Romania had received EUR 7.3 billion out of EUR 31.6 billion allocated through eight EU funds by the end of 2025

Romania had reached a payment rate of 23.1% for shared-management European funds covered by the Common Provisions Regulation, above the 16.6% average calculated for the entire system, according to the European Court of Auditors. However, auditors warn that the absorption of the 2021–2027 programmes remains below the pace of the previous budgetary period and that payments need to accelerate.

By the end of 2025, Romania had received approximately EUR 7.3 billion from an allocation of EUR 31.6 billion through the eight shared-management European funds covered by the Common Provisions Regulation, corresponding to a payment rate of 23.1%, according to the European Court of Auditors’ annual report. The level was above the overall average of 16.6%, but auditors warn that implementation of the 2021–2027 programmes remains slower at European level than during the previous budgetary period.

In brief

1.Romania had payments of EUR 7.3 billion out of a total allocation of EUR 31.6 billion, or 23.1%, at the end of 2025.

2.For all eight funds covered by the Common Provisions Regulation, payments had reached EUR 65.8 billion out of EUR 397.3 billion, or 16.6%.

3.For the ERDF, ESF+ and Cohesion Fund, the combined rate was 14.8%, compared with 24.2% at the comparable stage of the previous budgetary period.

4.The Court states that the payment rate does not fully reflect project progress, because beneficiaries may be further advanced than the expenditure officially declared by countries.

5.The EUR 17 billion in payment claims remaining unpaid at the end of 2025 were processed at the beginning of 2026 and do not represent a current blockage of the same amount.

The Court’s data cover eight funds under the Common Provisions Regulation: the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund, the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Border Management and Visa Instrument, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and the Internal Security Fund.

For this scope, Romania stood at 23.1% at the end of 2025. Of the EUR 31.6 billion allocated, EUR 7.3 billion was recorded as paid, while approximately EUR 24.3 billion remained to be paid. Romania’s percentage was therefore above the overall average of 16.6% calculated by the Court of Auditors for all the allocations analysed.

However, the comparison must be interpreted carefully. The indicator used by the Court measures reported payments against allocations and is not equivalent to the physical percentage of project completion. Auditors state that beneficiaries may be further advanced in implementation than the expenditure declared by countries and subsequently paid from the EU budget indicates.

For all eight funds, cumulative payments had reached EUR 65.8 billion out of a total of EUR 397.3 billion allocated. Of the amount paid, EUR 23.2 billion represented pre-financing, while EUR 42.6 billion represented interim payments.

The pace accelerated sharply in 2025. In that year alone, payments for shared-management funds reached EUR 36.8 billion, compared with EUR 14.7 billion in 2024. The overall rate thus increased from 7% at the end of 2024 to 16.6% at the end of 2025.

However, auditors consider that the acceleration has not yet closed the gap with the previous financial period. For the three central funds of cohesion policy—the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus and the Cohesion Fund—the combined rate was 14.8% at the end of 2025. At the comparable point in the 2014–2020 budget cycle, the level was 24.2%.

The differences between funds are considerable. At the end of 2025, the Cohesion Fund had a payment rate of 22%, while the ERDF and ESF+ each stood at approximately 14%. The Just Transition Fund had reached 38%, while the instruments for migration, borders and security also had higher rates than the main cohesion funds.

The Court also draws attention to the pressure on the EU’s annual budget caused by the concentration of payment claims. In 2025, claims for the ERDF, Cohesion Fund and ESF+ exceeded the payment appropriations available in the budget. At the end of the year, outstanding claims worth EUR 17 billion had accumulated.

This amount should not be interpreted as a blockage continuing at the same level in October 2026. The report states that the outstanding claims at the end of 2025 were processed at the beginning of 2026. The issue identified by auditors concerns budget planning: when payments are pushed into the following year, they consume the appropriations available for new claims and may create additional pressure on the budget.

The Commission accepted the Court’s recommendation to improve payment forecasts and planning. Auditors warn that absorption remains below historical levels and that there is still a risk of decommitment if implementation and payment claims do not accelerate in line with the assumptions used in budget planning.

In 2025, however, the Commission estimated the risk of decommitment for cohesion policy programmes under the current financial framework at zero, compared with an estimate of EUR 2.7 billion a year earlier. The Court stresses that this estimate depends on the subsequent acceleration of payments.

In September 2025, amendments to the European framework were adopted to facilitate implementation and the reallocation of funds to new priorities. For certain 2021–2027 programmes that modify their allocations in accordance with the new rules, the eligibility period for expenditure may be extended until 31 December 2030.

For Romania, the 23.1% figure therefore provides a snapshot of the situation at the end of 2025, not the current absorption rate in October 2026. It shows that Romania was above the average for all funds analysed by the Court at that time, but also that almost three-quarters of the allocation included in this indicator had not yet been reflected in the payments taken into account in the report.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/romania-primise-73-miliarde-eur-din-316-miliarde-alocate-prin-opt-fonduri-ue-pana-la-sfarsitul-lui-2025