On 25.03.2020 was published the Order of the Minister of Economy, Energy and Business Environment no. 791/2020 regarding the granting of emergency situations certificates to the economic operators whose activity is affected in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
The order published in the Official Gazette, however, is totally different from the draft version at the initial moment. Thus, the Emergency Certificate is valid only within the legal framework circumscribed to the two ordinances that establish economic-financial measures, respectively of social policy adopted in the context of the coronavirus epidemic – O.U.G. no. 29/2020 and O.U.G. no. 30/2020.
In other words, the emergency certificate can only be used to access the benefits and support measures granted by the two normative acts.
Beneficiaries
Regarding the persons who can request the issuance of the certificate of emergency situations, the text of Order no. 791/2020 is not clear – this is limited to referring to persons legally entitled according to O.U.G. no. 29/2020 and O.U.G. no. 30/2020.
From here we can deduce that only the beneficiaries of the measures included in the two emergency ordinances adopted in the context of the decree of state of emergency due to the coronavirus epidemic can issue the certificate of emergency situations:
- The following categories that want to benefit from the deferred payment for utilities – electricity, natural gas, water, telephone and Internet services, as well as the deferred payment of the rent for the building destined for corporate headquarters and secondary offices:
- small and medium-sized enterprises that have discontinued their activity in whole or in part based on the decisions issued by the competent public authorities, according to the law, during the period of emergency state decreed;
- the forms of exercise of the profession of notary public, the forms of exercise of the profession of lawyer and the forms of organization of the activity of the profession of judicial executor, whose activity is directly affected by the measures ordered by the public authorities, for the prevention and control of the pandemic caused by the infection with coronavirus COVID-19;
- the family doctors’ offices and the dental offices in which they carry out their activity, in any form, no more than 20 persons and whose activity is directly affected by the measures stipulated by the public authorities, for the prevention and control of the pandemic caused by the infection with COVID-19 coronavirus;
- Employers who temporarily suspend individual employment contracts, following the employees to receive benefits paid from the unemployment insurance budget under art. XI of GEO no. 30/2019.
The scope of the beneficiaries is also restricted by the criterion of reducing the activity. Thus, they can request the issuance of the Emergency Certificate for economic operators who:
- interrupt the activity in whole or in part based on the decisions issued by the competent public authorities according to the law, during the decreed period of emergency state
- reduce the activity as a result of the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic and register a decrease of the incomes in March 2020 with a percentage of at least 25% compared to the average of the incomes from January to February 2020.
There is no limitation on the sectors of transport, tourism, HORECA, event organization, advertising, private education and adjacent activities, the clothing industry, footwear and leather goods, services for the population, limitation that was initially proposed. At the same time, it is no longer required to reduce the turnover by 40% for the rest of the economic operators.
Types of certificates
a) TYPE 1 (BLUE) – issued in the form presented in annex no. 1 of Order no. 791/2020, for the applicants who request its granting on the basis of the declaration on their own responsibility, which results in the total or partial interruption of the activity, as a result of the decisions issued by the competent public authorities, according to the law, during the period of emergency declared;
b) TYPE 2 (YELLOW) – issued in the form presented in annex no. 2 of Order no. 791/2020, for the applicants who request its granting on the basis of the declaration on their own responsibility, which results in the recording of a decrease of the receipts in March 2020, with a percentage of at least 25% compared to the average of the incomes from January to February 2020.
According to administrative explanations, an applicant may request the issuance of a single type of emergency certificate.
Competent authority
The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment is the authority that has the competence to grant, on request, the emergency certificate, but only during the existence of the emergency status in Romania.
Submission of application
The application for the release of the CSU is submitted by the applicant, exclusively electronically, through the platform http://prevenire.gov.ro/.
Required documents
In order to obtain the TYPE 1 (BLUE) / TYPE 2 (YELLOW) emergency certificate, the applicant uploads the following information and documents on the platform:
a) identification data
b) the declaration on the legal responsibility of the legal representative, by which he attests that all the information and documents underlying the request for obtaining the certificate are in conformity with the reality and complies with the legislation in force regarding the type of certificate requested, with reference to the total or partial closure the activity or the diminution of the receipts in the indicated amount
c) additional for the applicants who are not registered at the trade register office – documents regarding the authorization of the activity.
The documents provided are compulsorily uploaded to the platform http://prevenire.gov.ro, under the electronic signature of the legal representative of the economic operator or of his authorized person, holder of electronic signature. In case the legal representative does not have an electronic signature, he can sign the hologram, following that all the documents uploaded on the platform http://prevenire.gov.ro (including the declaration on his own responsibility) will be signed electronically by the authorized representative for this purpose.
We can see that the scope of documents to be uploaded to the platform has been restricted, for logistical reasons, to ensure its operability.
The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment releases the CSU only during the emergency situation in Romania.
The certificates will be issued automatically, electronically, after the system validation of the request. Checking their validity can be done on the platform http://prevenire.gov.ro/, by series and number.
However, during the inspection and control actions carried out by the authorized bodies (for example, the Territorial Labor Inspectorate, the Agency for Employment), they also verify the documents that were the basis for issuing the declaration on their own responsibility by the applicants.
If reasonable suspicions are identified regarding the obtaining of the certificate with the non-observance of the incidental legal provisions or by not certifying the real situation of law and / or of the applicant, the competent bodies are notified to establish the measures, according to the competences. Thus, the criminal bodies can be notified about the crime of falsification in statements.
At the time of the publication of Order no. 791/2020 http://prevenire.gov.ro platform is not functional in order to issue the emergency certificate. The adaptation will be done within 5 days.
This article has been prepared for the website of the civil society of lawyers Costaș, Negru & Associates by av. Alexandra Tomuța (Arad Bar).
