Naming of Romania's Energy Regulation Agency management triggers European criticism

The recent naming of Romania's National Regulation Energy Authority (ANRE) general management triggered criticism from high up in the European Commission. The European Commissioner on Energy Günther H. Oettinger publicly criticized in a letter to the Romanian Economy Ministry the recent naming of ANRE's supervisory council, which he deemed 'non-transparent and against competition'. “I have been told that the naming of the members in the ANRE regulation committee was done in a non transparent and against the competition law manner. Please allow me to express the deep concern on the way the committee seems to have been selected. Based on the information I have, the job vacancies were not publicized enough, the selection criteria was not made public and the whole process lacked transparency,” wrote Oettinger in the letter, which was sent earlier in November. The Economy Minister Daniel Chitoiu's response emphasized on the Parliament having exclusively named the ANRE management. The presidents of the two Parliament Chambers were also informed of Oettinger's letter and Chitoiu suggested that they share their views on the issue. New members of ANRE's management were named earlier in October. The new ANRE GM is Nicolae Havrileţ, and the two vicepresidents are Emil Calotă and Claudiu-Sorin Dumbrăveanu. The committee has four members: Teodor Bobis, Gheorghe Barbu, Carmen Filipescu and Nagy-Bege Zoltan. ANRE's status has been a heated subject for Romania in recent years, as EU officials mentioned the possibility of opening an infringement procedure concerning the financing and independence of the energy authority. editor@romania-insider.com