The Legal 500

Law 148/2012 regarding the registration of the commercial operations through electronically means was published in Official Gazette 509/201

The European Court of Justice („ECJ”) has ruled on the joined cases Mahagében (C- 80/11) and Peter Dávid (C/142-11).

Order 874/221/2012 approving the template, content and aspects regarding the submission and administration of the ‘Statement regarding the insured income under the public pension system’, was published in Official Gazette 421/2012

News on the health and safety of employees

Emergency Ordinance 24/2012 amending and completing the Fiscal Code and establishing certain fiscal-financial measures was published in Official Gazette 384/2012

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with insights on the Romanian law governing acquisition and sale of treasury shares of Romanian joint-stock corporations (societati pe actiuni), both listed and non-listed on a regulated market.

Order 700/2012 for the approval of the procedure for amending by default the fiscal vector regarding VAT and of the template and content of certain forms was published in Official Gazette 356/2012

Order 640/2012 approving the template and content of Form 307 “Declaration related to the amounts arising from the adjustment of value added tax” was published in the Official Gazette 316/2012.

The European Court of Justice („ECJ”) has ruled on the joined cases Balkan and Sea Properties ADSITS (C-621/10) and Provadinvest OOD (C-129/11).

EU Council Decision no. 232 of 26 April 2012 was published in EU Official Journal on 01.05.2012.

Order 518/2012 amending several Minister of Finance Orders was published in the Official Gazette 264/2012

The European Court of Justice („ECJ”) has ruled on the case Klub OOD (C-153/11).

Order 418/2012 approving the model and content of the Form (311) “Statement regarding the Value added tax due by taxable persons whose VAT registration code was canceled in accordance with art. 153, para. (9), let. a)-e) of the Fiscal Code” was published in Official Gazette 199/2012

Competition is regulated under Competition Law No. 21/1996 (the Competition Law), as subsequently amended and supplemented, and under Competition Council Regulations and Guidelines. Romanian competition legislation generally follows the provisions of that of the EU, with certain specificities.

Romania has not yet acquired practical experience in terms of private antitrust litigation, although recent legislative developments (amendment of the Competition Law No. 21/1996 by the Government Emergency Ordinance No. 75/2010 in July 2010 and by the Law No. 149/2011 in July 2011, together with the new Civil Procedure Code, expected to come into force soon) support private actions for damages.

Under what legislation are intellectual property rights granted? Are there restrictions on how IP rights may be exercised, licensed or transferred? Do the rights exceed the minimum required by the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)?

The European Court of Justice („ECJ”) has ruled on the case Klub OOD (C-153/11).

Government Emergency Ordinance 2/2012 amending and supplementing the Company Law 31/1990 was published in Official Gazette 143/2012

Order 247/2012 regarding the procedure for the application of article 52 of the Fiscal Code was published in Official Gazette 129/2012

Government Decision 50/2012 amending and completing the Methodological Norms for the application of the Fiscal Code was published in Official Gazette 78/2012

Government Ordinance 2/2012 amending and completing the Fiscal Procedure Code was published in Official Gazette 71/2012

I. LEGISLATIVE NEWS IN DOMESTIC LAW

1. New amendments to the public procurement legislation

News on the general registry of employees

Ministry Order no. 2822/2011 regarding the modification of the Annex to Order 1918/2011 for the approval of the procedure and documents the employers must submit to the territorial labour inspectorate for obtaining the password for the electronic transmission of the general registry of employees, as well as of the procedure for transmitting the general registry of employees in electronic format was published in the Official Gazette no. 920, dated December 23rd 2011. 

ACTS ISSUED BY THE ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT

Banking enforcement officers become judicial enforcement officers 

The Romanian energy market has developed significantly in the past 10 years; a period during which the legislation has been harmonised with the EU legal framework.

