New fiscal and budgetary measures – O.U.G. 114/2018
O.U.G. no. 114/2018 regarding the establishment of measures in the field of public investments and fiscal-budgetary measures, the modification and completion of some normative acts and the extension of some terms published in the Official Gazette no. 1116 has a major impact on key areas such as energy security, the banking industry, the telecommunications industry, the long-term stability of private individuals’ accumulation in private pension funds, the construction industry, and interest rates on government securities.
Among the main measures introduced: banks pay a financial asset tax when the ROBOR average quarterly interest rate is more than 2%, which is a benchmark threshold; in energy, companies will pay 2% of the turnover and in telecom this contribution is 3%. In the construction sector, the normative act provides for a 3,75% decrease in the social security contribution for the employees in the sector by 2028 and the gross minimum wage in the sector increases to 3,000 lei. In addition, the ordinance also amends privately administered pension funds.
New Directive on Open Data and Public Sector Information (PSI)
In full compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the new Directive on Open Data and Public Sector Information (PSI) – which can be for example anything from anonymised personal data on household energy use to general information about national education or literacy levels – updates the framework setting out the conditions under which public sector data should be made available for re-use, with a particular focus on the increasing amounts of high-value data that is now available.
As part of the EU Open Data policy, rules are in place to encourage Member States to facilitate the re-use of data from the public sector with minimal or no legal, technical and financial constraints. But the digital world has changed dramatically since they were first introduced in 2003.
Europe’s electricity market rules
Europe’s electricity market rules are being updated to improve the functioning of the market, empower consumers and pave the way for the clean energy transition.
Among the main elements of the directive on electricity are more rights for customers, who will be able to participate more actively in the market, as well as provisions on price settings and ownership of storage facilities. The regulation on electricity lays down rules for electricity trading which aim to improve the functioning of the market and facilitate cross-border trade in electricity. It also establishes the conditions under which member states can set up capacity mechanisms.
New rules to eliminate the main loopholes used in corporate tax avoidance
As of 1 January 2019, all Member States shall apply new legally binding anti-abuse measures that target the main forms of tax avoidance practiced by large multinationals. The rules build on global standards developed by the OECD in 2015 on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and should help to prevent profits being siphoned out of the EU where they go untaxed.
First proposed by the Commission in 2016, the legally binding rules, known as ATAD (Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive) were agreed swiftly to spur global efforts to clamp down on aggressive tax planning. The agreement followed the agreement among OECD countries on recommendations to limit tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), and made the EU a global leader in terms of the political and economic approach to corporate taxation.
Capital Markets Union
The new harmonised securitisation rules, applicable as of 1 January 2019, are an important building block of the Capital Markets Union. They will help provide additional funding sources for companies, strengthen banks’ ability to support the economy and spread risks across market participants, while avoiding the excesses that led to the financial crisis. New rules to revive the EU’s securitisation market will lead to more investment opportunities and increased lending to households and businesses.
This EU-wide initiative on ‘high-quality’ securitisation will ensure high standards of process, legal certainty and comparability across securitisation instruments through a higher degree of standardisation of products. This will notably increase the transparency, consistency and availability of key information for investors, including in the area of SME loans, and increase liquidity.