November 9 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said it is urging Romania to address issues related to property freeze rules, energy efficiency, VAT and victims' rights issues in order to ensure compliance with EU legislation in place.
Romania has to entirely implement EU law on the freezing and confiscation of instruments and proceeds of crime, the Commission said in its November infringement package published on Thursday.
The country must comply with the EU directive establishing minimum rules on the freezing of property with a view to possible subsequent confiscation and on the confiscation of property in criminal matters. Romania has two months to reply. Otherwise, the Commission said, it may decide to bring the case on the matter before the Court of Justice of the EU.
The Commission also said it has decided to send a letter of formal notice to Romania for applying a split payment mechanism for Value Added Tax (VAT).
Since January 1, 2018 Romania applies this alternative VAT collection mechanism where VAT is paid to a separate blocked account, causing a major administrative burden for honest companies doing business in the country. If Romania does not act within the next two months, the Commission may send a reasoned opinion to the Romanian authorities.
The Commission has also sent a letter of formal notice to Romania for failing to correctly transpose or implement certain requirements of the energy efficiency directive that establishes a common framework of measures for the promotion of energy efficiency within the EU in order to ensure the achievement of the bloc's 20% energy efficiency target for 2020. Again, Romania has two months to reply to the arguments raised by the Commission, otherwise the EU executive body may decide to send a reasoned opinion, the next stage in the infringement procedure.