Let's talk about accessibility

In a recent post, I shared with you my appreciation for our colleague, Nicu?or Murgoci, for his perseverance, ambition, and adaptability. Since we began the initiative to hire individuals with disabilities into our Issue Monitoring team, we have had the opportunity to learn valuable lessons from this vulnerable group of employees. I could list several clear benefits that they bring to a team:

Unique Insights: Individuals with disabilities bring unique experiences that foster innovative solutions and perspectives. Their firsthand understanding of accessibility and inclusivity laws can offer invaluable insights when monitoring legislation.

Enhanced Problem-Solving: Diversity within a team enhances problem-solving capabilities. Different life experiences lead to different approaches, which can be crucial when deciphering complex legal documents and proposing adaptable strategies.

Wider Talent Pool: By including people with disabilities, we tap into a broader talent pool, gaining access to skilled professionals who are often overlooked. This ensures we don't miss out on exceptional talent capable of driving our mission forward.

Regulatory Advantage: Understanding and implementing accessibility and compliance becomes smoother with team members who have a direct stake in these issues. This can provide a competitive edge in legislative monitoring, ensuring all viewpoints are considered in compliance checks and advocacy efforts.

I will be present this week, on May 17th, at the Business Disability Summit, where, together with other companies concerned with sustainability, I will discuss the need for making workplaces accessible for people with disabilities.

The event is free of charge. You just need to register using the link in the first comment.

See you there!

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Taxes and Fiscal Policy

DECRIMINALIZATION OF TAX EVASION UNDER 1 MILLION EUROS. Last week, President Klaus Iohannis enacted a law that, among other things, decriminalizes tax evasion under one million euros if the damage is paid. However, maintaining double accounting books or those containing expenses not based on real operations or containing fictitious operations will be punishable with imprisonment from 2 to 8 years. The same penalty will apply for the malicious use of e-Invoice, as well as for using POS systems that are not connected to the national computer system for fiscal data monitoring and surveillance or are tampered with. To become effective, the law must be published in the Official Gazette.

INFLATION EXPECTED TO DROP TO 4.6% BY YEAR-END. The National Commission for Strategy and Forecast (CNSP) anticipates an average inflation rate of 5.6% this year, with a minimum of 4.6% at the end of the year. CNSP data indicates that the inflation decrease trend might continue in the following years: 4% in 2025, 2.9% in 2026, and 2.7% in 2027, considering Romania's inflation target set by the National Bank, which ranges between 1.5% and 3.5%. Moreover, this year is also expected to see an economic growth of 3.4%, mainly due to the services sector, construction, and industries. Conversely, the average gross salary could increase by 10.8%, reaching 7,725 lei, due to purchasing power and the implementation of the European Directive on adequate minimum wage.

Labor

MINISTER OF LABOR ON THE EUROPEAN MINIMUM WAGE. The project regarding the new salary law, which will transpose the European Directive on minimum income, will continue to be discussed with social partners before being made transparent for decision-making, announced the Ministry of Labor. Thus, the ministry supports that, so far, consultations have been held within the social dialogue with the representative trade union federations of all occupational families, and some social partners have submitted proposals for coefficients and salary scales. These proposals are under analysis, carried out following a methodology developed by the World Bank.

Consumer Protection

MORE OBLIGATIONS FOR PRODUCERS. In last week's Government meeting, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that, soon, new regulation will be issued requiring producers to signal on the packaging of sold products the decrease in their weight. The Prime Minister's statement and decision come almost a year after producers placed basic products (e.g., flour) on the shelves with reduced weight, at the same price as before this decrease, just so that these products would not be subject to the capping of basic food items. "Some traders have reduced the weight of products but have kept the prices just as high. I consider this to be a form of deception against consumers (...) economically unjustified," stated Marcel Ciolacu. Therefore, we expect that in the coming period, a normative act will be issued imposing this obligation on producers.

European Funding and State Aid

MORE SMEs BENEFICIARIES OF THE STATE AID FOR DEVELOPMENT. The Ministry of Economy has increased the ceiling of de minimis aid granted to a single enterprise carrying out an economic activity - 300,000 euros over the last 3 years. This is a mandatory condition that beneficiaries must meet to access the funds related to the de minimis aid scheme for accelerating the development of SMEs. Therefore, ATIMMT (the scheme administrator) will grant de minimis aid after verifying, based on the economic operator's declaration of own responsibility, that the cumulation rule is respected, and that the total amount of de minimis aid received over a period of 3 fiscal years, including the current fiscal year, either from state or local authority sources or from European sources, combined with the amount of de minimis aid requested within this scheme, does not exceed the 300,000 euros threshold at the level of the single enterprise over the last 3 years.

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