The total value of the projects targeted rises to EUR10.5 billion.
Romania has two months to remove problems, which concern public procurement, fund management, as well as the prevention of fraud and conflict of interest.
Following checkups carried out in 2010 and 2011, the European Commission identified a series of irregularities in the Romanian structural fund management system and stopped payments made through the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund in mid-2011.
In December 2011, the EC resumed payments after Romania pledged it would remove public procurement problems. Rumanian authorities had until mid-2012 to prove that the country’s EU fund management system worked properly.
As Romania failed to remove the problems identified by EU authorities and improve its EU fund management system, the European Commission will not be able to make refunds, the Commission said.