Prosumers: the EU does not force Romania to impose a ″solar tax″

The Association of Prosumers and Energy Communities in Romania (APCE) conveys, through a press release in which it cites a response from the European Commission, that EU legislation does not oblige Romania to impose the so-called “solar tax” on the energy produced by prosumers and consumed by them, for their needs.

According to the cited source, GEO 163/2022 allows ANRE to already introduce this tax for several categories of prosumers, such as beneficiaries of the Casa Verde, Electric Up or RepowerEU programs, and from 2026 – for all categories of prosumers.

″The introduction of this tax was justified by the Romanian Government as an obligation to transpose European legislation into Romanian legislation. Several institutions in Romania have officially declared that the introduction of a legal framework for this tax is mandatory. Among these institutions we mention: the Ministry of Energy, the Legislative Council of Romania, the Economic Policy Commission, the Government of Romania”, the press release states.

The association argues, however, that the RED II Directive states very clearly that self-consumption taxation is optional for each member state. According to the organization, the European Commission mentions in the same directive that it does not recommend charging self-consumption, but leaves it up to each member state to decide.

″The invocation of the European Directive for the introduction of the “sun tax” led the Association of Prosumers and Energy Communities to address a clarification request to the European Commission. The European Commission’s answer is clear and unequivocal″, says PACE.