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D e c e m br i e 2006 - n r . 48

I. Introduceren ultimii ani, n Rapoartele privind progreseleRomniei n vederea aderrii, ComisiaEuropean a identificat, cu regularitate,controlul ajutoarelor de stat drept una dintrezonele cu probleme, care puteau conduce la o

ntrziere a ncheierii negocierilor i chiar la

amnarea datei aderrii, dup ce negocierileau fost ncheiate. n Raportul de monitorizaredin 16 mai 2006, Comisia a reinut faptul c s-au fcut progrese n aplicarea legislaieiajutorului de stat, iar controlul ajutoarelor destat nu a mai fost menionat printre zonelecare ridic ngrijorri serioase, implicnd risculamnrii aderrii Romniei la Uniunea

3European, de la 2007 la 2008 . nComunicarea ce a nsoit Raportul, Comisia arecunoscut faptul c aplicarea legislaiei nmaterie de ajutor de stat a atins un nivel

satisfctor, ceea ce a permis Romnieideclanarea procedurii ajutorului existent(mecanismul interim) ncepnd cu luna mai

42006 .

Astfel, dup 6 ani de efort continuu, Romniai-a atins obiectivul principal din acest

5domeniu . n paralel cu Raportul deMonitorizare, actualizarea tabloului ajutoarelorde stat (Commission's State aid Scoreboard)din primvara anului 2006 furnizeaz cifreinteresante privind acordarea de ajutoare de

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stat n Romnia . n acest context i innd contde Rapoartele de progrese ale Comisiei, acestarticol ncearc s ofere un rezumat aldezvoltrilor i al stadiului actual n domeniulcontrolului ajutoarelor de stat n Romnia ntre

7anul 2000 i primvara anului 2006 .

1. Baza legal pentru instituirea controluluiajutoarelor de stat n Romnia a fost i varmne pn la data aderrii Acordul de

Asociere (aa-numitul Acord European),ncheiat pe data de 1 Februarie 1993 ntreComunitatea Economic European i statelemembre, pe de o parte, i Romnia, pe de altparte. Acest acord, care a intrat n vigoare nfebruarie 1995, nu coninea nicio promisiune

II. Baza legal a controlului ajutoarelor destat n Romnia

1CONTROLUL AJUTORULUI DE STAT

2Prof. Dr. Reimer VON BORRIES

RezumatComisia European a identificat, cu regularitate, controlul ajutoarelor de stat drept una dintre zonelecu probleme, care puteau conduce la ntrzierea ncheierii negocierilor de aderare sau chiar laamnarea datei aderrii Romniei la Uniunea European. Prin Raportul de monitorizare publicat deComisia European n luna mai 2006, au fost recunoscute progresele realizate de Romnia naplicarea legislaiei ajutorului de stat i s-a decis declanarea procedurii ajutoarelor existente. nevoluia controlului ajutoarelor de stat n Romnia pot fi identificate trei perioade distincte. Primadintre acestea, cuprins ntre ianuarie 2000 i decembrie 2003, a fost caracterizat printranspunerea legislaiei secundare comunitare i prin construirea capacitii administrative a

autoritilor cu atribuii n domeniul ajutorului de stat.

Cuvinte cheie: ajutor de stat, autoritate de concuren, baz legal, reglementri.

1 Acest articol a fost publicat n European State Aid Law Quartely nr.3/2006 iar Consiliul Concurenei a obinut aprobarea autorului pentru publicareaacestui articol.2L.L.M Reimer von Borries a fost expert de preaderare la Consiliul Concurenei din Romnia ntre 2001 i 2002, respectiv 2003 i 2005. nainte de ase pensiona, a fost consilier ministerial la Ministerul Federal de Finae din Germania i profesor onorific la Universitatea din Osnabrck. Opiniile dinprezentul articol reprezint punctele de vedere ale autorului.3Mai 2006, Raportul de Monitorizare, documentul de lucru pentru personalul Comisiei, SEC(2006) 596, pagina 22.4Comunicarea Comisiei din 16 mai 2006, Documentul COM(2006) 214 final, pagina 7.5La aceast dat, Comisia nu a fcut nc o recomandare finala cu privire la data aderrii, dar aceasta va evalua n raportul de monitorizare programat

pentru toamna anului 2006 dac data de 1 ianuarie 2007 poate fi meninut.6Documentul COM(2006) 130final din 27 martie 2006.7 Din lips de spaiu, acest articol nu prezint aspectele specifice sectorului siderurgic. Agricultura i pescuitul nu intr sub incidena regulilorreferitoare la controlul ajutoarelor de stat.Traducerea articolului n limba romn a fost realizat de Georgeta GAVRILOIU


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I. IntroductionIn the past few years, the EuropeanCommission has, in its Reports on Romania'sprogress towards accession, regularlyidentified State aid control as one of the'problem areas' which could possibly give rise toa delay in the closure of the accession

negotiations and once they have been dulyclosed even of the date of accession. In itsrecent Monitoring Report of 16 May 2006 theCommission observes that 'good progress hasbeen made on State aid enforcement' and nolonger mentions State aid control as an 'area ofserious concern' that could pose the risk ofpostponement of Romania's accession to the

3EU from 2007 to 2008 . In its accompanyingC o m m u n i c a t i o n , t h e C o m m i s s i o nacknowledges that Romania's State aidenforcement has reached a 'satisfactory level',

allowing this country to apply the 'existing aidprocedure'(interim mechanism) starting from

4May 2006 .

