Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said at a press conference on Monday that the whole scandal caused by the absence of a “fee only as an opportunity” in the recently adopted Emergency Decree on the promotion of renewable energy started with the first version. first discussed on the Department of Energy website, then published on all websites, including the government website. However, official data indicate otherwise.

Energy Minister Virgil Popescu organized on Monday press conference to provide an explanation for the debates caused by the so-called sun tax, which was planned to be introduced by an emergency resolution adopted at a meeting of the Government on November 29.

At the conference, which took place after the scandal caused by AUR leader George Simion, the Minister of Energy was bombarded by journalists with questions about the provisions of the draft emergency order, which is publicly discussed on the website of the General Secretariat of the Government. (SGG), in the section of acts adopted by the Government at the meeting on November 29, 2022.

Video with the minister’s explanations from the 9:40 minute:

Virgil Popescu claimed that the Emergency Regulation will be published “probably tonight” (it has not even been published yet) in the Official Gazette and will contain the very phrase from the EU Directive to be transposed into national law, which states that “States members may apply taxes’, not as currently stated in the GEO project that ‘central government bodies and ANRE apply taxes and tariffs’.

Journalists noted that this phrase is not included in the draft agenda of the Government “Member States can levy taxes”but this “apply taxes”and Virgil Popescu argued that the explanation would be the fact that the GEO project, which is under public discussion, is the first version, which was published some time ago in the transparency of decision-making on the website of the Ministry of Energy, and was later distributed to all web- sites, including SGG.

Next, we will see that the version published on the SGG website differs from the one published in July on the transparency of decisions on the website of the Ministry of Energy, but first we reproduce the dialogue between the minister and the journalists to see the explanation of Virgil Popescu:

Virgil Popescu: We don’t change anything at all. The fact that the first text appeared. For some time, the decree was under public discussion. It has been worked on, it has more than 200 pages, consultants have worked on it, and it is out for public discussion. The fact that from the public debate, from the first text of the public debate, many read the text that appears in the Official Gazette, the final text, you will see, wait today, you will see that it is “with the possibility”. It will be published in the form adopted at the Government meeting.

• Journalist: It says they charge taxes, not that they can charge taxes.

Virgil Popescu: No, you are reading on the ministry’s website what was submitted for the first public discussion.

• Journalist: No, we read what was at the Government meeting. Did you make changes at the Government meeting?

Virgil Popescu: I want you to wait to see the Official Gazette. You saw what was at the public discussion and what was on the website of the Ministry, which has not changed.

• Journalist: Is there a provision in the form in the Official Gazette about the possibility of introducing this tax or will you abolish it?

Virgil Popescu: The form contains the phrase may apply. Article 21 of the 2018 Directive must be transposed from 2021. (…) The fact that the Directive mentions the possibility, it has been transposed. That does not mean that this tax will be, and I deny that there will be any tax on consumers tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or a year or two or three or four years from now. I can only say that after research, under certain conditions, from December 1, 2026.

• Journalist: That is, the text that will be published in the Official Gazette will be different from what we see today on the Government website?

Virgil Popescu: The Ministry of Energy website has the form that is available on all websites. It was the first Decree that became transparent for decision-making. It will appear in the Official Gazette exactly as it was accepted by the Government.

What Public Data Shows: There are various projects on the SGG and DOE website

HotNews.ro verified the statements of the Minister of Energy, and official data show that the SGG agenda document differs from the one that was published in the transparency of decisions in July on the website of the Ministry of Energy.

Metadata from the GEO project is on the Government’s agenda shows that the document was created on November 29, when the Executive Meeting was held and this act was adopted.

• HERE IS PROJECT GEO PUBLISHED BY SGG

On the other hand, metadata from the GEO project is published on the website of the Ministry of Energy July 5, 2022, indicates that the document was created on July 4, 2022.

• HERE IS THE GEO PROJECT PUBLISHED BY THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY

There are also differences in the text of the two documents about 3 situations in which the state can apply taxes.

Thus, in the draft agenda of the Government, on page 25 of 118, it is written that: “bodies of the central state administration and NARE apply non-discriminatory and proportional taxes and tariffs to consumers of energy from renewable sources”

On the other hand, in the GEO project on the website of the Ministry of Energy, on page 21 of 118, it is written that “competent central government bodies and regulatory bodies apply non-discriminatory and proportionate measures to consumers of energy from renewable sources.” “.

There is also a comparison table from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOE) on the website of the Ministry of Energy, which mentions how the provisions of the EU Directive should be transposed, in particular that the phrase “taxes may apply” should be used.

• SEE MAE’S REMARKS HERE

Essence? Of course, there have been several versions of the GEO draft, as well as comments from various advisory bodies, but at the moment we do not know the final form adopted by the Government until it is published in the Official Gazette.

• HotNews.ro has requested an explanation of these discrepancies from both the government and Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, and we will return with answers as soon as we receive them.