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Brussels – In May, the European Commission (EC) launched three infringement proceedings against Romania via formal notice. These concern the sectors of energy and taxation, as well as data governance.
Energy-efficient buildings
The European Commission sent a formal notice to Romania for failing to meet its obligations under the EU rules on the energy performance of buildings (Directive 2010/31/EU).
The Commission recalled that Member States must set minimum energy performance requirements for buildings and strive to achieve the optimal balance between investments and savings, i.e., attain so-called “cost-optimal levels.”
Calculating cost-optimal levels is crucial for Member States to fully exploit the energy efficiency and renewable energy potential of their national building stock and to avoid citizens and businesses spending more money than necessary on improving the energy performance of homes and offices.
Tax transparency on income earned on digital platforms
The European Commission also stated that Romania has not fulfilled its obligation to timely exchange information on income earned by individuals and businesses through online platforms.
The EU body argues that the Directive 2021/514 (EU DAC7) amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation introduced new transparency rules for transactions on digital platforms effective from January 1, 2023.
Accordingly, online platforms were first required to collect information on the 2023 income of individuals and businesses and report it to the Member State of the platform. Subsequently, that Member State had to exchange the said information by February 29, 2024.
According to the Commission, timely data reporting and information exchange are essential to ensure a level playing field within the Union and the smooth functioning of DAC7 across all Member States.
Data Governance Act
The EU body also informed Romania via a formal notice that it has not complied with the EU Data Governance Act.
The Commission reminded that the activities of data intermediaries must be strictly independent from other services they provide, they must be registered, and they must be identifiable by a common EU logo. They also highlighted that the Data Governance Act facilitates data sharing across sectors and Member States in the interest of citizens and companies. It increases trust in data sharing by establishing rules regarding the neutrality of data intermediaries connecting individuals and businesses with data users.
Since September 24, 2023, competent authorities have been responsible for registering data altruist organizations and monitoring the compliance of data intermediary service providers.
Romania now has two months to respond to the formal notices and remedy the deficiencies identified by the EC. If it does not provide a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
One of the tasks of the European Commission is to monitor the correct and timely application of EU law by Member States. Dozens of infringement proceedings are ongoing against Romania.