Preliminary assessment of the first payment request of Romania

The process mentioned in the Government Emergency Ordinance 109/2011 approved by Law no. 111/2016, under article 5 (5-10) and article 29 (15-14), lists the steps for the recruitment process. This process ensures openness and transparency by rendering public the selection process for Board members as “the notice of selection of board members shall be published (…) in at least two widely distributed economic and/or financial newspapers and, (…) on the website of the public undertaking”. The process can be considered competitive as the selection documents to be made public also “must include the conditions to be met by the candidates and the criteria for their assessment” and “the selection shall be carried out in compliance with the principles of non- discrimination, equal treatment, and transparency (…)”. The selection procedures, as specified in the articles above, also foresee the use of “independent experts” during the selection process, in particular for autonomous corporations with more than 500 employees. This is in line with OECD standards, which consider a good practice the use of independent experts in the selection

procedure, particularly for large SOEs engaged in economic activities.

Finally, considering that the aim of the Government Emergency Ordinance 109/2011, as enshrined in their preambles, is to ensure that the selection of professional Boards of public companies is aligned with the principles of corporate governance of state-owned enterprises developed by the OECD, and taking into account that the preamble not only form an integral part of the Government Emergency Ordinance, but also serve for the interpretation of the provisions and of the overall purpose of this Ordinance, it can be concluded that Law no. 111/2016 for the approval of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 109/2011 on corporate governance of public enterprises allows for the selection of professional Boards through an open, competitive and transparent procedure (as aligned with corporate governance standards in the OECD framework).

4. Primary and secondary legislation amended to make the company’s activities more effective and to reorient C.N.A.I.R.’s powers and institutional mechanisms;

According to article 25 (1) of the Law no. 50/2021, C.N.A.I.R. must publish an activity report every six months detailing the progress of investment projects and the organisation and operation of the company. Articles 45 (1) and 46 prescribe that the monthly payments received by C.N.A.I.R. should be tied to its economic performance and the number of employees. It can be concluded that these provisions contained in the Law no. 50/2021 which amends Government Emergency Ordinance 55/2016 contribute to making C.N.A.I.R. more effective, as it increases the level of transparency of C.N.A.I.R.’s activities.

Law no. 50/2021, amending Government Emergency Ordinance 55/2016, aims to reorient C.N.A.I.R.’s powers and institutional mechanisms, as demonstrated by the following amendments put forth: According to article 64 of the Law no. 50/2021, C.N.A.I.R. must transfer road infrastructure projects for the development of transport infrastructure to C.N.I.R. within three years. This article therefore reorients C.N.A.I.R.’s powers, as required by the CID Annex. Article 77 of the same Law provides that until the projects under implementation have been completed or handed over to C.N.I.R., C.N.A.I.R. must carry out specific activities such as the rehabilitation of motorways and shall receive funds for the expenditure related to such specific activities. Article 83 states that the investment projects subject to transfer to C.N.I.R. must be approved by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Articles 77 and 83 therefore reorient C.N.A.I.R.’s institutional mechanisms, as required by the CID Annex.

5. C.N.A.I.R. shall retain the current tasks in terms of road maintenance as well as existing

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