Changes to the examination of foreign investments: The examination fee will be halved, and the threshold for transactions that need approval rises to 5 million euros

The examination fee for foreign investments will be halved, from the current 10,000 euros to 5,000 euros, the threshold for foreign investments that need the approval of the Commission for the Examination of Direct Foreign Investments (CEISD) will increase from 2 million euros to 5 million euros, and the number of members in this commission will be reduced, according to a draft emergency ordinance released Friday evening for public consultation by the Chancellery the prime minister.

The project has three important components: strengthening the regulatory framework regarding the examination of foreign investments, reducing the deadlines for obtaining environmental approvals, as well as for fire protection, while maintaining strict conditions for the protection of the population.

“The amendment proposals are intended to support the economic relaunch, through a set of measures aimed at debureaucratization, digitization and the efficiency of administrative procedures. The project supports the business environment and responds with concrete solutions to the problems reported by investors and representative associations, maintaining the security standards imposed at the level of the European Union”, said the head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery, Mihai Jurca.

What transactions will need national security clearance

The draft normative act proposes to increase the value threshold from 2 million euros to 5 million euros for subjecting investments to the examination procedure by the Foreign Direct Investment Examination Commission (CEISD).

The measure is motivated by the need to focus administrative and institutional resources on investments with real economic and strategic relevance, which may generate significant risks for national security or public order.

“The previous value threshold led, in practice, to the inclusion in the examination procedure of a large number of investments of small size or limited impact, which caused an administrative overload and a dilution of the capacity for in-depth analysis of high-risk cases.

Establishing a value threshold of 5 million euros allows for a more proportionate and efficient approach to the examination mechanism, ensuring focus on investments with potential strategic impact, reducing administrative burdens for investors and authorities and increasing procedural predictability,” the explanatory note states.

The procedure for submitting applications for examination by investors will be fully digitized, with a dedicated digital platform developed by STS being made available. The examination fee will be halved, from the current 10,000 euros to 5,000 euros. The activity will be self-financing, and the surplus will be paid to the state budget at the end of the year.

The administrative procedure will be simplified and shortened. If currently the total duration of the analysis and issuance of authorization documents to the investor is 125 days, this term will be reduced to more than half, namely to 60 calendar days, and the analysis term will be reduced from 60 calendar days to 45 calendar days.

The number of voting members of the Foreign Direct Investment Review Commission will be reduced from the current 11 to 7 members.

The government specifies that it has reduced the allowances of CEISD members and experts, respectively:

• For members of the Commission, currently, the value of the monthly allowance represents 15% of a minister's allowance (compared to 30%, as it was before the legislative amendment adopted by the current government), regardless of the number of meetings, that is, approximately 1,900 lei net per month, regardless of how many meetings a member of the Commission attends. Before, the allowance was granted for attending each meeting.
• For experts, currently, the value of the monthly allowance represents 12% of a minister's allowance (compared to 15%, before), regardless of the number of meetings, that is, approximately 1,500 lei net per month, regardless of how many meetings an expert attends or prepares. Also, before the allowance was granted for each meeting.

Shorter deadlines for environmental impact assessment

Another component of the draft GEO represents changes through the application of which a reduction of 40 days will be obtained in the maximum time allocated for decision-making within the two stages of the environmental impact assessment procedure, namely the initial assessment stage and the framing stage.

The project introduces a series of deadlines for the administrative steps taken by the competent authority for environmental protection in the procedural stages, respectively:

• The term of maximum 15 days for completing the initial analysis stage is reduced to 10 days;
• The 20-day period for the authorities that are part of the Technical Analysis Commission for the analysis of the presentation memorandum, submitted by the holder in order to go through the framing stage, in order to formulate a point of view, is reduced by 15 days;
• The term of maximum 90 days for making a decision in the recruitment stage is reduced by 60 days.

The project also strengthens the digitization process in the field of environmental protection, by developing a new national IT system for recording and reporting environmental data and information.

The platform will allow electronic transmission of documentation, real-time tracking of the status of procedures and a more efficient and transparent management of administrative flows.

The new system will contribute to reducing bureaucracy, increasing the traceability of decisions and improving the quality of environmental data, for the benefit of economic operators, authorities and the public.

Fire protection measures. The fines are increasing

An important chapter of the project refers to the introduction of clearer, simplified measures, but the introduction of firmer responsibilities regarding fire safety.

With regard to fire safety approval and authorization procedures, it is proposed that the deadline for resolving approvals be reduced from a maximum of 21 days to a maximum of 15 days, and in the case of investments from EU funds or the return to documentation, the deadline should be a maximum of 5 working days.

And if the authorization is not issued within the deadline and the documentation is complete, a provisional agreement is issued for 60 days, based on a declaration on one's own responsibility, and a mandatory field check will be made.

Also, if there is currently no real consequence for delays and no performance indicators, the normative act proposes performance indicators established at the national level in a unitary manner, the direct responsibility of the chief inspector for non-compliance with the deadlines for issuing fire safety notices and authorizations, and shows that the delay in resolving requests/non-compliance with deadlines is a disciplinary offense and can lead to being transferred to the reserve.

Another important aspect is digitization, so the GEO draft stipulates, instead of submitting applications and documentation, mainly in written format, that the submission be exclusively electronic, the documentation be stored digitally and, at the same time, it offers the possibility of redistributing the files between the inspectorates in order to meet the deadlines.

Another novelty introduced is that the IGSU will certify the repetitive type projects by issuing a central agreement, and the county inspectorates will apply the central agreement. Thus, there will be national coherence by standardizing the decision and there will no longer be a situation where the same type of project is approved dozens of times in different counties, sometimes with contradictory solutions.

For situations where the authorization already exists and various defects occur, in which case the automatic loss of the authorization and immediate closure would be reached, even for minor technical problems, the normative act proposes temporary suspension of the authorization, not automatic cancellation, and clear deadlines for remediation: up to 30 days (extensible justified) and quick lifting of the suspension after remediation (max. 5 days). Thus, abusive closures are avoided and operational safety is maintained without destroying the economic activity.

As for sanctions, there is a shift from fines uncorrelated with the seriousness of the acts and frequent warnings, which lead to a weak preventive effect, to increased fines (up to 100,000 lei), suspension of operation for serious violations, without warning for serious acts and falling into the category of criminal offenses for resuming the activity without the right.

The draft normative act is in public consultation, and after completing this procedure, it will be sent for analysis and inter-institutional approval, before adoption by the Government.