Romania can move money from World Bank loans towards a crisis, without negotiating a new loan

When a crisis comes, Romania will no longer wait for a new loan: it will be able to redirect money from the loans it already holds with the World Bank. Through Decision No. 596/2026, the Government approved the manual of the Contingent Emergency Response Project, known by its English acronym CERP and built within the Rapid Response Option of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The decision has five articles, and the manual in its annex takes up most of the 15 published pages. It is the second institutional piece of the year in the field of crises, after the command centre for energy crises.

The underlying idea is simple. At any given moment the State has several loans under way with the World Bank, for roads, health, education and other purposes. The Rapid Response Option allows part of that money, already approved, to be released for an emergency. The manual states explicitly that the reallocated funds remain legally tied to the operations they are taken from, but are operationally disconnected, which gives them the flexibility to be used for response.

For the mechanism to work, Romania signed a framework amendment with the World Bank introducing the rapid response clause into the agreements of the active loans, and future agreements will contain it from the outset. The decision was adopted on 6 August 2026 and published on 17 August.

What it changes in practice

The first effect is the division of roles. The Ministry of Finance remains the borrower, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs becomes coordinator and implementing agency. Coordination runs through the Department for Emergency Situations, by way of a project coordination unit, and implementation through the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, to which full authority and responsibility are delegated, through the implementation unit already existing within it.

The second effect is that the relationship between institutions becomes contractual. The Ministry of Finance concludes with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and with the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations a subsidiary agreement setting out the rights and obligations of each party.

The third effect is the opening towards other institutions. If the eligible measures so require, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Internal Affairs may cooperate with other central public authorities, which may themselves be designated implementing agencies, with subsidiary agreements of their own. In other words, the mechanism is not reserved for the fire service: it can reach health, energy or agriculture, depending on the nature of the crisis.

The fourth effect concerns the money. Expenditure in the category „Eligible expenditure under the CERP”, allocated from the World Bank loans, enters the budget of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and, in the case of other institutions involved, their own budgets, within the limits of the amounts allocated annually from the State budget.

The fifth effect is the definition that decides everything. An eligible crisis is an event that has caused or is imminently likely to cause a major economic and social impact on the borrower, either of the two being enough. The definition covers both natural and man-made events, and expressly includes health emergencies, energy and food crises and the socio-economic effects of conflicts.

The sixth effect is the list of accepted evidence. Activation requires evidence satisfactory to the World Bank, and the manual lists four forms: a declaration by the minister of finance, supported by assessments from international bodies, a decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations adopted under Government Emergency Ordinance No. 21/2004, an emergency ordinance adopted under Article 115 paragraphs (4) and (6) of the Constitution, or a Government decision adopted under Article 108 of the Constitution.

The seventh effect is that external assessments acquire domestic legal value. In support of the declaration by the minister, the manual names the emergency response framework of the World Health Organization at level 2 or above, the food security alerts of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the energy supply disruption assessments of the International Energy Agency, the refugee emergency declarations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the alerts of the World Organisation for Animal Health or of the United Nations Environment Programme.

The eighth effect concerns procurement, which is handled differently in an emergency. The manual provides for accelerated bidding deadlines, the waiver of the bid security and the possibility of raising the advance payment to 40%, secured by a guarantee. Most goods, works and non-consulting services are bought through a request for quotations, the simplified method on the domestic market, while the request for bids is kept for more complex equipment or for very large volumes. Direct selection may be applied to low-value purchases. The evaluation committee has between 3 and 5 members and between 2 and 3 alternates.

The ninth effect is duration. The CERP is implemented over six years, it can be activated several times within that period, and at the end a report is drawn up bringing together all activations, results and lessons learned.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until now, crisis response was financed from the State budget, from the reserve fund or through a loan negotiated after the event occurred. The difference brought by this mechanism is that the money is already approved, and what is negotiated at the moment of the crisis is only its reallocation.

The second change is that activation no longer depends exclusively on a domestic decision. The manual requires a crisis response plan, submitted to the World Bank before the funds are accessed, which governs the use of the money for the specific situation. Without that plan, nothing is released.

The third change is that the manual has a revision regime of its own. It is reviewed at least once every twelve months, and any amendment, including to the annexes, requires the prior written agreement of the World Bank, requested by the Ministry of Finance as representative of the borrower. Only after the agreement of the bank is the updated version approved in accordance with Romanian legislation.

The fourth change, less visible, concerns the calendar. The manual does not take effect on publication, but from the date on which the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development communicates its approval, in accordance with the policy of the bank. The decision enters into force on publication, but the instrument it approves has its own starting point.

One piece is still missing. Annexes No. 1 to 8 to the manual, the ones containing the positive list of eligible activities, the model activation request and the fiduciary requirements, were not published together with it. Under Article 5, they are approved by joint order of the minister of finance and the minister of internal affairs, within 30 days of the entry into force of the decision, that is, by the middle of September 2026.

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