The roundtables organized within the SMAFIN project aim to encourage a structural dialogue between Romanian key stakeholders, in order to define barriers to wider investment in renovation, in the context of discussions on energy efficiency financing, in line with national priorities and opportunities.

Increasing energy efficiency is assumed at European level as a cross-cutting strategic objective for protecting the environment and reducing the impact of climate change, improving the quality of life and reducing the EU’s dependence on external oil and gas suppliers. Romania has assumed ambitious objectives in the national strategic framework in the field of energy and climate change, being concerned at the current stage with identifying the best ways to promote actions and support the necessary processes both from national budgetary resources and through the financing framework available in the future from the European Green Deal and the EU Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

At the same time, it is recognized that current levels of investment in sustainable energy are not sufficient to meet Romania’s 2030 climate and energy targets, and that smart financing mechanisms are needed to support large-scale and long-term investments, especially in buildings and industry.

The European Commission – DG Energy organized in 2018-2019 the Sustainable Energy Investment Forums (SEIF). The positive experience gained is relevant to further identify barriers to energy efficiency financing, and to support the design of public policies in this area, as well as market solutions, attract private capital and increase investment in energy efficiency across Europe.

Starting by the dialogue facilitated by SEIF events, the SMAFIN project (www.smafin.eu) funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 program aims to facilitate cooperation among stakeholders within permanent dialogue forums on energy efficiency investments in buildings, infrastructure, industry and SMEs, in four countries, including Romania. Thus, the project envisages the annual organization of round tables in each of the countries participating in the project.

The event is organized by the Romanian partners within the project SMAFIN – ENERO – Centre for the Promotion of Clean and Efficient Energy in Romania (www.enero.ro) and Pro-nZEB – Cluster for Promoting nearly Zero Energy Buildings (www.pro-nzeb.ro) and benefits from the support of the Romanian Government through the Department for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Investments and European Projects and Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration.

The First Round Table organized in Romania aims to address FINANCING SOLUTIONS FOR ENERGY RENOVATION OF BUILDINGS, because this is a hot topic on the national public agenda, being structured according to the following three main topics of discussion:

• Energy Renovation of Public Buildings
• Integrated Home Renovation Services
• The Long-Term Renovation Strategy- from Set-Up to Implementation

These thematic issues took into account both the conclusions and recommendations of previous Sustainable Energy Investment Forum, but also the current challenges that Romania must face.