Author - Roxana Ionescu and Ovidiu Balaceanu

1. Legislation

1.1 Name/title of the law

Author - Alina Vizitiu

As of December 27, 2011, Emergency Government Ordinance 111/2011 regarding electronic communications - published in the Official Gazette, Part I, n0. 925/27.12.2011 – represents the new normative act establishing the framework applicable in the electronic communications sector at national level. 

Author - Roxana Ionescu

With cloud computing gaining more and more momentum as compared with the more traditional alternatives for companies to deal with their software applications, data access and storage needs, inevitable questions arise in respect of how such data are actually managed and controlled in a cloud computing environment. 

Author - Ana-Maria Baciu, Delia Belciu and Iulia Ghita

Legislation and enforcement

1 What is the relevant legislation? The main normative act is Law No. 8/1996 on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights, as further amended and supplemented (Romanian Copyright Law). The relevant legislation also includes: 

Order no. 1203/927/103 (published in the Official Gazette no. 289/2010) amending and supplementing the Methodological Norms for the application of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 18/2009 regarding the increase of the energetic performance of dwellings, approved by Order no.

Order 2238/2010 amending Order 101/2008 regarding the approval of the template and content of the forms used for declaring taxes and contributions with self-assessment or withholding regimes was published in the Official Gazette 538/2010

Law 161/2010 amending Art. 84 of Law 296/2004 on the Consumer Code and Law 193/2000 on the abusive clauses of the contracts concluded between traders and consumers (“Law 161/2010”) was published in the Official Gazette no. 497 dated July 19, 2010.Law 161/2010 establishes an additional protection for the consumers – natural persons – against certain abuses that they may undergo from the traders, thus expressly regulating that:

EGO 75/2010 (published in the Official Gazette no 459/06 July 2010) which will enter into force within 30 days from its publication brings certain amendments to the Competition Law.

Emergency Government Ordinance no. 76 of 30 June, 2010 amending and supplementing Emergency Government Ordinance no. 34/2006 regarding the award of public procurement contracts, works concession contracts and services concession contracts (“EGO 76/2010”) was published in the Official Gazette, Part I, no. 453 of July 2, 2010.

The Order 455/2010 for the establishment of the empowerment committees of the foreign services of prevention and protection and advice documentation with technical informative and initiative character in the field of health and safety at work in the territorial labor inspectorates has been adopted

The European Commission has adopted new competition rules for agreements between vehicle manufacturers and their authorised dealers, repairers and spare parts distributors.

The rules implementing the provisions on social insurance health leaves and allowances were amended and supplemented

Government Emergency Ordinance 109/2009 amending and completing Law 571/2003 regarding the Fiscal Code was approved with certain amendments and completions. For more details, please refer to our Tax Flash 15/2010.(Law 76/2010 published in the Official Gazette 307/2010)

Within Official Gazette no. 347 dated 26 May 2010 it was published the Decision of the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (“ANCOM”) no. 338 dated May 4, 2010, related to the new general authorisation regime for the electronic communications providers (hereinafter „Decision no. 338/2010”).

Obligations and Civil Liability Incumbent upon the Management Bodies of Joint Stock Companies and Limited Liability Companies under Romanian Law.

High Court of Cassation and Justice Decision 4535/2007 on merger notification rules: is reconciliation of divergences with the Competition Council near? - The last years have revealed significant divergences between the Romanian Competition Council and the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding certain merger notification aspects. A recent High Court of Cassation and Justice decision seems however to indicate a potential reconciliation of the positions of the two authorities.

Romanian Competition Council Decision 15/12.03.2008 on market-sharing cartel and Public Health Ministry infringement on the insulin market: Following an investigation initiated in July 2005 and which has lasted for almost 3 years, the Romanian Competition Council (RCC) has fined one pharmaceutical producer and three distributors for participation into a market-sharing cartel active between April 2003 and May 2005, imposing fines in a total amount of Euro 22.7 million (RON 83.6 million). At the same time, the RCC ascertained the breach of the law by the Ministry of Public Health