Green Forum • 6 February, 2024 at 8:41 AM
The Consumers Association asked the Ministry of Energy and the Romanian Government to draw up an emergency ordinance making it very clear that Romania will not tax self-consumption of electricity by consumers ("sun tax"), according to a press release.
"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 drafting the legal framework have not understood the meaning of this European directive. All the Romanian institutions and governing parties have stated that they do not support this tax but that they are obliged by the European Union to introduce it into Romanian legislation. These statements are false and hide an interest contrary to Romanian citizens or show a lack of competence", says the Consumers' Association.
According to the association's representatives, at the moment, the legislation allows the authorities to introduce this tax for several categories of consumers, such as beneficiaries of the Green House, Electric Up or RepowerEU programmes, and from 2026 for all categories of consumers.
The association also states that the introduction of this sun tax was justified by the Romanian Government as an obligation to transpose European legislation into Romanian law. Several institutions in Romania have officially stated that the introduction of a legal framework for this tax is mandatory. Among these institutions the Association mentions Ministry of Energy, Romanian Legislative Council, Economic Policy Commission and Romanian Government.
"The RED II Directive makes it very clear that self-consumption charging is optional for each Member State. The European Commission states in the same directive that it does not recommend self-consumption taxation but leaves it up to each Member State to decide", the Association's press release also states.