Preliminary assessment of the second payment request of Romania

Related Measure: Electricity market reform, replacement of coal in the energy Number: 114 mix and support for a legislative and regulatory framework for private investment in renewable electricity production Name of the Milestone: Entry into force of the Decarbonisation law adopting the coal/lignite phase-out calendar Qualitative Indicator: Provision in the law indicating the entry into force of Time: Q2 2022 the legislative act Context: Milestone #114 is part of reform C6.R1, whose objective is the decarbonisation of the energy sector, mainly through the phase-out of coal and the increase of renewable electricity generation capacity. The reform covering the coal phase-out aims to phase-out coal and lignite-fired power plants by 2032. Milestone #114 provides for the entry into force of a Decarbonisation Law and of any related secondary legislation. The Decarbonisation Law must include a timetable up to 2032 for: 1. The decommissioning of the total coal- and lignite-fired installed electricity production capacity (i.e. 4 590 MW). 2. Measures relating to the rehabilitation of mines to be closed (e.g. salvaging soil in mined areas such as topsoil and revegetation, waste deposits, post-closure land use for the landform). 3. Measures for upskilling (professional reconversion and retraining), and other measures with a socio-economic impact on the affected communities. Milestone #114 is the second step in the implementation of a sub-measure of reform C6.R1 related to the phase-out of coal. It follows the completion of target #113 related to the decommissioning of 1 695 MW of lignite-fired power-production capacity and it will be followed by targets #115 and #119, related to the decommissioning of additional 660 MW and 1 425 MW of lignite-fired power- production capacity, respectively. The reform, leading to a total of 3 780 MW of lignite-fired power- production capacity being decommissioned by 31 December 2025, has a final expected date for implementation in Q2 2026. 11 Evidence provided: In line with the verification mechanism set out in the Operational Arrangements, the following evidence was provided: i) Cover note duly justifying how the milestone (including all the constitutive elements) was satisfactorily fulfilled. ii) Government Emergency Ordinance (hereinafter referred to as ‘GEO’) No. 108/2022, published in the Official Journal on 1 July 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Decarbonisation Law’), that entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. iii) Law No. 334/2022, adopting GEO No 108/2022, published in the Official Journal of 5 December 2022, that entered into force on the same day, as indicated in its recitals. iv) GEO No. 175/2022, amending and supplementing GEO No 108/2022, published in the Official Journal on 15 December 2022, that entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. v) GEO No. 14/2023 amending and supplementing inter alia GEO No 108/2022, published in the Official Journal on 16 March 2023, that entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. vi) GEO No. 19/2023 amending and supplementing inter alia GEO No 108/2022, published in the Official Journal on 30 March 2023, that entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. Analysis: The justifications and substantiating evidence provided by the Romanian authorities cover all constitutive elements of the milestone. A decarbonisation law (and any secondary legislation) shall enter into force Government Emergency Ordinance No. 108/2022 was adopted by the Government on 30 June 2022, published in the Official Journal on 1 July 2022 and entered into force on the same day as primary legislation. It was then approved by the Parliament on 5 December 2022 (Law No. 334/2022 on the decarbonisation of the energy sector). The recitals of the Decarbonisation Law provide that it enters into force on the date of publication in the Official Journal. The Decarbonisation Law was further amended and supplemented by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 175/2022, Government Emergency Ordinance No. 14/2023, and Government Emergency Ordinance No. 19/2023. These ordinances also entered into force on the same date of the publication in the Official Journal. with a timetable up to 2032 for: i) Decommissioning of the entire coal/lignite fired installed electricity production capacity (i.e., 4 590MW). Article 3 of the Decarbonisation Law provides that by 2032 at the latest the total coal- and lignite- fired installed production capacity of 4 920 MW will be gradually decommissioned, out of which 3 780 MW are to be decommissioned by the end to 2025. Moreover, Article 4 of the Law lays down a detailed calendar for decommissioning coal- and lignite- fired as follows: 660 MW to be decommissioned by end-2022 and 1 425 MW decommissioned by end-2025, which leads to a total of 3 780 MW to be decommissioned by end-2025, considering the 12 1 695 MW already decommissioned in 2021. Furthermore, Article 2 prohibits the construction of new energy capacities to produce electricity based on lignite or coal. ii) Measures relating to the rehabilitation of mines to be closed (e.g., salvaging soil in mined areas such as topsoil and revegetation, waste deposits, post-closure land use for the landform). Article 3 (1) of the Decarbonisation Law provides