The negative impact of the barriers in making investments in the energy sector reflects in the energy sector, but also in the entire economy.

Access to the land

Access to the land for the development of permanent or temporary works in Romania lasts up to 18 months, unlike other EU countries where it takes several months. In addition:

• such items costly delays in carrying out investment stages and generates high administrative and compliance costs;
  difficult conditions for the exercise of easements established by law, involving considerable length of time until settlement;
  lack of cadastre and land registration in the land, landowners of the necessary for exploration and exploitation often can not be identified. In such circumstances, the conclusion of the Convention on the rental due for the exercise of the right of easement established by the Petroleum Law is impossible;

Solutions

• reducing the volume of documents to be signed;
  simplification of access to land as a result of legislative changes;
  incentives for local communities through participation in financial gains resulting from the activities of oil / energy;
  conducting information campaigns about the risks and benefits of energy activities;

Approval and license processes of the investment works

A significant number of investors decided not to invest in Romania when they discovered long procedures, complicated and expensive to obtain approvals, authorizations, agreements, licenses etc. In addition:

• the response to a request runs from a minimum of 30 days to a few months after the provision of the documents;
  interruptions of the investments and additional costs occur;
  Romanian state loses due to the lack of an updated situation of the natural resources and their actual operation;
  investors are turning to countries with a lower degree of bureaucracy;
  the difficult operating procedures that the relevant authorities work with;
  limited powers of the regulatory agencies and the scarcity of human and material resources with which they face;
  the ratification duration of concession agreements is very high, because the endorsement circuit includes numerous ministries. In addition, the entire circuit endorsement should be resumed in full once the holder initiates a change of plan operations, but also when there are changes at the top of the endorsing ministries – even if they do not relate to the type of operations in question;

Solutions

• legislative clarification;
  the attributions of ANRM / ANRE / Ministers clarified and strengthened;
  simplifying the process of “ratification” of oil concessions and amendments thereto;
  ANRM strengthening the role of regulator and partner of oil companies

The Nonharmonization of the laws of energy and other laws specific to Romania and the EU

There is a major lack of harmonization between Romanian legislation, but also between the Romanian legislation and European legislation. Conceptually, the energy legislation has been carried out mostly 10 years ago and was later supplemented, updated and harmonized, without taking into account the new requirements – liberalization, privatization of energy companies, listing on the stock exchange, the integration in the European single market – require a new concept needed to be rebuilt from the ground properly. In addition:

• lack of harmonization between the various laws governing prospecting and mining activities;
  lack of harmonization of energy legislation construction law and the environment;
  local authorities interpret the law by the local “custom”;

Solutions

2015 is the year of a new beginning with: regional geopolitics, the obligations imposed by the EU in the gas and electricity market, and new concepts of security, which will require rethinking of the tax on natural gas, the future positioning in terms of unconventional gas. Thus, it requires a new vision which consists in developing an Energy Code which will contain all the elements necessary for the functioning of the energy sector and harmonization of all legislation with the new approach (an Energy Code).

Stability and predictability of the legal framework in the energy sector

The lack of a stable, transparent, predictable and competitive long-term framework causes aversion to invest or unprofitable investments which do not bring added value in the long term. In addition:

• the current regime to impose taxes and royalties based on the needs of the state budget revenue, not on the principles of taxation and incentives industry balanced mutual benefit of the state and investor;
  information about concessions and reserves are treated as state secrets, though, by law, are secret service. A faulty regulatory does not substantially distinguish between the two categories, contrary to the international practice and economic interests of the state;
  the energy sector requires an appropriate legal and institutional framework. We need a stable law, transparent and attractive legislation for all participants and a responsible institution for overseeing its implementation;

Solutions

• taxation should not be just a method of balancing the account balance. It must be simple, stable, predictable, manageable and substantiated by facts and short and long term optimization, and balancing energy poverty and energy security;
  simplification and transparency of information handling system on oil concessions;

Inappropriate public policies

Failure to produce consistent documents, clear and to point out the main priorities in line with domain needs, which should have been identified to date. In addition:

• fiscal policies are needed to stimulate investment in this sector, increase economic efficiency, the level of infrastructure, protection of vulnerable customers, promote new strategic directions (new forms of energy, the discovery of new resources, innovation and research new technologies, etc.);
  the harmonization of energy policies is necessary, fiscal, social, and political harmonization with some specific business areas;

Solutions

• structuring processes and sub-processes and responsible for, and implementation of public policies specific to each sector, harmonized with the strategic objectives of Romania and with a unitary coordination;
  mapping of processes and specific public policies related.

