The consumer association is asking the government to draw up an emergency decree clearly stating that the consumption tax (“sun tax”) will not be introduced, as it is not provided for by European directives. At the moment, the legislation allows the authorities to introduce this tax for several categories of consumers, such as beneficiaries of the Casa Verde, Electric Up or RepowerEU programs, and from 2026 for all categories of consumers.

“Solar tax” means the introduction of a tax on own consumption of electricity, that is, energy produced by consumers and consumed by them for their needs.

GEO 163/2022 defines in article 21, paragraph 3: Central public administration bodies and ANRE may apply non-discriminatory and proportional taxes and tariffs to consumers of energy from renewable sources in respect of electricity from renewable sources produced by their own forces. by them, which remains on their territory 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 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 this is demonstrated through a cost-benefit analysis, ANRE shall be carried out through an open, transparent and joint process, that the provision provided for in par. (3) lit. b) either resulted in a significant disproportionate burden on the long-term financial stability of the electricity system, or creates an incentive that exceeds what is objectively necessary to achieve the cost-effective use of energy from renewable sources, and that such burden or such incentive could not be minimized by the actions of others smart actions; or

• c) if electricity from self-produced renewable sources is produced in installations with a total installed electricity capacity of more than 30 kW.

According to the press release of the Association of Consumers and Energy Communities (APCE), the Romanian government justified the introduction of this tax by the obligation to transpose European legislation into Romanian legislation.

But the RED II Directive makes it very clear that self-consumption taxation is optional for each member state. In the same directive, the European Commission states that it does not recommend charging for self-consumption, but leaves it to the discretion of each member state.

The Association of Prosumers sent a request for clarification to the European Commission.

“The European Commission’s answer is clear and unequivocal: Article 21(3) is a ‘may’ clause, which means that transposition by Member States is optional. Thus, the Commission does not consider the incomplete transposition of this type of provision to be a violation of the Directive.”

Therefore, the introduction of the “sun tax” is not a measure imposed by the European Union, but a decision of Romanian politicians. It is serious that the institutions responsible for the development of the legislative framework did not understand the meaning of this European directive, the association said.

“All the institutions in Romania and the ruling parties have said that they do not support this tax, but the European Union obliges them to introduce it into the Romanian legislation. These statements are false and hide interests that are contrary to Romanian citizens, or indicate a lack of skills,” say representatives of the prosumers.

“We are asking the Ministry of Energy and the Government of Romania to draft a GEO that states very clearly that Romania will not tax consumers’ own electricity consumption. If the current ruling coalition wants to impose a self-consumption tax, despite the recommendations of the European Union, we want and will demand the public approval of this decision by every party in government,” the statement said.