Thus, after 6 years of continuous effort,Romania has finally achieved its basic objective

5in this area . In parallel with the MonitoringReport, the spring 2006 update of theCommission's State aid Scoreboard providesinteresting figures on the granting of State aids

6in Romania . Against this background, and also

that of the Progress Reports of theCommission, this article attempts to give asummary of the development and current stateof affairs of State aid control in Romaniabetween the year 2000 and the spring of

72006 .

1. The legal basis for the setting-up of State aidcontrol in Romania was, and remains untilaccession, the Association Agreement (the so-called 'Europe Agreement'), concluded on 1February 1993 between the EuropeanEconomic Communities and their MemberStates, on the one hand, and Romania, on theother. This agreement, which came into force in

II. The legal basis of State aid control inRomania

D e c e m b e r 2006 - n o . 4 9

1STATE AID CONTROL IN ROMANIA (I)

2Prof. dr. Reimer von Borries

AbstractThe European Commission has constantly identified the State aid control as one problematic area, whichcould lead to a delay in the closure of accession negotiations or even to the postponement of the date ofaccession. In the Monitoring Report issued by the European Commission in May 2006, Romania'sprogresses in the field of state aid were acknowledged and it was decided that the existing aid procedurebecome available for Romania. In the evolution of State aid control in Romania three distinct periods canbe identified. The first period, between January 2000 and December 2003, was characterized by thetransposition of the Community legislation and by the building-up of administrative capacity of theauthorities with competencies on State aid.

Keywords: state aid, competition authority, legal basis, regulations.

1This article was published in the European State Aid Law Quarterly, no.3/2006 and the Competition Council received the authors' approval forpublishing this article.2Reimer von Borries, LL.M, was Resident Twinning Adviser (RTA) at the Romanian Competition Council 2001-2002 and 2003-2005. He is a retiredMinisterial Counsellor of the Federal Ministry of Finance and Honorary Professor at the University of Osnabrck. Opinions in this article are the author'spersonal views.3May 2006 Monitoring Report, Commission staff working document SEC(2006) 596, page 22.4Communication from the Commission of 16 May 2006, Document COM(2006) 214 final, page 7.5The Commission has not yet submitted a final recommendation for the accession date, but it will consider in the Monitoring Report scheduled forautumn 2006 whether the date of accession on 1 January 2007, can be maintained.6Document COM(2006) 130 final of 27 March 2006.7For lack of space, this article does not deal with the special aspects of the steel sector. Agriculture and fisheries sectors are not covered by theapplicable rules on State aid control


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oficial de admitere (ca i acordurile semnatecu Turcia i Grecia), dar stipula, n preambul, cobiectivul final al Romniei este acela de adeveni membr a Comunitii i c, n opiniaprilor, aceast asociere va ajuta Romnia sating acest obiectiv.

Articolul 64 din Acordul European prevede, nalineatele 1 i 2 (similar cu alte Acordurincheiate cu rile central i est-europene, careau devenit state membre la 1 mai 2004) cRomnia ar trebui s aplice principiilefundamentale ale legislaiei comunitare nmaterie de concuren i ajutor de stat,cuprinse n articolele 85, 86 i 92(actualmente articolele 81, 82 i 87) dinTratatul CE, n msura n care este vizatcomerul dintre Romnia i Comunitatea

8European . Alineatul 3 al articolului 64prevede c reguli pentru implementareaalineatelor 1 i 2 ale acestui articol ar trebui sfie adoptate de Consiliul de Asociere. Regulilede implementare pentru controlul ajutoarelor

9de stat au fost adoptate pe 10 aprilie 2001 .

Acordul European se refer doar la principiilefundamentale ale dreptului comunitar alconcurenei. Cu toate acestea, dubiile legate defaptul dac Romnia era obligat sau nu srespecte toat gama de reguli n materie de

ajutor de stat au fost risipite de articolul 2 alRegulilor de implementare. Acest articolpreciza faptul c evaluarea compatibilitiiajutoarelor de stat va fi fcut pe bazacriteriilor care se desprind din aplicareaarticolului 87 din Tratatul CE, inclusiv legislaiasecundar, prezent i viitoare, reglementrile-cadru, liniile directoare i alte acteadministrative relevante n vigoare nComunitate, jurisprudena Curii de Justiie aComunitior Europene, precum i orice deciziea Consiliului de Asociere. Articolul 1 a obligat

Romnia s desemneze o autoritate demonitorizare responsabil cu problemele deajutor de stat, n acest scop fiind desemnateConsiliul Concurenei i Oficiul Concurenei.

Articolul 64 alineatul 4, litera a) din AcordulEuropean prevede c, n primii 5 ani de laintrarea n vigoare a Acordului, Romnia va ficonsiderat o regiune identic cu regiunile dinComunitate descrise n articolul 87 alineatul 3)din Tratatul CE (regiuni asistate) i c aceastperioad poate fi prelungit de Consiliul deAsociere cu nc cinci ani. n baza acesteiprevederi, Consiliul de Asociere a prelungit

10perioada cu nc cinci ani, pn n anul 2002i, nc o dat, pn n anul 2007, prin Harta

11ajutorului regional pentru Romnia .

