Federația Patronală a Energiei (FPE) considers that it is necessary to amend the provisions of Emergency Ordinance no. 33/2025 on the approval of the refund of certain amounts paid to the Energy Transition Fund and the related Explanatory Memorandum, so that to ensure the applicability of the measures provided for by Decision No 640/2024 of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) to all categories of taxpayers who have been subject to the contribution and their alignment with the constitutional requirements related to the principle of legality, non-discrimination and the principle of separation of powers.
GEO no. 33/2025 does not respond to the legislator's desire to ”re-establish a fair balance between the economic environment and the protection of the interests of the population” (point 3.1 of the explanatory memorandum), but, on the contrary, the manner chosen by the legislature is restrictive in relation to the considerations set out in the CCR Decision and is likely to decisively affect this balance in the case of taxpayers who are acting in good faith and have voluntarily complied with the unconstitutional legal provision without initiating disputes with the authorities but who, precisely because of all the problems raised above, could turn to the courts.
In the opinion of FPE, the proposed legislative solution combines in a confusing and unconstitutional manner the two hypotheses envisaged by the CCR Decision (administrative and judicial) and ends up improperly establishing an administrative mechanism for the restitution of sums that are the subject of actions before the courts and aim to award compensation by court judgment.
In addition to the legal aspects outlined above, from a practical perspective, we consider that the adoption of the GEO without applying the measures to all categories of taxpayers subject to the contribution will have the following consequences:
- It will generate a wave of litigation to recover the contribution under the Administrative Disputes Act;
- Will encourage, in the future, any tax/contribution to be challenged in court in order to eliminate the risk of being excluded from a future repayment in a similar situation
- It will affect competition in the market (since some participants are reimbursed 20%, others are not, and the only differentiating criterion is extrinsic to market mechanisms, i.e. whether or not to take legal action).
At the same time, we draw attention to the fact that the principle of genuine and transparent consultations with the business environment was not respected, given the publication of GEO no. 33/2025 in the Official Gazette before the end of the formal public consultation period. As emphasized on numerous occasions in the dialogue with the authorities, these consultations are essential to ensure a predictable and fair general framework in the relationship with the business environment.
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Federația Patronală a Energiei, founded in 1991, is a promoter of the actions necessary for Romania to enjoy abundant, affordable and environmentally friendly energy.
Federația Patronală a Energiei represents 95% of Romania's oil and gas industry and is gaining increasing relevance in the field of renewable energy and emission reduction technologies, in pace with their development in our country.
Our mission is to make the interests of the private sector and how they can be harmonized with national and European Union objectives known to European and national institutions, stimulating dialogue. Another objective is to inform and educate the general public and prepare them for the new realities in the energy field.
