Romania will have a National Franchise Register
Considering the necessity to adopt urgent measures for the amendment and completion of Ordinance no. 52/1997 on the legal status of the franchise, as well as the introduction of new elements requiring an urgent correlation of certain provisions from the text of the current normative act with that of the European legislation in the field, the Ministry for Business, Commerce and Entrepreneurship launches publicly the project of the Government Emergency Ordinance amending and supplementing Ordinance no. 52/1997 on the legal status of the franchise.
The National Franchise Register (NFR) has as its main purpose the registration of a series of information so that the decision-making process of the candidate wishing to join a network is free from any suspicion that it would be carried out by improper means, as the register will display a succinct but clear record of the franchise and will include information previously verified by the Romanian Franchise Association.
At the same time, by amending the Ordinance, it will be mandatory to inform consumers about the quality of an independent entity of the franchisee in a visible manner, including the information that must be made on the documents and the advertising both inside and outside the place of sale.
Amendments in terms of insolvency
Government Emergency Ordinance no. 88/2018 of 27 September 2018 for the modification and completion of some normative acts in the field of insolvency and other normative acts was published in the Official Gazette no. 840 on October 2, 2018.
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the need to streamline the mechanisms for recovering the budgetary receivables from the insolvent societies, taking into account the chances of their recovery, as well as the need to adopt measures aimed at avoiding harm to the competitive environment by using insolvency proceedings in abusive manner by some borrowers using insolvency mechanisms to avoid paying the amounts due to the general consolidated budget, as the efficiency of insolvency procedures and the improvement of the protection of creditors’ rights contribute substantially to improving the business climate, creating the premises for viable business recovery and quicker recovery of claims, including budgetary ones, in line with both the budgetary interest and the general economic and social interest of Romania.
New rules to improve the day-to-day functioning of the current VAT system
The European Commission has welcomed the progress made by Member States on much-needed improvements to how Value Added Tax (VAT) works in the EU.
A new measure to allow Member States to align the VAT rates they set for e‑publications, currently taxed at the standard rate in most Member States, with the more favourable regime currently in force for traditional printed publications. Today’s decision is the final step to ensure that the unequal treatment of the two products – paper versus digital – becomes a thing of the past. This agreement bodes well for upcoming discussions on the Commission’s latest proposal to ensure that Member States have more flexibility to set VAT rates as they see fit.
Approval of the deadline for issuing and transmitting tax decisions on the determination of social security contributions due by individuals for the years 2016 and 2017
By 30 October 2018, the competent central fiscal body shall determine the annual payables of the social security contribution due by individuals for the fiscal years 2016 and 2017, issue and transmit the annual taxation decisions for these obligations under Order no. 2323/2018 of 19 September 2018 for the approval of the deadline for the issuance and transmission of tax decisions regarding the establishment of the social insurance contributions due by the individuals for the years 2016 and 2017 published in the Official Gazette no. 854 of 9 October 2018.
EU Member States to benefit from quarter of a billion euros of investments in environment, nature and climate action
The European Commission has approved an investment package of €243 million from the EU budget for projects under the LIFE programme supporting nature, the environment and quality of life in Europe’s transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon future.
The EU funding under the LIFE programme for the Environment and Climate Action will mobilise additional investments leading to a total of €430.7 million going towards 142 new projects. With numerous trans-national projects funded, LIFE will have an impact in every EU Member State.
Funds of €196.2 million will go to projects in the field of environment and resource efficiency, nature and biodiversity, and environmental governance and information.
Industrial Barometer published in October
After four months of sluggish business in August, the industry was back in September. The most significant change is the increase in orders, especially on the basis of export demand, but the flow of new orders has also increased costs and imports, followed by higher prices for industrial products. For the time being, managers do not seem convinced that the recovery will be smooth and uniform in the coming months. On the one hand, their hearts came back and the higher demand is expected to continue. On the other hand, they are less optimistic about exports and the level of production costs.
Note: Starting in 2014, every month, the IRSOP and SNSPA ask a sample of managers if their production, orders, stocks, hiring, and other parameters have increased or decreased over the previous month.