2. nc din anul 1995, Romnia i-a depuscandidatura pentru aderarea la UniuneaEuropean, fiind una dintre primele ri fostesocialiste. Totui, negocierile de aderarea au

nceput de-abia n anul 2000. Pentru a facilita

negocierile de aderare i urmrind ncheireanegocierilor pentru capitolul 6 concurenapn la sfritul anului 2002, Romnia aconfirmat, n documentul de poziie,anagajamentul de a implementa i a aplica pedeplin, nc nainte de data aderrii, acquisulcomunitar din domeniul ajutorului de stat aacum este aplicat n Uniunea European i nu acerut nicio perioad de tranziie. ntructprevederile Acordului European mai susmenionate nu aveau efect direct n dreptul

12naional , Romnia a trebuit s adopte msurilegislative pentru implementarea i aplicareaefectiv a acquis-ului comunitar privind

13controlul ajutoarelor de stat . n acest scop,Parlamentul Romniei a adoptat Legeaconcurenei nr.21/1996, prin care au fost

nfiinate Consiliul Concurenei i OficiulConcurenei, nsrcinate cu aplicarea legii. Cu

toate acestea, Romniei i-au fost necesari ncpatru ani pentru a pune bazele unui controlefectiv al ajutoarelor de stat. Acest lucru a fostrealizat prin Legea nr.143/1999 privind

ajutorul de stat, adoptat pe data de 27 iulie1999, care a intrat n vigoare la 1 ianuarie142000 . Legea confer Consiliului Concurenei

sarcina de a autoriza sau interzice ajutoarele de

Decembr ie 2006 - nr . 410

8Pentru o trecere n revist a controlului ajutoarelor de stat n rile n curs de aderare, vezi Schtterle, n Heidenhain, Hdb. D. EU-Beihilfenrechts, 61.9Decizia nr.4/2000 a Consiliului de Asociere, OJ 2001 L 138/16.10Decizia nr.2/2000 a Consiliului de Asociere, OJ 2000 L 230/16.11Decizia nr.1/2003 a Consiliului de Asociere din 15 iulie 2003.12Hartwig, Die Europapolitik Rumniens, 2001, pag.96. A se vedea i Institutul European din Romnia, Implicaiile adoptarii acquis-ului comunitarasupra Consitituiei Romniei, Studii de impact, 2002, paginile 20-23. Constituia Romniei a fost modificata n septembrie 2003 pentru a prevedea nmod expres prevalena dreptului comunitar dup aderare (a se vedea articolul 148 alin. 2)13Romnia nu a ales s fac trimitere, n legislaia de implementare, la regulile CE, aa cum a fcut Croaia, spre exemplu (a se vedea articolul 2 dinRegulamentul croat privind ajutorul de stat din 28 aprilie 2006), o transpunere complet n legislaia romneasc fiind considerat mai eficient).14Monitorul Oficial nr. 370 din 3 August 1999, modificat prin Legea nr. 603/2003 i Ordonana de Guvern nr. 94/2004, aprobat prin Legea nr.

507/2004; republicat n august 2005, Monitorul Oficial No. 744/2005 of 16 August 2005. Pentru textul n limba romn, a se vedeahttp://www.cdep.ro/pls/legis/legis_pck.frame. O traducere neoficial n limba englez este disponibil la adresa: www.competition.ro. Se poatespune cu siguran c, n Romnia a existat un control al ajutoarelor de stat doar n ultimii 6 ani, ceea ce este foarte puin dac lum n consideraresituaia iniial, mediul politic, economic i social dificil i cantitatea enorm de munc ce a trebuit depus.15n conformitate cu rcomandarea Comisiei ctre rile candidate de a crea o singura autoritate central pentru controlul ajutoarelor de stat(documentul COM (94) 361 final din 27 iulie 1994 i Cartea Alb a Comisiei Europene din 10 mai 1995, documentul COM (95) 163 final/2).


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February 1995, did not contain any formalpromise of accession (like the agreements withTurkey and Greece) but stated in the preamble

that 'Romania's ultimate objective is to becomea member of the Community, and that thisassociation, in the view of the parties, will helpRomania to achieve this objective'.

Article 64 of the Europe Agreement states inparas. 1 and 2 (in parallel with the otherAssociation Agreements, concluded with thecentral and Eastern European countries whichbecame Member States on 1 May 2004) thatRomania should apply 'the fundamentalprinciples of EC competition and State aid law,enshrined in the Articles 85, 86 and 92 (nowArticles 81, 82 and 87) EC Treaty, in so far asthe trade between Romania and the European

8Community is concerned' . Paragraph 3 of

Article 64 states that the Association Councilshould adopt rules for the implementation ofparas 1 and 2 of this Article. The ImplementingRules for State aid control were adopted on 10

9April 2001 .

The Europe Agreement refers only to the'fundamental principles' of EC competition law.However, doubts whether Romania was bound

to comply with the full range of the EC State aidrules were dismissed by Article 2 of theImplementing Rules. This article specifies that

the assessment of the compatibility of Stateaids 'shall be made on the basis of the criteriaarising from the application of the rules ofArticle 87 of the EC Treaty, including thepresent and future secondary legislation,frameworks, guidelines, and other relevantadministrative acts in force in the Community,as well as the case law of the Court of FirstInstance and the Court of Justice of theEuropean Communities and any decision takenby the Association Council.'. Article 1 obligedRomania to appoint a responsible monitoring

authority for State aid matters and appointedfor this purpose the Competition Council andthe Competition Office.

Article 64 para. 4 (a) of the Europe Agreementprovides that, during the first five years after theentry into force of the Agreement, Romania willbe regarded as an area identical to those areasof the Community described in Article 87 (3)(a)EC Treaty ('assisted area'), and that theAssociation Council may extend this period by

further periods of five years. Based on thisprovision, the period was extended by theAssociation Council for five more years, i.e. until

10the year 2002 , and again through the Regional11Map for Romania until 2007 . Furthermore,

through Article 64 para. 4 (b) Romania bounditself to ensure transparency in the area of publicaid.

