EC insists Romania should further tighten the regulations on microenterprises

The European Commission (EC) drafted a new letter with observations regarding Romania’s third disbursement request under the Resilience Facility, in which the biggest point of divergence is represented by the micro-enterprise regime, according to Profit.ro.

Romania’s authorities still expect to have the third disbursement request, filed on December 15, 2023, cleared by the end of the month. This would result in EUR 2.7 billion in net financing: EUR 1.86 billion grants and EUR 811 million loans.

However, Profit.ro says Romanian officials implied they are not under time pressure in their negotiations with the Commission since part of the previous disbursements has not yet been spent.

As regards the main point of disagreement between the EC and Romania, the Commission required a significant decrease in the income ceiling set for a company to qualify as a microenterprise (and enjoy a milder fiscal regime), currently of EUR 500,000 per year. Romania considers that the number of microenterprises has decreased significantly, and the milestone has been met.

The European Commission made two sets of observations in their assessment of the third disbursement request: a first letter on January 18, 2024, requesting clarifications for 28 benchmarks/targets, followed by a second on February 19, 2024, covering a further 24.

The European Commission was expected to complete its assessment of the third payment request and issue a decision by the end of the second quarter of 2024. The third letter would further delay the final decision.

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