Four employers’ confederations and five trade union confederations on Monday called on the head of government to cap electricity and gas prices at December 2020 levels for at least 1 year, according to a statement issued by the National Council of Private Small and Medium Enterprises in Romania, one of the employers’ organizations that signed the appeal.
“We request that in the emergency procedure, in accordance with the provisions of the Competition Law (Law 21/1996, art. 4), the prices applied to energy and gas be limited to the value of those of December 2020, for at least 1 year (the law provides the possibility of extending the measure for up to 3 years),” is mentioned in the open letter sent to the Prime Minister.
The document is signed by, on behalf of the employers, the National Council of Private Small and Medium Enterprises in Romania (CNIPMMR), the Employers ‘Confederation of Industry, Agriculture, Construction and Services in Romania (CONPIROM), the Romanian National Employers’ Union, the General Union of Romanian Industrialists, and on behalf of the unions, by the National Trade Union Confederation “Cartel ALFA”, the National Confederation of Free Trade Unions in Romania – Fratia, the Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions in Romania (CSDR), the National Trade Union Confederation Meridian and the National Trade Union Bloc.
According to the release, the signatory organizations stress that the price increases in Romania exceed by far the increases of global energy prices, according to Agerpres.
“We are aware of the international crisis, but the growth achieved in Romania exceeds by far the global growth, stranding both the country’s citizens and the entire economic system, which can no longer, in the current conditions, cope with a fair competitiveness,” it is specified in the release.
The signatory organizations consider that the situation is due to the following factors: the liberalization of the energy markets (gas and electricity) in Romania simultaneously with the problems generated by the pandemic crisis, which in turn generated an international energy crisis; lack of all normative acts regulating liberalization, both for citizens and for the economic environment; lack of preventive control mechanisms.
According to the open letter, capping the prices of electricity and natural gas at their value in December 2020 can save the time needed to work with the social partners to correct and implement the legislative framework, including regulations to avoid an economic crisis and including open social conflicts.
“We also request the creation of a national Task Force that within a maximum of one month will come with medium and long-term solutions for ensuring Romania’s energy security, and these solutions will materialize in a pact assumed by all political forces and partners,” says the release.