2. As early as 1995, Romania submitted itsapplication for EU membership, as one of thefirst former 'socialist' countries. However, the

accession negotiations only started in 2000.With a view to facilitating the accessionnegotiations, Romania confirmed in itsnegotiation position its commitment toimplement and apply the full acquiscommunautaire in the area of EC State aid law inforce in the same way as it is applied in the EUeven before accession, and not to ask for a

transition period with the aim of closing thenegotiation chapter 6 on competition by the endof the year 2002. As the above-mentionedprovisions of the Europe Agreement had no

12direct effect in its national law , Romania had to

take legislative measures for the effectiveimplementation and enforcement of the acquis13communautaire in the field of State aid control .

For this purpose, the Romanian Parliamentadopted Law No. 21/1996 on Competitionwhich established the Competition Council and

the Competition Office, charged with theimplementation of the law. However, it tookanother four years for Romania to create thefoundations for an effective control of State aid.This was done through Law No. 143/1999 onState Aid, adopted on 27 July 1999, which

14

entered into force on 1 January 2000 . Itcharges the Competition Councilwith the task ofauthorising or prohibiting State aids in

15Romania , provides the definition of State aid,

D e c e m b e r 2006 - n o . 4 11

8For an overview of State aid control in accession countries see Schuterlee in: Heidenhain, Hdb, d.EU-Beihilfenrechts.9Decision no. 4/2000 of the Association Council, OJ 2001 L 138/16.10Decision No. 2/2000 of the Association Council, OJ 2000 L 230/13.11Decision No. 1/2003 of the Association Council of 15 July 2003.12Hartwig, Die Europapolitik Rumniens, 2001, page 96. See also European Institute of Romania, The implications of adopting the acquiscommunautaire for the Romanian Constitution, Pre-Accession Impact Studies, 2002, pages 20-23. The Romanian Constitution was modified inSeptember 2003 to provide expressly for the primacy of EU law after accession (see Article 148(2)).13Romania did not choose to make reference in its implementing legislation to the EC rules as, for example, Croatia did (see Article 2 of the CroatianState aid Regulation of 28 April 2006), because a complete transposition into Romanian law was regarded as more effective.14Monitorul Oficial No. 370 of 3 August 1999, modified by Law No. 603/2003 and Government Ordinance No. 94/2004, approved by Law No.507/2004; republished in August 2005, Monitorul Oficial No. 744/2005 of 16 August 2005. For the Romanian text seehttp://www.cdep.ro/pls/legis/legis_pck.frame. An unofficial English translation is available at www.competition.ro. One can therefore safely saythat State aid control has existed in Romania only for the past six years, which is a rather short time period considering the initial situation, the difficultpolitical, economic, and social environment and the enormous amount of work that had to be done.15In accordance with the recommendation of the Commission to accession candidate countries to create one single central authority for the control ofState aids (Document COM(94) 361 final of 27 July 1994, and the White Paper of the European Commission of 10 May 1995, Document COM(95)163 final/2).


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D e c e m br i e 2006 - n r . 412

15stat n Romnia , cuprinde definiia ajutoruluide stat i definete modalitile de autorizare,acordare, control, inventariere, monitorizare,raportare i recuperare a ajutoarelor de stat.Legea se aplic nu doar msurilor de spijincare afecteaz comerul dintre Romnia istatele membre ale Uniunii Europene, ci ioricrei msuri care are efecte asupramediului concurenial normal naional (veziarticolul 2, alineatul 1 din lege).

Implementarea controlului ajutoarelor de stat nRomnia s-a dezvoltat gradual, n trei etape:

n prima etap, ntre ianuarie 2000 idecembrie 2003, autoritile de concuren au

nceput activitatea n noua arie de competen.Aceast perioad a fost caracterizat prin

construirea capacitii administrative necesarei adoptarea legislaiei secundare de baz.

A doua perioada durat din decembrie 2003(cnd legea concurenei i legea ajutorului destat au fost amendate) i pn n toamna anului2005, cnd, n Raportul de progrese, Comisiaa recunoscut faptul c nivelul de implementarea ajutorului de stat corespunde, n linii mari,standardelor UE.

A treia perioada nceput n toamna anului2005 i va dura pn la data aderrii. Cea maiimportant sarcin din aceast perioad estepregtirea perioadei post-aderare, atunci cndComisia va prelua controlul ajutoarelor de stat.

1.Intrarea n vigoare a legii ajutorului de stat la1 ianuarie 2000 a marcat un punct de cotiturfundamental n acordarea de ajutoare de stat nRomnia, aceast activitate fiind supus, dinacel moment unor reguli stricte, elaborate

dup modelul celor aplicabile n ComunitateaEuropean. Toate msurile de ajutor de stat

III. Perioada 2000 2003

care au intrat n vigoare dup respectiva datau fost considerate ajutoare de stat noi, care,pentru a deveni efective, a trebuit s fienotificate ctre i autorizate de ConsiliulConcurenei nainte de acordare. Msurile deajutor n vigoare la data respectiv au fostconsiderate ajutoare existente i au rmas n

vigoare pn la suspendarea printr-o decizie aConsiliului. Potrivit legii concurenei, ConsiliulConcurenei este autoritatea administrativ

16autonom , avnd, n domeniul concurenei iajutorului de stat, puteri de decizie, dereglementare i de investigare similare cu celeale Comisiei Europene la nivelul Uniunii

17Europene . Membrii Consiliului Concureneisunt numii de Preedintele Romniei, la

18propunerea Guvernului pentru un termen de 519ani i sunt independeni n luarea deciziilor .

Oficiul Concurenei fcea parte din Ministerulde Finane i era responsabil n principal cumonitorizarea deciziilor Consiliului, curaportarea i ntocmirea inventaruluiajutoarelor de stat; de asemenea, Oficiul a avutrolul de a acorda asisten furnizorilor de ajutor

20de stat la pregtirea notificrilor .

