POR

The Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 (POR) is the successor of the Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013 and one of the programmes by which Romania will be able to access the European Structural and Investment Funds from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDR) in 2014-2020.
The 2014-2020 Regional Operational Programme (POR), managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration as Managing Authority, was adopted by the European Commission (EC) on 23rd June 2015.

The strategic vision on the development needs to be met by the POR 2014-2020 is based on the analysis of the economic and social situation of the regions of Romania (in the National Strategy for Regional Development 2014-2020), which led to the identification of the main problems:

– Research, development and innovation: limited transfer of research results to the market and low level of assimilation of innovation in companies;

– SME: SME sector insufficiently developed, with a negative impact on the competitiveness of regional economies. The main weaknesses of the SME sector in the national strategic programme are:

* low degree of entrepreneurial culture – reflected by the relatively low business density in all regions;

* low resilience of new businesses – 2/3 of new businesses disappear from the market in their first year.

– Energy efficiency: unsustainable energy consumption and high potential for saving in public infrastructure, including public buildings and residential buildings;

– Environment: high pollution level in urban areas;

– Urban development: urban areas degraded, vacant or unused in cities of Romania;

– Heritage resources: Valuable cultural heritage poorly exploited;

-Tourism: valuable tourism potential, evenly distributed – alternative to revitalizing less developed / isolated areas;

– Road infrastructure: low accessibility of certain areas of the country, resulting in low attractiveness and extremely low investment;

– Social and educational infrastructure: the under-developed infrastructure for education, health and social services prevents social inclusion and human capital development;

– Cadastre: low level of cadastral records affecting the implementation of policies on socio-economic development of local communities;

– Administrative capacity: the need to strengthen the administrative capacity of the ROP Managing Authority, POR implementing bodies and beneficiaries, for a good implementation of the POR.

These directions of action have been correlated with the strategic direction of the European Commission as regards funding from the European Structural and Investment Funds through the European Regional Development Fund for the period 2014-2020:

-Innovation and research;

-Digital agenda;

-Support for SME;

-Low-carbon economy.

POR 2014-2020 aims to increase the overall economic competitiveness and improve the living conditions of local and regional communities by supporting the development of the business environment, infrastructure and services for the sustainable development of the regions so that they can effectively manage resources and capitalize on their potential for innovation and assimilation of technological progress.

These objectives are translated into 11 priority lines (plus a technical assistance line), with an estimated total of € 8.25 billion, of which € 6.7 billion represents EU support through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and EUR 1.5 billion – national contribution:

Priority Line 1: Promoting Technological Transfer;
Priority Line 2: Improving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises;
Priority Line 3: Supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy;
Priority Line 4: Supporting sustainable urban development;
Priority Line 5: Improvement of the urban environment and preservation, protection and sustainable valorisation of cultural heritage;
Priority Line 6: Improving road infrastructure;
Priority Line 7: Diversifying local economies through the sustainable development of tourism;
Priority Line 8: Developing health and social infrastructure;
Priority Line 9: Supporting the economic and social regeneration of disadvantaged communities in the urban environment;
Priority Line 10: Improving the educational infrastructure;
Priority Line 11: The geographic extension of the property registration system.
Priority Line 12: Technical assistance.