Preliminary assessment of the fourth payment request of Romania

nd supplementing the existing legislation on forests Related Measure: RO-C[C2]-R[1] Reform of forest management and governance systems through a new National Forest Strategy and subsequent legal acts Qualitative Indicator: Provision in the law indicating the entry into force of the legislative acts Time: Q4 2025 1. Context: The objective of the reform is to ensure a regulatory framework for sustainable forest policies that support climate change mitigation and adaptation. The reform consists of the adoption of strategies and legal acts for afforestation and reforestation, combatting illegal logging and improving forest management. Milestone 24 concerns the entry into force of legal acts to combat, determine damage from and define penalties for illegal logging and other forest-related crimes and to reorganise forest management. Milestone 24 is the third and last milestone of the reform, and it follows the completion of milestone 22, related to the adoption of the National Forest Strategy 2020-2030, and milestone 23, related to amended ministerial ordinances laying down the rules for afforestation and reforestation required by that strategy. 2. Evidence provided: Name of the evidence Short description 1 Cover note Summary document duly justifying how the target (including all the constitutive elements) was satisfactorily fulfilled. 2 Copy of Law No. 331/2024 on the Forestry The new Forestry code, legislation Code, published in the Official Journal No. regulating forests and forest management 7 of 9 January 2025. in Romania. 3 Copy of Government Emergency Government Emergency Ordinance Ordinance No. 119/2021 for amending and sanctioning forest offences. completing Law No. 171/2010 on establishing and sanctioning forest-related infringements, published in the Official Journal No. 925 of 5 October 2021. 4 Copy of Law No. 257/2023 amending and Legislation to combat illegal logging supplementing regulatory acts to establish through changes to the organisation and specific measures to ensure the integrity functioning of the Romanian of the forest endowment, published in the Gendarmerie. Official Journal No. 678 of 24 July 2023. 5 Copy of Government Decision No. Government Decision regulating the 512/2022 amending and supplementing provenance, movement and marketing of 6  the Rules on the provenance, movement timber with the aim of combating illegal and marketing of timber, on the logging. arrangements for storing timber and processing facilities for round timber, on the origin and movement of timber for the owner’s own consumption and on certain measures for the application of Regulation (EU) No. 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market, approved by Government Decision No. 497/2020, published in the Official Journal No. 386 of 20 April 2022. 6 Copy of Government Decision No. 77/2021 Government Decision defining the tasks of on the establishment of the National the National Forest Guard. Forest Guard, published in the Official Journal No. 645 of 30 June 2023. 7 Copy of Government Decision No. 46/2023 Government Decision amending the regarding the organisation, operation and organisation and tasks of the National distribution of the number of posts for the Forest Guard. National Forest Guard and the Forest Guards, published in the Official Journal No. 58 of 20 January 2023. 8 Copy of Government Emergency Government Decision reorganising Ordinance No. 63/2025 amending certain National Forest Administration Romsilva. legislative acts in the field of forestry, published in the Official Journal No. 1076 of 21 November 2025. 9 Copy of Government Decision No. Government decision to further 123/2026 approving organisational and reorganise National Forest Administration operational measures, as well as for the Romsilva and repeal Government Decision reorganisation of the Romsilva National No. 229/2009 on the reorganisation of the Forest Administration, published in the National Forest Administration - Romsilva Official Journal No. 191 of 2026. and the approval of the rules of organisation and functioning. 3. Analysis: The justification and substantiating evidence provided by the Romanian authorities cover all constitutive elements of the milestone. Entry into force of legal acts: The Council Implementing Decision states that the milestone carries the name “Entry into force of the legislative acts amending and supplementing the existing legislation on forests” and defines the qualitative indicator as “Provision in the law indicating the entry into force of the legislative acts”. 