Prima perioad a fost marcat de caracterul denoutate al controlului ajutoarelor de stat nRomnia, o ar aflat nc n proces de

transformare dintr-o economie planificat lanivel central ntr-o economie de pia.Constituia Romniei declar c Romnia este

21o economie de pia . Cu toate acestea, dincauza dificultilor economice, a condiiilorsociale i politice din Romnia, ara a fcut doarprogrese reduse n realizarea pe deplin aacestor obiective. Restructurarea industrial iprocesul de privatizare erau departe de a fi fostfinalizate atunci cnd a fost iniiat controlul

22ajutoarelor de stat . n Rapoartele de progresede pn n anul 2004, Comisia European aconsiderat c Romnia nu are o economie de

pia funcional (n sensul criteriului economic23de aderare de la Copenhaga) . Gradul decontientizare cu privire la existena i

16Articolele 3 i 17 din Legea concurenei nr.21/1996, amendat prin Ordonana de Urgen a Guvernului nr.121/2003, Monitorul Oficial nr.875 din10 decembrie 2003; textul consolidat, n limba englez, este disponibil pe site-ul Consiliului Concurenei, la adresa: www.competition.ro.17Legea concurenei este lege organic n sensul art. 74 din Constituia Romniei, iar pentru adoptarea acesteia este necesar o majoritate absolutn Camera Deputailor, n timp ce legea ajutorului de stat este o lege ordinar i necesit doar votul majoritii deputailor prezeni.18Iniial de ctre Parlamentul Romniei.19Art. 18 (7).20Oficiul Concurenei a fost dizolvat n anul 2003, a se vedea mai sus, pct.II.4.21Art. 134 (1).22Situaie economic i social din Romnia la sfritul anilor 90 a fost caracterizat de faptul c PIB-ul pe cap de locuitor reprezenta, n anul 1997,doar 31% din media comunitar. Liberalizarea i privatizarea erau ntrziate, iar controlul preurilor trebuia nc s fie abolit n anumite sectoare,restructurarea marilor complexe industriale se dovedea a fi mult mai lent dect se preconizase, sistemul legal era nc fragil i eficiena administraieipublice era considerat slab. A se vedea observaiile formulate de Comisie n diferitele sale rapoarte ncepnd cu anul 1995, n special n Opinia cu

privire la candidatura pentru adeziune la Uniunea Europeana (DOC/97/18 din 15 iulie 1997) i n Rapoartele de progrese din 2000 i 2001,documentele SEC (2000) 710 final din 8 noiembrie 2000 i documentul SEC (2001) 1753 din 13 noiembrie 2001. Pentru detalii suplimentare, a sevedea, spre exemplu, Gallagher, Theft of a nation, Londra 2005.23A se vedea Raportul de progrese din 2002, documentul SEC (2002) 1409 din 9 octombrie 2002; Raportul de progrese din 2003 din 5 noiembrie2003 i Raportul de progrese din 2004, documentul SEC (2004) 1200 din 6 octombrie 2004.


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and defines the modalities for authorising,granting, controlling, inventorying, monitoring,reporting and recovering State aids. The Lawcovers not only 'measures of support' whichaffect the trade between Romania and theMember States of the European Union, butalso any measures that have an effect on the

internal 'normal competition environment' (seeArticle 2 para. 1 of the Law).

The implementation of State aid control inRomania during this period developed graduallyin three stages:

During the first stage, between January2000 and December 2003, the competitionauthorities started working in the area of thenew competences. This period wascharacterised by the building up of thenecessary administrative capacity and theadoption of basic secondary legislation.

The second period lasted from December2003 (when the Law on Competition and theLaw on State aid were both revised), untilautumn 2005, when the Commissionacknowledged in its Progress Report thatRomania's State aid enforcement recordcorresponded largely to EU standards.

The third period started in the autumn of2005 and will last until accession. The maintask in this period is to prepare for the timeperiod after accession, when the Commissionwill take over State aid control.

1.The coming into force of the Law on State aidon 1 January 2000 marked a fundamental

turning point for granting State aids inRomania, since it was from that momentsubjected to strict rules modelled on the rulesapplicable in the EC: All State aid measures thatcame into force after this date were new aids

III. The period 2000-2003

which had to be notified to and be approved bythe Competition Council prior to their beinggranted, in order to become effective. Aidmeasures already in force at this date wereexisting aids and remained in force until theywere suspended by a decision of the Council.According to the Law on Competition, theCompetition Council is an 'autonomous

16administrative authority' with decision-making, lawmaking and investigative powers in

the competition and State aid areas, similar to17those of the European Commission in the EU .

The Members of the Competition Council areappointed by the President of Romania on the

18proposal of the Government for a term of fiveyears and are 'independent in their decision-

19making' . The Competition Office was part ofthe Ministry of Finance and mainly responsible

for monitoring the decisions of the Council,reporting and drawing up the State aidInventory; it also had the task of providing

technical assistance to the State aid-grantingauthorities in the preparation of their

20notifications .

The first period was characterised by thenovelty of State aid control for Romania as acountry still in the process of transformationfrom a centrally-planned ('socialist') to a marketeconomy. The Constitution of Romania declares

21that Romania is a 'market economy .However, due to the difficult economic, social,and political conditions in Romania, the countryhas made only slow progress in fully realising

this objective. The industrial restructuring andprivatisation processes were far from being

22completed when State aid control started . Inits Progress Reports until 2004 the EuropeanCommission did not find that Romania had afunctioning market economy (in the sense of

the economic Copenhagen criterion for23

accession) . Awareness of the existence andbenefits of competition and State aid rules wasnot yet widespread.