for the closure and rehabilitation of mines to be completed by 2032 at the latest. The rehabilitation of mines is covered more specifically under Article 6 of the Law, which lays down a detailed calendar of closure and rehabilitation of mines, including required legal actions for salvaging soil in mined areas such as topsoil and revegetation, waste deposits, post-closure land use for the landform. iii) Measures for upskilling (professional reconversion and retraining), and other measures with a socio-economic impact on the affected communities. Measures for social protection are included in Articles 12 and 13 of the Decarbonisation Law. These measures include, among others, active measures such as upskilling training courses within the National Training Plan for employees whose contracts have been terminated as a result of the closure of the power plants, covering their professional reconversion and retraining. Moreover, Article 14, provides for requests by undertakings in the counties of Gorj, Hunedoara, Dolj, Mehedinti and Valcea, as socio-economic communities impacted by the transition, to be taken into account in the preparation of the National Training Plan. Commission Preliminary Assessment: Satisfactorily fulfilled Related Measure: New capacities for electricity generation from renewable Number: 124 sources Name of the Milestone: Opening a call for tender for projects for the production of energy from renewable sources (wind and solar) Qualitative Indicator: Publication of the tender specifications Time: Q1 2022 Context: Milestone #124 is part of investment C6.I1, which aims at the installation of new renewable power production capacity through a technologically neutral competitive public tender between different technologies (wind and solar). Milestone #124 is the first step for this investment and consists in the publication of a call for tender. It is followed by target #125 consisting in the installation of 950 MW of additional capacity from renewable sources (or the maximum volume compatible with the tender being held in competitive conditions) by Q2 2024. Investment C6.I1 has an expected date for full implementation in Q2 2024, with the achievement of target #125. Evidence provided: In line with the verification mechanism set out in the Operational Arrangements, the following evidence was provided: i. A cover note justifying how the milestone was satisfactorily fulfilled. ii. Ministerial Order No. 282/2022 (published on the website of the Ministry of Energy on 30 March 2022) announcing the opening of the call for applications from 31 March 2022 to 31 May 2022. The Ministerial Order includes the guidelines for applicants, that entered into 13  force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. iii. Ministerial Order No. 507/2022 (published on the website of the Ministry of Energy on 24 May 2022) postponing the deadline for applications from 31 May 2022 to 15 June 2022, that entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. iv. Ministerial Order No. 592/2022 (published on the website of the Ministry of Energy on 10 June 2022) postponing the deadline for applications from 15 June 2022 to 22 June 2022, that entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. The Romanian authorities also provided: v. Ministerial Order No. 281/2022 (published on the website of the Ministry of Energy on 30 March 2022) adopting the State aid scheme for the tender, that entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts. Analysis: The justification and substantiating evidence provided by the Romanian authorities cover all the constitutive elements of the milestone. In particular: 1) A call for tender for the selection of projects for the production of energy from renewable sources (wind and solar) is published.  A call for tender, including the tender specifications, for the selection of projects to produce energy from renewable sources (wind and solar) was published on 30 March 2022. Section 1.2 of the guidelines for applicants, which accompanies Ministerial Order No. 282/2022 (published on the website of the Ministry of Energy on 30 March 2022), announced the opening of the competition for 31 March 2022 and set an initial deadline for submission of projects on 31 May 2022. The deadline for submission of projects was postponed twice until 22 June 2022.  In terms of scope, Section 1.1. of the guidelines for applicants and Article 4(2) of the State aid scheme indicate that the purpose of the projects eligible for funding is to increase by 950MW the installed electricity generation capacity from wind and solar energy sources. Section 1.1. of the applicants’ guidelines require all new capacities to be installed and connected to the grid by 30 June 2024, at the latest.  The tender has been organised under competitive conditions as indicated in the guidelines for applicants due to the requirements set up by both technologies ensuring such competitive conditions. Applicants were able to submit their bids through a platform dedicated to RRP tenders, inaugurated on 31 March 2022. Moreover, as a reaction to the initial low number of bids and to reach a critical mass of applicants, the authorities postponed twice the deadline for applications (first to 15 June 2022 and then to 22 June 2022). As a result, the number of bidders increased from 13 on 31 May (first deadline) to 721 on 22 June (last deadline); the total installed capacity covered by the received bids increased from 16MW to 4 678MW. 2) The selection criteria shall ensure compliance with the ‘do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) In line with the description of the milestone in the Council Implementing Decision Annex, the guidelines for applicants (section 3.1.9) correctly includes the exclusion list stemming from the DNSH technical guidance as an eligibility criterion that the tender is not open for applicants carrying out excluded activities. 