Amendments regarding the debt ceiling
The National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) published the Order no. 2098/2019 of July 30, 2019 for the amendment of the Procedure regarding the issuance and communication of administrative and enforcement documents for the debtors who register outstanding fiscal obligations under a certain limit, approved by the Order no. 727/2019 of the President of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration.
The ANAF Order provides for the increase, both for individuals and for companies, of the ceiling of outstanding debts for which the attachment of bank accounts is no longer established: in the case of debtors who are classified as large taxpayers, the ceiling of the amount of outstanding fiscal/budgetary obligations increases from 3.000 lei, currently existing, to 40.000 lei; in the case of debtors who are classified as medium taxpayers, the ceiling of the amount of outstanding fiscal / budgetary obligations increases from 1.500 lei, currently existing, to 40.000 lei; in the case of debtors who are classified as small taxpayers, the ceiling of the amount of outstanding fiscal/budgetary obligations increases from 500 lei, currently existing, to 10.000 lei; in the case of the debtors natural persons, the ceiling of the amount of outstanding fiscal/budgetary obligations, increases from 100 lei to 2.000 lei.
Export Support and Promotion System financed from the state budget
The Ministry for Business, Trade and Entrepreneurship has launched in public debate the Draft Emergency Ordinance for amending and supplementing Emergency Ordinance 120/2002 regarding the approval of the Export Support and Promotion System financed from the state budget.
Through the Export Promotion Program, administered by the Ministry for Business, Trade and Entrepreneurship, the expenses regarding participation in international fairs and exhibitions, organization of economic missions are borne, under the law, partially or totally, from funds from the state budget. and actions to promote exports abroad and to conduct market and product studies, including for complex objectives, on a competitive basis.
SMEs Invest Romania
The Ministry of Public Finance has elaborated the methodological norms of application of the Program for the support of small and medium-sized enterprises – SMEs (IMM) Invest Romania. The program encourages and stimulates the development of SMEs by granting state guarantee facilities for the credits granted to them. For 2019, a ceiling of guarantees worth 700 million lei is allocated.
The main advantages of the Program:
- elimination of the main constraint of the beneficiaries of the SMEs in accessing the loans, namely the lack of guarantees;
- stimulation of credit institutions in the creation of financing products to address a segment of SMEs with high risk profile by offering a guarantee product on behalf and state account;
- supporting the development of the SMEs sector both by consolidating existing companies and by stimulating the establishment of new small and medium-sized enterprises.
EU equivalence policy with non-EU countries
The European Commission took stock of its overall approach to equivalence in the area of financial services. EU equivalence has become a significant tool in recent years, fostering integration of global financial markets and cooperation with third-country authorities. The EU assesses the overall policy context and to what extent the regulatory regimes of a given third country achieves the same outcomes as its own rules.
The Communication published by the European Commissio sets out the EU’s comprehensive approach and recent legislative improvements in terms of how the Commission grants equivalence to non-EU countries. It also describes how the Commission and the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) monitor the situation in those countries after equivalence decisions have been taken, to ensure that these continue to fulfil EU objectives and preserve financial stability, investor protection, market integrity and a level playing field in the EU.
This Commission document also provides an overview of how recent EU legislative changes have strengthened the equivalence framework, both in terms of initial assessments and ex-post monitoring, in particular with an increased role for the European Supervisory Authorities. These recent legislative changes, for instance in the amended ESAs regulations, strengthen the roles of those authorities in monitoring equivalent third countries.