D e c e m b e r 2006 - n o . 4 13

16Articles 3 and 17 of the Law No. 21/1996 on Competition, as amended by Government Emergency Ordinance no. 121/2003, Monitorul Oficial No.875 of 10 December 2003; consolidated text in English available on the website of the Romanian Competition Council under www.competition.ro.17The Law on Competition is a so-called 'organic law' in the sense of Article 74 of the Romanian Constitution, the adoption of which requires the absolutemajority in the Chamber of Deputies, whereas the Law on State aid as an 'ordinary law' only requires a majority of the Deputies present.18Originally by the Romanian Parliament.19Article 18(7).20The Competition Office was dissolved in 2003, see above under II.4.21Article 134(1).22The economic and social situation in Romania in the late 1990s was characterised by the fact that the GDP per capita reached only 31% of theCommunity average in 1997. Liberalisation and privatisation were lagging behind, price controls had still to be abolished in various areas, therestructuring of large industrial complexes turned out to be more tedious than expected, the legal system was still fragile, and the efficiency of publicadministration was judged as low. See the observations of the Commission in its various reports since 1995, in particular in its 'Opinion on Romania's

Application for Membership of the European Union' (DOC/97/18 of 15 July 1997) and in the 2000 and 2001 Progress Reports, DocumentSEC(2000) 710 final of 8 November 2000, and Document SEC(2001) 1753 of 13 November 2001. For further details see, for example, Gallagher,Theft of a Nation, London 2005.23See the 2002 Progress Report, Document SEC(2002) 1409 of 9 October 2002; the 2003 Progress Report of 5 November 2003; and the 2004Progress Report, Document SEC(2004) 1200 of 6 October 2004.


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D e c e m br i e 2006 - n r . 414

beneficiile regulilor de concuren i de ajutorde stat nu era foarte ridicat.

2.Autoritile de concuren, crora le-a fostatribuit controlul ajutoarelor de stat, funcionaudeja, dar mai trebuia s i creeze cadrul juridici instituional pentru ndeplinirea acestor noisarcini prin constituirea de noi departamente,cu personal calificat i prin adoptarea legislaieisecundare. Iniial, salariile personalului erauextrem de sczute, chiar i comparativ cu celedin alte instituii guvernamentale, fr a mai

vorbi despre cele din sectorul privat; rezultatulera un grad ridicat de migrare a angajailorctre ministere i ctre sectorul privat. Prinurmare, consolidarea capacitii administrativea celor dou instituii reprezenta o preocuparemajor pentru Comis ia European.

Consolidarea administrativ includea un numrmare de sarcini dificile: angajarea i instruireapersonalului calificat, mbuntirea organizriiinterne, iniierea unei cooperri strnse cufurnizorii de ajutor de stat (n special cuministerele i cu autoritatea de privatizare),contientizarea tuturor potenialilor furnizori deajutor de stat cu privire la cerinele denotificare, informarea publicului cu privire laobiectivele politicii ajutorului de stat ielaborarea inventarului ajutorului de stat.

3. Consiliul a iniiat adoptarea cadrului legalnecesar prin adoptarea, n anul 2000, aRegulamentului privind forma, coninutul i alte

24detalii ale notificrii unui ajutor de stat i a25Regulamentului privind regula de minimis . Cu

privire la continuarea armonizrii legislative, s-adecis c regulamentele n materie de ajutor destat relevante i actele administrative aleComisiei Europene trebuie s fie transpuse nlegislaia secundar romneasc, de ctreConsiliul Concurenei, sub form deregulamente i instruciuni; n special, pentrufiecare act al Comisiei, urma s fie adoptat unact al Consiliului Concurenei. n urma acesteidecizii, un numr considerabil de acte delegislaie secundar au fost adoptate n 2002 i

262003 (spre exemplu, un regulament privindajutorul regional, un regulament multi-sectorial, un regulament privind ajutorul de stat

pentru protecia mediului, instruciuni privindvnzarea de terenuri i cldiri de ctreautoritile publice).

4. n Rapoartele de progrese din 2002 i2003, Comisia a solicitat constat continuareaprogreselor, mai ales n ceea ce priveteaplicarea legii i calitatea deciziilor Consiliului.Comisia a recunoscut c au fost fcuteprogrese n ceea ce privete transpunereaacquis-ului, dar a concluzionat c aplicarea legii

27trebuie s fie mbuntit n continuare ic n privina ajutorului de stat mecansimele de

28control sunt nc insuficiente . Comisia a fostngrijorat n mod special de valoarea mare aajutoarelor fiscale acordate de GuvernulRomniei (exceptri sau amnri la platasarcinilor fiscale, contribuiile la asigurrile

sociale) i de lipsa de transparen cu privire laacestea. De asemenea, Comisia a observatsuprapunerea de competene dintre ConsiliulConcurenei i Oficiul Concurenei" i arecomandat reorganizarea autoritilorromne de concuren.

Eforturile de durat din acest domeniu s-auconcretizat n reconfigurarea organizriiinstituionale prin Ordonana de Urgen aGuvernului nr.121/2003 din 10 decembrie2003, care a modificat fundamental Legea

29

concurenei nr.21/1996 . Oficiul Concureneia fost desfiinat, iar atribuiile acestuia,mpreun cu o parte din personal, au fosttransferate ctre Consiliul Concurenei. Astfel,Consiliul a devenit singura autoritate pentrupolitica ajutorului de stat n Romnia, avndcompetena nu doar de a autoriza i interziceajutoarele de stat i de a adopta reguli deaplicare, ci i competene extinse deinvestigaie i puteri de monitorizare, cu oficii n

toate cele 40 de judee i n Bucureti.Simultan, numrul membrilor Consiliului a fostredus de la 10 la 7 pentru a se eficientizaprocesul de luare a deciziilor.