3) The measure shall be open for both SMEs and large investors. 14 Section 1.4 of the Applicants’ guideline indicate that micro, small, medium-sized, and large enterprises, including start-ups are eligible applicants. Furthermore, the justification and substantiating evidence provided by the Romanian authorities also cover the relevant constitutive elements of the description of the measure. The objective of the investment is the installation of new renewable power production capacity through a technologically neutral competitive public tender between different technologies (wind and solar). As indicated in the guidelines for applicants, a technologically neutral competitive public tender was launched (see above). The projects shall comply with the relevant annexes of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) (C(2021) 2800/3) under the Taxonomy Regulation (EU) (2020/852) As an additional precaution beyond the eligibility exclusion criteria included in the guidelines that ensures compliance with the DNSH principle, applicants are required to self-assess the compliance with the ‘do no significant harm’ (DNSH) Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU (C (2021) 2800/3) under the Taxonomy Regulation (EU) (2020/852) throughout the life cycle of the investment. To that end, the guidelines for applicants include instructions and a standard form to self-assess and declare the compliance of the bid with the DNSH principle (Annex 6). Annex 2.1 of the applicant’s guidelines contain an evaluation grid as well as selection criteria to facilitate the verification of the DNSH self-assessment and declaration. This is then part of eligibility check carried out by the Ministry of Energy. Commission Preliminary Assessment: Satisfactorily fulfilled Related Measure: Development of a unitary framework for defining the Number: 143 architecture of a government cloud system Name of the Milestone: Completed analysis for the options for the government cloud architecture Qualitative Indicator: Output report with assessment and recommendations Time: Q1 2022 submitted Context: Milestone #143 is part of reform C7.R1 for the development of a unitary framework for defining the architecture of a government cloud system. The reform’s overarching objective is to modernise the public administration by adopting advanced technologies and focusing on citizens’ and businesses’ needs, while ensuring the prerequisites for data-driven policy development and increasing the interoperability of existing digital technologies. Milestone #143 requires the analysis of the options for the government cloud architecture to be completed. Milestone #143 is the second step in the implementation of reform C7.R1. It was preceded by milestone #142 on the establishment and operationalisation of the taskforce to implement and monitor Digital Transformation reforms and investments. It has been followed by milestone #144 on the entry into force of the law for the governance of cloud services for the government area (see relevant preliminary assessment fiche) and milestone #145 on the entry into force of the interoperability law (see relevant preliminary assessment fiche). Evidence provided: In line with the verification mechanism set out in the Operational Arrangements, the following evidence was provided: 15  i) cover note duly justifying how the milestone (including all the constitutive elements) was satisfactorily fulfilled; ii) report on the analysis of options for the architecture of the Government Cloud, issued on 26 June 2022, by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation. Analysis: The justification and substantiating evidence provided by the Romanian authorities cover all constitutive elements of the milestone. The analysis shall present the strategic and technological options and the legislative and regulatory package to determine the achievement of the Government Cloud, including interoperability rules and government data governance model The analysis for the options for the government cloud architecture resulted in an output report submitted with assessment and recommendations to deliver on the Romanian Government cloud, on 26 June 2022. The strategic and technological options for the Government Cloud are analysed in the first chapter of the report on the analysis of options for the architecture of the Government Cloud, issued on 26 June 2022, by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation which reviews potential strategic cloud architectures, combined with case studies and best practices from European countries. Three categories of cloud infrastructure are presented: private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud. A comparative analysis of the categories is performed, and the conclusions are summarised in a table on page 106. Technological considerations such as the av