7 The Council Implementing Decision also states, in the measure description, that “The reform consists of the adoption of […] legal acts for afforestation and reforestation […]”, and the milestone description requires the “Entry into force of legal acts […] including provisions for combatting illegal logging and reorganizing forest management (Government Decision No. 229/2009)”. Under the Romanian legal system, Government decisions are not legislative acts adopted by Parliament, but they are legally binding acts adopted by the Government for the organisation of the execution of laws. In light of the contextual interpretation of this requirement from the Council Implementing Decision, it is interpreted that the milestone requires the entry into force of legal acts necessary for the implementation of the reform that this milestone represents, rather than only legislative acts in the strict sense of acts adopted by Parliament. Romania adopted and brought into force laws, Government decisions and Government emergency ordinances which meet the requirements in the milestone, as explained below. On this basis, it is considered that this constitutive element of the milestone is satisfactorily fulfilled. (i) setting out amendments to the criminal penalty system; Law No. 331/2024 on the Forestry Code (Lege nr. 331/2024 - Codul silvic, hereinafter referred to as the “New Forestry Code”) was published in the Official Journal No. 7 of 9 January 2025 (Evidence No. 2). According to the provisions in Article 12(1) of Law No. 24/2000 on legislative technique rules for drafting legal acts (Lege nr. 24/2000 privind normele de tehnică legislativă pentru elaborarea actelor normative), the law entered into force three days after its publication in the Official Journal. Article 167 of the New Forestry Code repeals and replaces the old Law No. 46/2008 on the Forestry Code (Legea nr. 46/2008 - Codul silvic, hereinafter referred to as the “Old Forestry Code”. The New Forestry Code amends the criminal penalty system set out in the Old Forestry Code as follows: • Article 142 of the New Forestry Code, concerning the offence of destruction of National Forest Fund vegetation, lowers the minimum damage thresholds triggering imprisonment as compared to Article 107 of the Old Forestry Code. • Article 143 of the New Forestry Code introduces and sanctions the unlawful felling of trees as a separate offence, whereas the Old Forestry Code did not define this conduct as a separate offence. • Article 145 of the New Forestry Code introduces aggravating forms of several forestry-related offences, which were not defined in the Old Forestry Code. • Article 146 of the New Forestry Code defines and specifies sanctions offences concerning the integrity of the National Forest Fund, which were not defined as an offence in the Old Forestry Code. • Article 150 of the New Forestry Code defines and specifies sanctions for tree theft. Compared to Article 109 of the Old Forestry Code, this Article 150 lowers the threshold for the application of the penalty of 2 to 7 years’ imprisonment from 50 times to 20 times the average price one cubic metre of timber. • Article 151 of the New Forestry Code defines and specifies sanctions for offences concerning the storage and movement of timber by increasing the maximum penalty from one year to five years of imprisonment, compared to Article 68 of the Old Forestry Code. Furthermore, Article 165 of the New Forestry Code amends Law No. 171/2010 on establishing and sanctioning forest-related infringements (Lege nr. 171/2010 privind stabilirea şi sancţionarea contravenţiilor silvice, hereinafter referred to as “Law No. 171/2010”), by classifying several forms of 8 illegal transport or possession of wood timber materials as forestry infringements, punishable by a fine and the confiscation of the timber. (ii) establishing the methods for assessing damage to forest vegetation in forests and beyond; Article 167 of the aforementioned New Forestry Code repeals Government Emergency Ordinance No. 85/2006 laying down detailed rules for assessing damage to forest vegetation in forests and elsewhere (Ordonanţa de urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 85/2006 privind stabilirea modalităţilor de evaluare a pagubelor produse vegetaţiei forestiere din păduri şi din afara acestora). Through its Title VIII, Assessment of damage and forest injury, the New Forestry Code establishes methods for assessing damage to forest vegetation: • Article 157 sets out the general procedure for assessing damage and forest injury. • Article 158 establishes calculation methods for damage caused to the trees by cutting without right, breaking, rooting and destruction. • Article 159 establishes calculation methods for damage caused by damage to seedlings and/or shoots. • Article 160 establishes calculation methods for damage caused by tree theft. • Article 161 establishes calculation methods for forest damage. In addition, Title VIII establishes damage assessment methods both in forests and outside forests; for example, Articles 157(1) and 157(4)(a) of the New Forestry Code apply to forest vegetation inside and outside National Forest Fund land as defined Article 1(1) of the Code. (iii) sanctioning of forest offences, establishing calculation methods for the environmental and financial damage caused by illegal logging and other forest crime; Government Emergency Ordinance No. 119/2021 for amending and completing Law No. 171/2010 on establishing and sanctioning forest offenses (Ordonanță de urgență nr. 119/2021 pentru modificarea și completarea legii nr. 171/2010 privind stabilirea și sancționarea contravențiilor silvice, hereinafter referred to as “Government Emergency Ordinance No. 119/2021”) was published in the Official Journal No. 925 of 5 October 2021 (evidence 3). According to Article II, the provisions of Articles