5. O problem de baz a fost faptul cversiunea originar a legii ajutorului de stat - nspecial definiia ajutorului de stat nucorespundea pe deplin prevederilor din TratatulCE. De aceea, prima i cea mai important

24Revizuit n 2004, Monitorul Oficial nr. 82 din 25 ianuarie 2005.25Monitorul Oficial nr. 125 din 6 Februarie 2000. Ultima modificare a pragului, prin Ordinul Preedintelui Consiliului Concurenei nr.51/2004,Monitorul Oficia l nr. 248 din 22 martie 2004.26Cu sprijinul experilor germani, n cadrul proiectului de twinning finanat de Uniunea European ca parte a Parteneriatului pentru aderare, ntre

Romnia i Uniunea European.27Raportul de progrese din 2002, documentul SEC (2002) 1409 din 9 octombrie 2002; Raportul de progrese din 2003 din 5 noiembrie 2003 iRaportul de progrese din 2004, documentul SEC (2004) 1200 din 6 octombrie 2004.28Raportul de progrese din 2003 din 5 noiembrie 2003.29Monitorul Oficia l nr.875 din 10 decembrie 2003, adoptat prin Legea nr.184/2004, Monitorul Oficial nr. 461 din 17 mai 2004.


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2.The competition authorities, to which Stateaid control had been assigned, were alreadyfunctioning but they still had to create theorganisational and legal conditions for thefulfilment of the new tasks by building up newdepartments with qualified staff and by issuing

the necessary secondary legislation. Originally,the salaries of the staff were extremely low,even compared to those of other Governmentinstitutions, not to mention salaries in thebusiness sector; the result was a high turnoverof the employees moving over to ministries and

the private sector. Strengthening theadministrative capacity of the two competitionauthorities was therefore a major concern of

the European Commission. This included alarge number of difficult tasks: qualified staffhad to be hired and trained, the internal

organisation had to be improved, a closecooperation with the State aid grantors (inparticular with the Ministries and thePrivatisation Authority) had to be established,awareness of the notification requirement had

to be spread among all potential State aidgrantors, the public had to be informed about

the aims and goals of the State aid policy, and aState aid inventory had to be established.

3.The Council started creating the necessarylegal framework by adopting, in the year 2000,

a Regulation on the form, content, and other24details of the State aid notification , and a25Regulation on the de minimis rule . With

regard to further legal harmonisation, it wasdecided that the relevant State aid regulationsand administrative acts of the EC should be

transposed into the Romanian secondary law inthe form of regulations and guidelines of theCompetition Council; in particular, for eachCommission act an individual Council act had tobe be adopted. Following this decision, aconsiderable number of secondary law acts

26were adopted in 2002 and 2003 (e.g. aRegulation on regional State aid, aMultisectoral Regulation, a Regulation on Stateaid for the protection of the environment,Guidelines on State aid in the form ofguarantees, Guidelines on sales of land andbuildings by public authorities).

4.In the 2002 and 2003 Progress Reports,the Commission consistently asked for furtherimprovements, especially regarding theenforcement record and the quality of thedecisions of the Council. The Commissionacknowledged that progress had been made on

the transposition of the acquis, but concludedthat 'Romania's enforcement recordneeds to

27be improved' , and that 'as regards State aid,28control mechanisms are still insufficient . Of

particular concern for the Commission was thelarge amount of fiscal aid granted by theRomanian Government (exemptions from anddeferrals of fiscal liabilities, social contributionsand energy liabilities) and the lack of

transparency in this regard. The Commissionalso observed 'overlapping competences of theCompetition Council and the Competition Office'

and recommended a reorganisation of theRomanian competition authorities.

The lengthy efforts in this area resulted in acomprehensive reshaping of the institutionalsetting by Government Emergency OrdinanceNo. 121/2003 of 10 December 2003,fundamentally modifying the Law No.

2921/1996 on Competition : The CompetitionOffice was dissolved, its attributions and a partof its staff were transferred to the CompetitionCouncil. The Council thereby became the single

authority for State aid policy in Romania, havingthe power not only to authorise and prohibitState aids and issue implementing rules, butalso to exercise extensive investigative andmonitoring powers, with local offices in all 41counties and in Bucharest. Simultaneously, thenumber of Council Members was reduced from10 to 7 in the interest of reinforced efficiency of

the decisionmaking process.

5.A basic problem was that the original versionof the Law on State aid in particular thedefinition of State aid did not fully correspond

to the provisions of the EC Treaty. The first andmost important task of the Competition Councilwas therefore to get the Romanian legislator toadapt the Law which had only come into effectin January 2000. Eventually this was achieved

through Law No. 603/2003, of 23 December

D e c e m b e r 2006 - n o . 4 15

24Revised in 2004, Monitorul Oficial No. 82 of 25 January 2005.25 51Monitorul Official No. 125 of 6 February 2000. Last modification of the threshold by order of the President of the Competition Council No. /2004,Monitorul Oficial No. 248 of 22 March 2004.26With the support of German experts in the framework of an EU-financed Twinning-Project as part of the Accession Partnership between Romania

and the European Union.272002 Progress Report, Document SEC(2002) 1409 of 9 October 2002.282003 Progress Report, Document of 5 November 2003.29Monitorul Oficial No. 875/2003 of 10 December 2003, confirmed by Law No. 184/2004, Monitorul Oficial No. 461 of 17 May 2004.


