Three regions to receive European development support

Acting Minister of Investments Dragoș Pîslaru announced Thursday evening that Romania had officially been included in the component of the Catching-up Regions programme dedicated to regions on the European Union’s eastern border. The initiative aims to identify bottlenecks and find concrete solutions for developing regions exposed to the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The North-West, North-East and South-East regions will benefit from the support of teams of experts sent by the European Commission and the World Bank. The specialists will work directly with local authorities to analyse development challenges and prepare applicable projects, rather than merely strategies drawn up at European level.

Romania’s participation was approved in Brussels by European Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto and the services of the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. The efforts began in the spring of this year, together with Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu. Pîslaru stressed that access to European funds must be accompanied by an administration capable of turning funding into projects. Romania was also recently included in the EastInvest mechanism, with these efforts forming part of the European policy dedicated to eastern regions and preparations for the next financial cycle, 2028–2034.