Romanian energy minister argues surcharge on energy producers was in line with European practice

Romania has not done anything special compared to other European states, minister of energy Sebastian Burduja argued, speaking of the surcharge levied on electricity generators since 2022, which was recently declared in breach of the law by the Constitutional Court. The government should not return the money, he said.

"It was an almost universal rule at EU level. I don't see an apocalyptic scenario where we have to give all this money back," minister Burduja said at the Natural Gas Forum conference, Economica.net reported.

Former minister Virgil Popescu, in office at the time the bill (emergency ordinance OUG 27/2022) was drafted and passed, also argued against returning the money – some RON 27 billion (EUR 5.4 billion, more than 1% of GDP).

"I don't think we can talk about returning the money as the decisions apply for the future, but we must first see the Court's detailed reasoning," he said.

Popescu argued that the OUG 27/2022 was amended in the meantime.

Indeed, the threshold above which the surcharge rate of 100% is being applied to the revenues collected by the electricity producer was decreased from RON 450 to RON 400 per MWh, and it was also stipulated that producers who sell their output under the centralized procurement mechanism do not pay this surcharge.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)