MEPs call for earmarked funding for the EU’s eastern regions, including Romania

The European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development is calling for up to 10% of the budgets of relevant European instruments to be reserved for eastern regions affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine and geopolitical pressures. Romania is one of the nine countries concerned, but the proposal does not establish a national amount and must also be approved by the plenary.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development is calling for distinct financial treatment for the regions on the Union’s eastern border in the future European budget for 2028–2034, including the possibility of reserving up to 10% of the budgets of relevant EU instruments. The resolution was adopted in REGI by 23 votes in favour, two against and six abstentions, and is expected to reach the plenary in November. Romania is among the nine Member States covered by the European approach for the eastern regions, alongside Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria.

In brief

REGI is calling for up to 10% of the budgets of relevant European instruments to be reserved for the eastern regions. The proposal does not concern 10% of the entire EU budget.

MEPs are also requesting a dedicated additional allocation, more flexible rules and a special co-financing mechanism for regions bearing high geopolitical costs.

For future Interreg programmes, REGI is calling for at least EUR 150 million to compensate for the loss of cooperation funding suspended with Russia and Belarus.

The requested co-financing could reach 95% for projects in the eastern regions and 100% for projects of particular importance for security, resilience or critical infrastructure.

Romania is included in the regional strategy, but neither the REGI resolution nor the EPRS documentation establishes an amount that would automatically go to it.

The REGI proposal seeks to change the way the future European budget treats regions located on the eastern border. Instead of depending exclusively on the usual national and regional budget lines, MEPs are calling for their needs to be reflected in several financial instruments of the 2028–2034 framework and for part of the resources to be explicitly reserved. The 10% ceiling refers to the budgets of instruments considered relevant for these regions, not to 10% of the entire multiannual financial framework, and the proposal does not currently constitute an adopted allocation.

Parliament’s request follows the European Commission’s adoption in February of a strategy for eastern regions in nine Member States, including Romania. The strategy responds to a combination of security problems, trade disruptions, declining investment, depopulation, labour shortages and pressure on local services, amplified by Russia’s war against Ukraine and the changing security environment. The five established areas are security and resilience, regional growth and prosperity, leveraging local advantages, connectivity, and measures dedicated to people and communities.

Romania enters this framework through its border with Ukraine and its position on the Black Sea. Documentation from the European Parliamentary Research Service shows that the approach is not limited to defence, since infrastructure, access to services, private investment, the labour market and demographic decline are treated as components of the same regional problem. Regions located near the eastern borders must be able to respond to security risks without the necessary investments sidelining economic development, public services and communities’ ability to retain their populations.

The current European response already includes financial resources, but these are distinct from the proposals now adopted by REGI. The EPRS briefing indicates a reorientation of EUR 34.6 billion from cohesion policy towards five priorities of the review of the current framework, namely competitiveness, defence, affordable housing, water management and energy infrastructure. Of this total, EUR 5.6 billion is directed towards the eastern regions. These resources belong to the 2021–2027 financial architecture and do not represent the additional funding now requested for the period after 2027.

Current cohesion rules also provide more favourable financial conditions for certain programmes covering NUTS 2 regions bordering Russia, Belarus or Ukraine. Under certain conditions, these programmes may benefit from additional pre-financing of 9.5%, as well as other flexibilities when resources are redirected towards the priorities established in the mid-term review. These mechanisms must be distinguished from REGI’s current proposal for co-financing rates of up to 95% or 100%, as they concern different budget periods and rules.

Another component is EastInvest, a platform designed to facilitate companies’ and local authorities’ access to financing and advice in the eastern regions. The participating financial institutions aim to mobilise up to EUR 28 billion by the end of 2027 for public and private projects in infrastructure, renewable energy, innovation and regional connectivity. The European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank and national promotional banks are part of the envisaged architecture. However, EastInvest is not a EUR 28 billion grant divided among the nine countries, and the amount cannot be presented as already paid.

The REGI resolution goes further for the future financial framework and calls for an additional allocation for regions bearing costs related to war, hybrid pressures, demographic problems and deteriorating economic conditions. MEPs are also requesting a separate co-financing mechanism for projects carried out in areas exposed to exceptional geopolitical costs, simpler procedures for modifying programmes, adapted eligibility rules and more flexible implementation deadlines. The parliamentary committee is also calling for state aid rules to be adapted so that the investments needed by these regions can be made more easily.

Cross-border cooperation is a separate issue. REGI estimates that the suspension of programmes with Russia and Belarus caused a net loss of approximately EUR 150 million for the eastern regions and is requesting that future Interreg programmes contain at least an equivalent amount. The EUR 150 million represents a request for the future European budget, not compensation already approved or transferred to the affected regions.

For projects carried out in these regions, MEPs propose a European co-financing rate of up to 95%, which could reach 100% when the project is of particular importance for security, resilience or critical infrastructure. Such a formula would reduce the financial contribution that national or regional authorities must provide from their own resources and could facilitate projects in areas with lower fiscal capacity. However, the percentages form part of the requests adopted by REGI and are not yet applicable rules of the 2028–2034 budget.

The investments envisaged go beyond military infrastructure. REGI mentions health, roads, energy, maritime and digital infrastructure, connectivity, civil preparedness, resilience and dual-use infrastructure, while the Commission’s strategy includes skills, retaining young people in the region, social services and resilience to disinformation. Cohesion policy is thus viewed as an instrument for reducing security vulnerabilities, but also for maintaining economic activity and local communities.

The resolution insists that funding for security and defence should not reduce traditional investments in economic and social development. In the parliamentary committee’s assessment, reducing these investments could intensify depopulation, economic decline and the structural labour shortage precisely in the regions the EU is seeking to make more resilient. This is currently REGI’s position and must be confirmed or amended by the plenary before becoming the position of the European Parliament.

For Romania, the EPRS documentation also provides an example of priorities formulated at local level. The Suceava Office for Cross-Border Cooperation, a non-governmental organisation working on Romania–Ukraine relations, indicated during the Commission’s consultation the need for greater cyber resilience, better cross-border connectivity, emergency coordination and improved refugees’ access to employment. The contribution does not represent the position of the Romanian Government, but it shows the diversity of issues that regional actors are seeking to include in the new European strategy.

The documents analysed do not establish an amount that would go to Romania from the future financial framework. The reservation of up to 10%, the additional allocation requested by REGI and the co-financing rates are proposals concerning the architecture of the European budget, while the specific distribution will depend on negotiations on the 2028–2034 financial framework and on the programmes approved subsequently. Under the current structure, there is no separate fund reserved exclusively for these regions.

The REGI vote is therefore a stage in building Parliament’s position, not a funding decision. The resolution is expected to reach the plenary in November, and the 2028–2034 multiannual financial framework will require separate interinstitutional negotiations before the final funding levels and conditions are established. For Romania, the concrete financial impact can be determined only after the instruments, territorial criteria and eligible programmes have been defined.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/eurodeputatii-cer-finantare-rezervata-pentru-regiunile-estice-ale-ue-inclusiv-romania