​USR will notify the European Commission of the initiation of infringement proceedings for the erroneous application of the European directive, alleging that the new emergency regulation adopted by the government to promote the use of energy from renewable sources immediately imposes a tax on the sun for many prosumers and gradually for others.

• “Minister Virgil Popescu hastened to say that GEO, which introduces a tax on the sun, transposes a European directive. That although there is no tax on the Sun, it still begins in 2026. And if there is still no tax, it still does not apply to small children. Minister Popescu puts his left foot in the right and talks nonsense. It’s all a lie: his GEO is taxing the sun all at once for many consumers and gradually for others. To be clear: the stupid political decision to charge consumers for what they themselves consume belongs to the government of Nick-Marcel. Christian Guinea wrote about it on Facebook.

Ginea says that the EU Directive strongly discourages self-consumption taxation and even mentions the right of consumers not to be taxed, and while the Directive leaves certain exceptions, the GEO adopted by the government turns them into the rule.

• “The right of consumers not to be charged for what they consume themselves is omitted as a reference in the GEO text when setting a charge for all consumers starting in 2026. The fee applies immediately to citizens and companies that generate more than 30 kW or have received government support (eg Casa Verde). This includes SMEs and farms that have invested or want to invest in PV.
• Then, by simply turning “the state can” into “state taxes”, the securitist-socialist government strikes at independent energy production to protect the unfree market of the big state-owned companies under Virgil Popescu. writes Christian Guinea.

According to him, the UDR will urgently notify the European Commission to start the infringement procedure for the erroneous application of the European directive.

What are the problems of GEO adopted by the Government in the opinion of the UDR

The Union Save Romania (USR) made the request on Sunday governors to stop publication in the Official Gazette and restore the emergency decree to complete the legal framework to promote the use of energy from renewable sources, blaming the fact that the PSD-PNL government issued an emergency decree the evening before the National Day holiday that “invents a new tax in the midst of the energy crisis : sun tax”.

According to a USR press release, the “solar tax” targets citizens and companies that have invested in photovoltaic panels, generate electricity and consume it in their own home or business.

• “The state will oblige citizens and companies to install special meters, different from the meters connected to the national energy networks, only in order to be able to charge for the energy they produce, as well as the energy they consume,” the UDR said in a statement. state

How the Ministry of Energy defends itself

In response, the Ministry of Energy was clarified The Ministry of Energy says that the emergency order on the finalization of the legal framework for the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, recently adopted by the government, transposes the Directive (EC) 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. .

The Ministry claims that the changes were necessary given that Romania risks starting an infringement procedure (the risk of going to the Court of Justice of the European Union in case 2021/0333).

Regarding the introduction of the tax for prosumers, representatives of the Ministry of Energy specify, among other things, “as a general rule, prosumers do not pay any tax, but Directive 2018/2001 speaks of the introduction of a tax for prosumers under certain conditions, which can be found in Article 21 of the Decree.”

Central government bodies and NARE apply non-discriminatory and proportional taxes and tariffs to consumers of energy from renewable sources in respect of electricity from renewable sources produced by them independently, which remains at their enterprises, in one or more cases.

Thus, one of the mentioned cases is “if self-generated electricity from renewable sources is effectively supported by support schemes, only to the extent that the economic viability of the project and the incentive effect of such support are not undermined”.

Another situation regarding the application of taxes concerns the fact that “from December 1, 2026, if the capacity installed in consumer power plants exceeds 8% of the total capacity installed in power generation facilities at the national level, and if it has been demonstrated through cost-benefit analysis carried out by ANRE through an open, transparent and participatory process, that the provision provided for in paragraph (3) letter (b) has resulted in a significant disproportionate burden on the long-term financial sustainability of the electricity system, or creates an incentive that exceeds what objectively necessary to achieve cost-effective use of renewable energy, and that such burden or incentive cannot be minimized by taking other reasonable actions.”

Another case mentioned: “if electricity from renewable sources of own production is produced in installations with a total installed capacity of more than 30 kW”.

• “As can be seen from the text, the possibility of introducing the tax is remote, in the time horizon until the end of 2026, and requires the fulfillment of several conditions. Moreover, at the level of the European Commission and the European Parliament, it is said that the tax is remote,” he noted. , revising these directives through the Fit for 55 package, a directive that will make other changes to accelerate the deployment and promotion of renewable energy.
• GEO was adopted after approval by the General Secretariat of the Government, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, the National Energy Regulatory Authority, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Research, Innovation and digitalization,” the press release of the Ministry of Energy also states.

What the EU Directive says: the application of taxes is optional, not mandatory

In the EU Directive referred to by the Ministry of Energy, however, it is said that EU member states “taxes may apply“, in contrast to the Government of the OUG, where it is stated that “bodies of the central state administration and NARE taxes and fees apply“.

This is what the EU Directive provides:

“Member States may apply non-discriminatory and proportionate charges and tariffs to their own consumers of energy from renewable sources in relation to electricity from renewable sources produced by them that remains on their territories in one or more of the following cases:

• (a) if self-generated electricity from renewable sources is effectively supported by support schemes, only to the extent that the economic viability of the project and the incentive effect of such support are not undermined;
• (b) from 1 December 2026, if the global share of self-consumption installations exceeds 8 % of the total installed electricity capacity of a Member State, and if this is demonstrated by means of a cost-benefit analysis carried out by the national regulatory authority of such Member State through an open, transparent and collaborative process, that the provision set forth in paragraph (2)(a)(ii) either results in a significant disproportionate burden on the long-term financial sustainability of the electric power system or creates an incentive that exceeds what is objectively necessary to achieve cost-effective use of renewable energy, and that such burden or incentive cannot be minimized by taking other reasonable actions; or
• (c) if electricity from renewable sources of own production is produced in installations with a total installed electricity capacity of more than 30 kW.

On Tuesday, the government adopted an extraordinary resolution on finalizing the legislative framework for promoting the use of energy from renewable sources.