The Romanian Government has finally drafted the Prevention Law, which aims to bring education and training to the entrepreneurs. Also, the law will prevent the mistakes that entities do in their activity and to support the business environment.

The draft law has been submitted to the Senate and must be approved by the Parliament. We also wrote about this subject here and here.

So, let’s see what are they up to…

How it works

When the competent authorities make controls to a legal entity, they may observe deeds that according to the law are contraventions. Therefore, they may apply a legal sanction.

Still, the new law states that first the authority will only give a warning along with a redressing plan, which will contain redressing requirements. The requirements must be fulfilled by the entity within a deadline set by the authority, but not more than 90 days.

Furthermore, after the deadline expires, the authority will come for a second control to check the compliance with the plan. If the entity didn’t fulfill the obligations, it will be sanctioned according to the law.

Within a 3 years period, the entity can not benefit again from the legal provisions of the prevention law.

When does the prevention law apply

The provisions of the Prevention Law will apply to situations covered by the legislation in areas such as: fiscal, accounting, labor, electronic commerce, construction works, public administration, copyright, tourism, health, insolvency, consumer’s protection.

As examples, the law applies for the following deeds:

• failure to publish on the personal internet page the fact that the entity is under the insolvency procedure;
• failure to bring the land to the initial condition after the completion of the works, and to carry out the cleaning, arranging or rehabilitation, as the case may be, of the site and / or the adjacent lands temporarily occupied during the execution, upon completion of the basic works;
• failure to notify the date of commencement of authorized construction works;
• failure to give the book of construction by the investor to the owner, the documentation regarding the design and the documentation regarding the execution, at the reception of the works;
• failure to complete and to keep the technical book of the construction according to the legal provisions;
• failure to submit tax returns or late submission of tax returns;
• failure to correct the defects in products or services or to replace products that do not meet the conditions within the legal term;
• failure to fully and accurately inform the consumers of the essential characteristics of the products and services offered by economic operators;
• failure to file at the Trade Register Office the decisions of the general meeting within 15 days, for stock companies;
• failure to mention in the invoices, tenders, orders, tariffs, prospectus and other commercial documents issued by a company the name, legal form, registered office, trade registry number and unique registration code.

Obligations for authorities

The authorities involved must prepare and offer guides and informing materials and to publish on their sites information regarding:

• the legislation on contraventions,
• legal rights and obligations of the authorities in their area and of the entities subject to controls,
• deeds for which the authorities can apply sanctions and their legal sanctions.

Also, the authorities must guide and offer help to entities for a correct implementation of the legal provisions. In this respect, they must prepare procedures for their employees. Also, they will make public the most frequent situations and their solutions and be helpful for the entities they control.

Moreover, an online portal must be implemented by the central authority. This portal will provide online services and legal resources for a correct information of the public.

Conclusions

Bottom line, the authorities are trying to be nicer with the business environment and with the entrepreneurs.

“The Prevention Law will grow awareness on the legal obligations and will contribute to a better information and communication with the authorities”, they say.

We will be watching the enforcement and will apprise any non-compliance or breach of the law by the authorities.