I 5(6)(d), 8, 10(c), 12, 15 (1), 16(1)(h) to (i) and 30(8) entered into force 10 days after the date of publication. According to the provisions in Article 12(3) of Law No. 24/2000 on legislative technique rules for drafting legal acts, the remaining provisions of the Ordinance entered into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal. Government Emergency Ordinance No. 119/2021 sanctions forest offences in its Article I as follows: • Article I 11 amends Article 7 of the aforementioned Law No. 171/2010 to add change of land use category without approval as a forest offence sanctionable by a fine as defined in Article 7 of Law No. 171/2010. • Article I 13(1) to (2) amends Article 8 Law No. 171/2010 to establish and sanction several forest offences falling under illegal logging. • Article I 13(3) establishes tree theft as a forest offence. • Article I 13(5) defines fines for forest offences. In addition, Title VIII of the aforementioned New Forestry Code, Assessment of damage and forest injury, establishes calculation methods for the environmental and financial damage caused by illegal 9 logging and other forest crime, such as damage to seedlings and/or shoots and tree theft in the following articles: • Article 157 sets out the general procedure for assessing damage and forest injury. • Article 158 establishes calculation methods for (financial) damage caused to the trees by cutting without right, breaking, rooting and destruction (illegal logging). • Article 159 establishes calculation methods for (financial) damage caused by damage to seedlings and/or shoots. • Article 160 establishes calculation methods for (financial) damage caused by tree theft, which is labelled a forest crime according to its Article 150. • Article 161 establishes calculation methods for (environmental) damage. • Article 162 establishes calculation measures for damage from works and/or sites located in the National Forest Fund land without legal approval. (iv) including provisions for combatting illegal logging and reorganising forest management (Government Decision No. 229/2009). Law No. 257/2023 amending and supplementing regulatory acts to establish specific measures to ensure the integrity of the forest endowment (Lege nr. 257/2023 privind modificarea și completarea unor acte normative pentru instituirea unor măsuri specifice în vederea asigurării integrității fondului forestier, hereinafter referred to as “Law No. 257/2023”) was published in the Official Journal No. 678 of 24 July 2023 (evidence 4). According to the provisions in Article 12(1) of Law No. 24/2000 on legislative technique rules for drafting legal acts, the law entered into force three days after its publication in the Official Journal. Law No. 257/2023 includes provisions combatting illegal logging, such as Article II, which amends Law No. 550/2004 on the organisation and functioning of the Romanian Gendarmerie (Lege nr. 550/2004 privind organizarea și funcționarea Jandarmeriei Române), to give the Gendarmerie the task to ensure or participate in the supervision, control, protection and conservation of the forest fund, through specific measures to prevent and combat any breaches of the legal provisions. Government Decision No. 512/2022 amending and supplementing the Rules on the provenance, movement and marketing of timber, on the arrangements for storing timber and processing facilities for round timber, on the origin and movement of timber for the owner’s own consumption and on certain measures for the application of Regulation (EU) No. 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market, approved by Government Decision No. 497/2020 (Hotărâre nr. 512/2022 pentru modificarea și completarea normelor referitoare la proveniența, circulația și comercializarea materialelor lemnoase, la regimul spațiilor de depozitare a materialelor lemnoase și al instalațiilor de prelucrat lemn rotund, precum și a celor privind proveniența și circulația materialelor lemnoase destinate consumului propriu al proprietarului și a unor măsuri de aplicare a prevederilor Regulamentului (UE) nr. 995/2010 al Parlamentului European și al Consiliului din 20 octombrie 2010 de stabilire a obligațiilor care revin operatorilor care introduc pe piață lemn și produse din lemn, aprobate prin Hotărârea Guvernului nr. 497/2020, hereinafter referred to as “Government Decision No. 512/2022”) was published in the Official Journal No. 386 of 20 April 2022 (evidence 5). According to the provisions in Article 12(3) of Law No. 24/2000 on legislative technique rules for drafting legal acts, the decision entered into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal. Article 26 of Government Decision 512/2022 expands the requirements for registering timber through the SUMAL 2.0 system and requires notification of any differences in volume of timber being 10 transported, thus creating more transparency on the provenance of timber, thus disincentivising illegal logging. Government Decision No. 77/2021 on the establishment of the National Forest Guard (Ordonanţă de urgenţă nr. 77/2021 privind înfiinţarea gărzii forestiere naţionale, hereinafter referred to as “Government Decision No. 77/2021”) was published in the Official Journal No. 645 of 30 Jun