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D e c e m br i e 2006 - n r . 416

sarcin a Consiliului Concurenei a fost aceeade determina legislativul s amendeze legeacare de abia intrase n vigoare la 1 ianuarie2000. n cele din urm, acest lucru a fostrealizat prin Legea nr.603/2003 din 23

30decembrie 2003 . Chiar i dup acestembuntiri, incertitudinile legislative aucontinuat s existe (cel puin teoretic), dinmoment ce regulile de ajutor de stat nu aveau

(i nc nu au) prevalen asupra legislaiei nbaza creia se acord ajutor de stat i pot fioricnd modificate sau chiar abrogate de o legeulterioar. n plus, deciziile ConsiliuluiConcurenei referioare la compatibilitateaactelor normative cu regulile de ajutor de stat

31nu au efect obligatoriu , iar ordinele legale derecuperare pot fi emise doar de instane i nu

32de Consiliul Concurenei .

IMPORTANA POLITICII N DOMENIUL AJUTORULUI DE STATN CONTEXTUL PROGRAMULUI NAIONAL DE REFORME

PENTRU STRATEGIA LISABONA RELANSAT

33Jzsef Nndor NEMNYI

RezumatGuvernul Romniei a supus consultrii publice Programul Naional de Reforme pentru Strategia

Lisabona Relansat n cadrul cruia s-a realizat i analiza politicii naionale n domeniul ajutorului destat. Aceasta reprezint o parte important a economiei de pia, ajutoarele de stat constituindmsuri selective de sprijin financiar public acordate, n condiiile legii, unor ntreprinderi, zone sauactiviti pentru atingerea unor obiective de interes general precum protecia mediului, dezvoltareantreprinderilor mici i mijlocii, a cercetrii i inovrii, crearea de locuri de munc pentru asigurareadezvoltrii anumitor regiuni etc.

Cuvinte cheie: competitivitate extern, cretere economic sustenabil (cu accent pe finanelepublice), o nou balan energetic i reforma asigurrilor sociale i de sntate.

Romnia a elaborat anul acesta, printr-un efortconjugat la nivel guvernamental (sub

coordonarea Ministerului Integrrii Europene),Programul Naional de Reforme pentruStrategia Lisabona Relansat documentcu caracter strategic ce este supus consultriipublice, n vederea asumrii. Programul estestructurat pe trei niveluri n raport curecomandrile integrate, fiecare nivelcuprinznd o serie de prioriti-cheie:

I. Nivelul macro-economic: stabilitateeconomic i sustenabilitatea finanelor

publice,trateaz aspecte legate de:- stabilitatea macroeconomic;- sustenabilitatea finanelor publice;- reformarea sistemelor de asigurri

sociale i de asigurri de sntate;- creterea calitii serviciilor publice i

a eficienei administraiei;- asigurarea unei balane energetice

echilibrate;

30Monitorul Oficial nr.930 din 23 decembrie 2003, cu efect din 26 decembrie 2003; dup alte modificari, Legea privind ajutorul de stat a fostrepublicat n august 2005 (vezi nota 11). mai 200431Problema a fost rezolvat printr-o procedur pragmatic (art.17, actualul art.24, din Legea privind ajutorul de stat).32Art.17, actualul art.24, din Legea privind ajutorul de stat.33Membru al Plenului Consiliului Concurenei.

Traducerea n limba romn a articolului a fost realizatde Georgeta GAVRILOIU


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Romania has drafted this year, through a jointGovernmental effort (coordinated by theMinistry of European Integration), theNational Reform Program for the Re-launched Lisbon Strategy a strategicdocument submitted for public consultation tobe agreed by all stakeholders.

The Program is structured on three levels inrelation with integrated recommendations,each level containing key priorities:

302003 . Even after these improvements, legal

uncertainties remained (at least theoretically),since the State aid rules did (and still do) nottake precedence over legislation under whichState aid is provided, and they can at any timebe modified or even abrogated by a later law.

I. The macro-economic level: economicstability and sustainability of public financeis addressing issues related to:

- macroeconomic stability;

-sustainability of public finance;

- reform of social security andhealth insurance systems;

- enhancement of public servicesqual ity and eff ic iency ofadministration;

- provision of a balanced energymix.

Additionally, Competition Council decisionsregarding the compatibility of normative actswith the State aid rules do not have any binding

31effect and legally binding recovery orders mayonly be issued by the courts, not by the

32Competition Council .

D e c e m b e r 2006 - no . 4 17

THE RELEVANCE OF STATE AID POLICY IN THE CONTEXTOF THE NATIONAL REFORM PROGRAM FOR THE

RE-LAUNCHED LISBON STRATEGY

33Jzsef Nndor NEMNYI

AbstractThe Romanian Government has submitted for public consultation the National Reform Program for theRe-launched Lisbon Strategy which has included also an analysis of the national State aid policy. This isan important part of the market economy, the State aid representing selective measures of financial

public support granted, according to the law, to enterprises, areas or activities to reach certain generalinterest objectives, such as environmental protection, development of the small and medium sizedenterprises, research and innovation, job creation to promote regional development etc.

Keywords:external competitiveness, sustainable economic growth (with a focus on public finance),a new energy balance and the reform of the social and health insurance.

30Monitorul Oficial No. 930 of 23 December 2003, with effect of 26 December 2003; after further modifications the Law on State aid was republishedin August 2005 (see above footnote 11).31The problem was solved by a pragmatic procedure (Article 17 now Article 24 of the Law on State Aid).32Article 17 (now 24) of the Law on State Aid.33Member of the Competition Council' Plenum.

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