The Pata Rât landfill site near Cluj has been an infamous focal point of the waste crisis for decades. By providing hundreds of millions of euros in subsidies, the EU has attempted to get a grip on the problem. In return, Romania was meant to close the harmful landfill sites, and implement better waste standards. However, it took authorities twelve years to close the old landfill in Pata Rât and open a new waste management center. But what has really changed? DW reporter Gönna Ketels dives deep into the details of such EU-funded projects and discovers a complicated network of responsibilities.