Energy market

Romania is the country that bases its transactions on human relationships, contracts are a form of protection. In fact the gas market in Romania today is a reactive one where you do not know what happened to your gas, owned and paid only at the end, when you are put in a fait accompli. In addition:

• lack of mechanisms for the allocation of quantities sold are for quantities sold cannot be individualized according to the law;
  lack of a transport and distribution network code setting out the responsibilities and rights of the parties, and how to ensure the continuity of gas flow, penalties levied or benefiting the client;
  lack of the storage facilities code in the form of detailed rules on the injection / extraction of storage facilities;
  lack of the code for the gas market (lacks a market model) – Romania’s gas market works “at random”, no rules regarding the correlation between trading activities and actions transportation, distribution and storage, make it impossible to follow the gas flows at the point of purchase at the point of delivery;
  lack of knowledge capacities firm / interruptible / backhaul points transport systems, distribution and storage;
  lack of the balancing operator, makes the gas market in Romania to operate almost exclusively in outdoor temperature, making contracts, therefore, unnecessary;
  lack of mechanisms to ensure the flexibility of supply through the development of secondary mechanisms by which to manage proper operation of the contracts;
  lack of cheap guarantee schemes that reduce the extremely high risks of each transaction;
  lack of transmission systems and information storage, allowing continuous tracking at least daily (in European countries is done hourly by tracking systems that are functional in this respect), and to enable proper execution of contracts signed;
  lack of preventive plans / reactive for emergency situations, that know the consequences of what may cause inoperative emergency contracts;
  legal restrictions that allow “manipulation” directly or indirectly in the price and make the free market can not work unless imposing risks on those who trade large gas;
  engineering-System of re-transmission, distribution, interconnections and storage, unsuitable to the liberalized market, the rights and obligations must be on both sides;
  lack of state involvement in the promotion of culture and information dissemination cunştinţelor specific gas market;

Solutions

• change primary and secondary legislation, to ensure the functioning of the market;
  road-map for the real market liberalization (which is also benefit consumers);
  urgent implementation of the necessary elements, without which the operation of the market is illusory (code network operator balancing, setting capacity of the system reenginering etc.);
  order each gas supplier from Romania to pursue their own sales policy, to be made public and enabling the correctness of transactions and attacking any suspicion on the conclusion of contracts;
  developing mechanisms to stimulate the sale of natural gas on the stock exchange;
  developing programs for disseminating information on the liberalization of the gas market and how
  consumer must integrate into it so he can take advantage of its benefits;

Planning and management in the energy sector

Trials carried out on the market in the last 15 years in the energy sector: market liberalization, the unbundling former integrated energy companies, energy companies privatization, lack of market data necessary to support a decision unit as their reason for secrecy in companies and sectors, which coordinates the separation of functions energy between various institutions (ANRM, ANRE) causes lack of national coordination unit of energy resources and lack energy forecasting and planning. In addition:

• national planning of energy resources would eliminate the inefficient allocation of resources and coordination of crisis when market forces can not cope or when they develop extreme speculative. Developing policies, norms, rules, institutions for energy security in order to counteract speculation and to cover unprofitable activities (or limit profitability), the market does not it endorses;
  lack of forecasts of the demand for energy forms on short, medium and long term energy mix and sources on the principle of ensuring minimum cost in terms of acceptable risk;
  lack of an entity responsible for monitoring the application of energy strategy and implementing the strategic plan;

Solutions

• defining an urgent legal entities have access to all the data in the energy sector, under a duty of confidentiality, to prevent crises by analyzing the overall energy problems (gas, oil, electricity, coal), conveying appropriate warnings and have the power to intervene in crisis situations to appropriate dispatching appropriate sources available to overcome them;
  managing an operational national database bringing together all forms of energy and their impact on society;

Failure to meet the corporate rights of investors

Investments, including the energy sector are owned by companies facing Romanian or foreign and multiple bureaucratic difficulties. In addition:

• investors often have great difficulty using the prosecutor to vote in the General Meetings of Shareholders (GMS);
  Romanian legislation requires the existence Special Attorney (prosecutor) which states exactly the shareholder vote at each point on the agenda of the AGM;
  attorney must follow the voting instructions;
  it draws itself obliged to issue a new attorney for each party and AGA in each issuer, which restricts the ability of investors to react ad hoc current events and debates in AGA and does not allow the use of proxy General issued at the time the securities account;
  purchase must be in original, stamped and signed without further formality;
  During the preparation of attorney is in practice extremely limited and sometimes make very complicated, if not impossible, to issue them by foreign investors. This is due mainly to the fact that to obtain power of attorney must know the agenda of the Assembly, in some cases only becomes final 10 days before the Assembly, while the attorney must be delivered 48 hours before AGA;
  also in the AGA voting procedures are difficult and require lengthy preparation time and a lot of documentation submitted for votes to be taken into account;
  vote by mail or electronically takes time and effort to be used so that it remains difficult to use by investors;
  companies often do not present reports in English;

Solutions

• introduction and acceptance of a General Power of Attorney discreţionare- with or without validity period valabilitate- or acceptance Attorney General received custodians and brokers at the time of account opening;
  not to require the exercise of voting rights in AGA- regardless of how exercise votului- additional documents except the ID and Attorney;
  updating the database and use the central depository of shareholders and legal representatives or authorized to serve as proof of ownership and representation, combined with brokers and custodians recognition as authorized representatives of their clients;
  simplification of postal voting and electronic;

During the campaign for the Romanian Energy Strategy, waiting opinions

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