The European Commission warned Romania on Wednesday to remove its cap on gas prices or potentially face legal action over the policy, which the EU executive branch said violates the bloc's energy market rules. Gas and power bills for Romanian households, small businesses and public institutions have been capped up to certain monthly consumption levels since November 2021, with suppliers compensated for the difference. In a notice published on Wednesday, the European Commission said the policy violates EU rules on the free formation of wholesale gas prices, since Romania's measure obliges firms to sell part of their production at a fixed wholesale price. "Regulated prices at the level of the EU-wide wholesale market distort price signals and effective market functioning," the Commission said. European wholesale gas prices began climbing in 2021 after Russia limited deliveries. Prices soared to record highs the following year when Moscow further slashed supplies after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Romania's government has two months to respond to the EU warning, after which the Commission can refer the case to the EU's top court, if the matter is unresolved. Ahead of its May 18 presidential election run-off, Romania currently has an interim government which cannot issue decrees or introduce policies. Former Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned on Monday after hard-right eurosceptic George Simion won the first round of the presidential election re-run. The president elected this month will appoint a new prime minister. In February, the former government extended the gas price cap for a year, and prolonged the power price limits until June, to rein in consumers' bills. Romania produces almost all the gas it consumes domestically, through producers OMV Petrom, state-owned Romgaz and offshore producer Black Sea Oil & Gas.
The seventh edition of Classix Festival will be held in Iași between March 1 and 8, 2026, with the concept Art & Mind, the organizers announced. The theme "will be a call to presence, slowing down, and rediscovering the fact that behind every act of creation lies the most complex instrument of all: the human […]
A third of Romanians living in Spain have higher education, even though the majority work in fields, unlike other nationalities, especially those from northern Europe, according to a new report from the Spanish Statistical Institute quoted by Digi24. The study is complex and details the structure...
Daniel Băluță, the mayor of Bucharest’s District 4 and the Social Democratic Party’s (PSD) candidate for the capital’s City Hall, took the helm of the party’s Bucharest branch on Thursday, November 13, after being elected during an extraordinary conference. He was the sole contender for the position, according to
More than 50 organizations and specialists in cultural heritage, urban development, urbanism, and nature conservation have issued a public appeal requesting cultural heritage protection for four buildings in Băile Govora, a historic spa town in Vâlcea county. They request the immediate start of the emergency classification procedure for the Spa Park Complex, the Baths Pavilion, […]
Passenger traffic at Bucharest’s two airports reached 13.2 million in January–September, an increase of 9.23% compared with the same period in 2024, the Bucharest National Airports Company (CNAB) announced. The figures cover Henri Coandă International Airport in Otopeni and Aurel Vlaicu Airport in Băneasa. Henri Coandă Airport handled 12.9 million passengers and 95,944 aircraft movements […]
The impact of the reform in local and central public administration will be about RON 3.5-4.5 billion (EUR 0.7-0.9 billion or up to 0.2% of GDP), announced the minister of development, Cseke Attila, according to Economedia.ro. "The impact...
